D-Box Technologies Inc. (DBO) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Audio & Video Equipment
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for D-Box Technologies Inc. (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , D-Box Technologies Inc. is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of D-Box Technologies Inc.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that D-Box Technologies Inc. can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the D-Box Technologies Inc., and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of D-Box Technologies Inc.
2. Improving business portfolio management of D-Box Technologies Inc.
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Audio & Video Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of D-Box Technologies Inc.
Strengths of D-Box Technologies Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of D-Box Technologies Inc. are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Audio & Video Equipment industry
– D-Box Technologies Inc. has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled D-Box Technologies Inc. to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. The sustainable margins have also helped D-Box Technologies Inc. to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Audio & Video Equipment
– D-Box Technologies Inc. is one of the leading players in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in Canada. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in Canada but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled D-Box Technologies Inc. in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management in the Audio & Video Equipment industry
– D-Box Technologies Inc. is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that D-Box Technologies Inc. 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the D-Box Technologies Inc. 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of D-Box Technologies Inc. in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. D-Box Technologies Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps D-Box Technologies Inc. to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at D-Box Technologies Inc. emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– D-Box Technologies Inc. has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – D-Box Technologies Inc. staying ahead in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– D-Box Technologies Inc. is one of the leading players in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in Canada. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Canada. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– D-Box Technologies Inc. is one of the most innovative firm in Audio & Video Equipment sector.
High brand equity
– D-Box Technologies Inc. has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled D-Box Technologies Inc. to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of D-Box Technologies Inc. in Audio & Video Equipment industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of D-Box Technologies Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of D-Box Technologies Inc. are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As D-Box Technologies Inc. is one of the leading players in the Audio & Video Equipment industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, D-Box Technologies Inc. has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Audio & Video Equipment industry using digital technology.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, D-Box Technologies Inc. has high operating costs in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract D-Box Technologies Inc. lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, D-Box Technologies Inc. is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help D-Box Technologies Inc. to provide better information regarding Audio & Video Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of D-Box Technologies Inc. is just above the Audio & Video Equipment 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
D-Box Technologies Inc. has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though D-Box Technologies Inc. has some of the most successful models in the Audio & Video Equipment industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. D-Box Technologies Inc. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on D-Box Technologies Inc. ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of D-Box Technologies Inc. still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Audio & Video Equipment industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though D-Box Technologies Inc. has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at D-Box Technologies Inc., in the dynamic environment of Audio & Video Equipment industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. D-Box Technologies Inc. has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that D-Box Technologies Inc. needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Audio & Video Equipment industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at D-Box Technologies Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as D-Box Technologies Inc. is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Audio & Video Equipment industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Canada, D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry.
D-Box Technologies Inc. Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of D-Box Technologies Inc. are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for D-Box Technologies Inc. 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, D-Box Technologies Inc. can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that D-Box Technologies Inc. operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Audio & Video Equipment sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Audio & Video Equipment industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. D-Box Technologies Inc. can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– D-Box Technologies Inc. has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Audio & Video Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled D-Box Technologies Inc. to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help D-Box Technologies Inc. to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. D-Box Technologies Inc. can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Audio & Video Equipment industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for D-Box Technologies Inc. in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. Now D-Box Technologies Inc. can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for D-Box Technologies Inc. in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Audio & Video Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– D-Box Technologies Inc. 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 D-Box Technologies Inc. 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.
Buying journey improvements
– D-Box Technologies Inc. can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Audio & Video Equipment 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats D-Box Technologies Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of D-Box Technologies Inc. are -
Increasing wage structure of D-Box Technologies Inc.
– 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 D-Box Technologies Inc..
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 D-Box Technologies Inc..
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Audio & Video Equipment industry are lowering. It can presents D-Box Technologies Inc. with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Audio & Video Equipment sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, D-Box Technologies Inc. may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Audio & Video Equipment sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Audio & Video Equipment industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. D-Box Technologies Inc. can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– D-Box Technologies Inc. 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. D-Box Technologies Inc. can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Audio & Video Equipment industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for D-Box Technologies Inc. in Audio & Video Equipment industry. The Audio & Video Equipment 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– D-Box Technologies Inc. has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, D-Box Technologies Inc. needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Audio & Video Equipment 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.
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.
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.
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. D-Box Technologies Inc. needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Audio & Video Equipment industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that D-Box Technologies Inc. is facing in Audio & Video Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of D-Box Technologies Inc. Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. 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 D-Box Technologies Inc. needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.