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 – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Innovation driven organization
– Virtual Sourcing, In is one of the most innovative firm in Personal & Household Prods. sector.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Personal & Household Prods. industry
– Virtual Sourcing, In has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Virtual Sourcing, In to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Virtual Sourcing, In to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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.
Analytics focus
– Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Personal & Household Prods. 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.
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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Virtual Sourcing, In in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Virtual Sourcing, In has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Virtual Sourcing, In to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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 -
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.
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Virtual Sourcing, In is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, but Virtual Sourcing, In needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Virtual Sourcing, In to focus more on services in the Personal & Household Prods. industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Virtual Sourcing, In is one of the leading players in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Personal & Household Prods. industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Virtual Sourcing, In has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Personal & Household Prods. industry over the last five years. Virtual Sourcing, In even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Employees’ less understanding of Virtual Sourcing, In strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Virtual Sourcing, In don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Virtual Sourcing, In needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Personal & Household Prods. industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Virtual Sourcing, In can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Virtual Sourcing, In is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Personal & Household Prods. industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Virtual Sourcing, In 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. Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Virtual Sourcing, In to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Virtual Sourcing, In can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
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. Virtual Sourcing, In can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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.
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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Virtual Sourcing, In in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Personal & Household Prods. industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Virtual Sourcing, In has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
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.
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 -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Virtual Sourcing, In high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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.
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.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Personal & Household Prods. industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Virtual Sourcing, In can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Virtual Sourcing, In is facing in Personal & Household Prods. sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
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.
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.
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. Virtual Sourcing, In 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Virtual Sourcing, In 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 Personal & Household Prods. industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Virtual Sourcing, In has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Personal & Household Prods. industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Virtual Sourcing, In needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Personal & Household Prods. 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.
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.
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.