Virtual Sourcing, In (PGCX) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Personal & Household Prods.
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Virtual Sourcing, In (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Virtual Sourcing, In is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Virtual Sourcing, In
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Virtual Sourcing, In can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Virtual Sourcing, In, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Virtual Sourcing, In can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Virtual Sourcing, In
2. Improving business portfolio management of Virtual Sourcing, In
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Personal & Household Prods. sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Virtual Sourcing, In
Strengths of Virtual Sourcing, In | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Virtual Sourcing, In are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Virtual Sourcing, In is one of the leading players in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
Digital Transformation in Personal & Household Prods. industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Virtual Sourcing, In digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Virtual Sourcing, In has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Virtual Sourcing, In comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Innovation driven organization
– Virtual Sourcing, In is one of the most innovative firm in Personal & Household Prods. sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Virtual Sourcing, In in Personal & Household Prods. industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Virtual Sourcing, In has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Virtual Sourcing, In is present in almost all the verticals within the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This has provided Virtual Sourcing, In a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High brand equity
– Virtual Sourcing, In has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Virtual Sourcing, In to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Virtual Sourcing, In is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Virtual Sourcing, In is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Virtual Sourcing, In emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Virtual Sourcing, In has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
Organizational Resilience of Virtual Sourcing, In
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Virtual Sourcing, In does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Personal & Household Prods.
– Virtual Sourcing, In is one of the leading players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Virtual Sourcing, In in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Virtual Sourcing, In | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Virtual Sourcing, In are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Virtual Sourcing, In products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Virtual Sourcing, In needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Virtual Sourcing, In is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Virtual Sourcing, In needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Virtual Sourcing, In, in the dynamic environment of Personal & Household Prods. industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Virtual Sourcing, In has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Virtual Sourcing, In is just above the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
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 Virtual Sourcing, In supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Virtual Sourcing, In is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Virtual Sourcing, In vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Virtual Sourcing, In has high operating costs in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Virtual Sourcing, In lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Virtual Sourcing, In has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Virtual Sourcing, In, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Personal & Household Prods. industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Skills based hiring in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
Virtual Sourcing, In Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Virtual Sourcing, In are -
Buying journey improvements
– Virtual Sourcing, In can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Personal & Household Prods. industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Virtual Sourcing, In has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Personal & Household Prods. industry. This can help Virtual Sourcing, In to build a more holistic ecosystem for Virtual Sourcing, In products in the Personal & Household Prods. industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Virtual Sourcing, In can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Virtual Sourcing, In is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Virtual Sourcing, In can utilize new technology in the field of Personal & Household Prods. industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Virtual Sourcing, In can develop new processes and procedures in Personal & Household Prods. industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Virtual Sourcing, In has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Personal & Household Prods. sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Virtual Sourcing, In to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Virtual Sourcing, In to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Virtual Sourcing, In to increase its market reach. Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Virtual Sourcing, In to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Personal & Household Prods. industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Virtual Sourcing, In can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Virtual Sourcing, In can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Virtual Sourcing, In can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Virtual Sourcing, In operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Personal & Household Prods. sector.
Threats Virtual Sourcing, In External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Virtual Sourcing, In are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Virtual Sourcing, In in Personal & Household Prods. industry. The Personal & Household Prods. industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Virtual Sourcing, In business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Virtual Sourcing, In needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Personal & Household Prods. industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Virtual Sourcing, In may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Personal & Household Prods. sector.
Environmental challenges
– Virtual Sourcing, In needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Virtual Sourcing, In can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Increasing wage structure of Virtual Sourcing, In
– 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 Virtual Sourcing, In.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry and other sectors.
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 Virtual Sourcing, In.
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In prominent markets.
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 Virtual Sourcing, In in the Personal & Household Prods. sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Virtual Sourcing, In Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.