SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Patriot Scientific (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Patriot Scientific is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Patriot Scientific
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Patriot Scientific can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Patriot Scientific, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Patriot Scientific
2. Improving business portfolio management of Patriot Scientific
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Computer Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Patriot Scientific
Strengths of Patriot Scientific | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Patriot Scientific are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Patriot Scientific 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Services industry
– Patriot Scientific has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Patriot Scientific to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Computer Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Patriot Scientific to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Patriot Scientific in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Patriot Scientific has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Patriot Scientific to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Computer Services
– Patriot Scientific is one of the leading players in the Computer Services industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Computer Services industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Patriot Scientific in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Patriot Scientific
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Patriot Scientific does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Patriot Scientific has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Patriot Scientific staying ahead in the Computer Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Patriot Scientific has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Patriot Scientific 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Patriot Scientific is one of the most innovative firm in Computer Services sector.
Analytics focus
– Patriot Scientific 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 Computer Services 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Patriot Scientific is present in almost all the verticals within the Computer Services industry. This has provided Patriot Scientific 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Computer Services industry
– Patriot Scientific is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Patriot Scientific has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Computer Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Patriot Scientific have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Patriot Scientific | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Patriot Scientific are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Patriot Scientific, in the dynamic environment of Computer Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Patriot Scientific has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Patriot Scientific has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Computer Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Patriot Scientific is just above the Computer Services 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.
Skills based hiring in Computer Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Patriot Scientific 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Patriot Scientific products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Patriot Scientific needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Patriot Scientific has high operating costs in the Computer Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Patriot Scientific lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Patriot Scientific has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Computer Services industry over the last five years. Patriot Scientific 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Patriot Scientific is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Computer Services industry, but Patriot Scientific needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Patriot Scientific to focus more on services in the Computer Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Patriot Scientific needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Computer Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Patriot Scientific can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Patriot Scientific is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Patriot Scientific is one of the leading players in the Computer Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Computer Services industry in last five years.
High dependence on Patriot Scientific ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Patriot Scientific still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Computer Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Patriot Scientific has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Patriot Scientific Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Patriot Scientific are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Patriot Scientific can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Patriot Scientific can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Computer Services 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.
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. Patriot Scientific can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Computer Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Patriot Scientific can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Patriot Scientific 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 Computer Services industry.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Patriot Scientific 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Patriot Scientific is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Patriot Scientific can utilize new technology in the field of Computer Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Patriot Scientific 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
– Patriot Scientific has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Computer Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Patriot Scientific to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Patriot Scientific to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Patriot Scientific can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Patriot Scientific operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Computer Services sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Computer Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Patriot Scientific 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. Patriot Scientific 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.
Threats Patriot Scientific External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Patriot Scientific are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific prominent markets.
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. Patriot Scientific needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Patriot Scientific may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Computer Services sector.
Environmental challenges
– Patriot Scientific 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. Patriot Scientific can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Computer Services industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Patriot Scientific 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Patriot Scientific has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Patriot Scientific needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer Services 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.
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. Patriot Scientific 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.
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 Patriot Scientific.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Patriot Scientific in Computer Services industry. The Computer Services 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Patriot Scientific is facing in Computer Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Patriot Scientific in the Computer Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Patriot Scientific 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 Computer Services industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Patriot Scientific Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific 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 Patriot Scientific needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
