Pan Ocean Container Supplies (PAOC) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Pan Ocean Container Supplies (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Pan Ocean Container Supplies is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pan Ocean Container Supplies

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Pan Ocean Container Supplies can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pan Ocean Container Supplies, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pan Ocean Container Supplies operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Pan Ocean Container Supplies can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Pan Ocean Container Supplies
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pan Ocean Container Supplies
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pan Ocean Container Supplies

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Strengths of Pan Ocean Container Supplies | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pan Ocean Container Supplies are -

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Pan Ocean Container Supplies in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Pan Ocean Container Supplies are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Ability to lead change in

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Pan Ocean Container Supplies in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Pan Ocean Container Supplies in the sector have low bargaining power. Pan Ocean Container Supplies has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pan Ocean Container Supplies to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pan Ocean Container Supplies has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Strong track record of project management in the industry

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Pan Ocean Container Supplies staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Innovation driven organization

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies is one of the most innovative firm in sector.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Pan Ocean Container Supplies have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

High brand equity

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pan Ocean Container Supplies to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Analytics focus

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

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Weaknesses of Pan Ocean Container Supplies | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Pan Ocean Container Supplies are -

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee of Pan Ocean Container Supplies is just above the industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Need for greater diversity

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Pan Ocean Container Supplies, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pan Ocean Container Supplies has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Pan Ocean Container Supplies supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Pan Ocean Container Supplies is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pan Ocean Container Supplies vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of United States, Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Pan Ocean Container Supplies is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Skills based hiring in industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pan Ocean Container Supplies has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Pan Ocean Container Supplies has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Pan Ocean Container Supplies has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Pan Ocean Container Supplies lucrative customers.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Pan Ocean Container Supplies is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pan Ocean Container Supplies to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

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Pan Ocean Container Supplies Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Pan Ocean Container Supplies are -

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pan Ocean Container Supplies can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pan Ocean Container Supplies operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pan Ocean Container Supplies to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pan Ocean Container Supplies can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help Pan Ocean Container Supplies to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Pan Ocean Container Supplies can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Pan Ocean Container Supplies can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Pan Ocean Container Supplies can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Manufacturing automation

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pan Ocean Container Supplies to increase its market reach. Pan Ocean Container Supplies will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Pan Ocean Container Supplies can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the industry.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Pan Ocean Container Supplies can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Pan Ocean Container Supplies in the industry. Now Pan Ocean Container Supplies can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pan Ocean Container Supplies to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Pan Ocean Container Supplies to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Pan Ocean Container Supplies has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Pan Ocean Container Supplies to build a more holistic ecosystem for Pan Ocean Container Supplies products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pan Ocean Container Supplies in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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Threats Pan Ocean Container Supplies External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Pan Ocean Container Supplies are -

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Pan Ocean Container Supplies can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Pan Ocean Container Supplies demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in industry and other sectors.

Regulatory challenges

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the industry regulations.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Pan Ocean Container Supplies will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Pan Ocean Container Supplies may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of sector.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Pan Ocean Container Supplies.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pan Ocean Container Supplies can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate Pan Ocean Container Supplies prominent markets.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Increasing wage structure of Pan Ocean Container Supplies

– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Pan Ocean Container Supplies.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Pan Ocean Container Supplies with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Pan Ocean Container Supplies in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Pan Ocean Container Supplies can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pan Ocean Container Supplies Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of Pan Ocean Container Supplies is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of Pan Ocean Container Supplies is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Pan Ocean Container Supplies to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Pan Ocean Container Supplies needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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