SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Solitario Exploration&Royalty (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Solitario Exploration&Royalty is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Solitario Exploration&Royalty
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Solitario Exploration&Royalty can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Solitario Exploration&Royalty, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Solitario Exploration&Royalty
2. Improving business portfolio management of Solitario Exploration&Royalty
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Metal Mining sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Solitario Exploration&Royalty
Strengths of Solitario Exploration&Royalty | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Solitario Exploration&Royalty are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Solitario Exploration&Royalty are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Metal Mining
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry in Canada. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Metal Mining industry in Canada but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Solitario Exploration&Royalty in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Solitario Exploration&Royalty emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty is present in almost all the verticals within the Metal Mining industry. This has provided Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Metal Mining industry
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Solitario Exploration&Royalty to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Metal Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Solitario Exploration&Royalty to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Solitario Exploration&Royalty comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Metal Mining 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Solitario Exploration&Royalty in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Solitario Exploration&Royalty has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Solitario Exploration&Royalty to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Solitario Exploration&Royalty
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Solitario Exploration&Royalty does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Solitario Exploration&Royalty staying ahead in the Metal Mining industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Solitario Exploration&Royalty to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Solitario Exploration&Royalty in Metal Mining industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Solitario Exploration&Royalty | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Solitario Exploration&Royalty are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Solitario Exploration&Royalty has some of the most successful models in the Metal Mining industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Solitario Exploration&Royalty should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Canada, Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty, in the dynamic environment of Metal Mining industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Solitario Exploration&Royalty has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Solitario Exploration&Royalty is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Solitario Exploration&Royalty to provide better information regarding Metal Mining products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Solitario Exploration&Royalty is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Solitario Exploration&Royalty vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Solitario Exploration&Royalty has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Metal Mining industry over the last five years. Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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.
High dependence on Solitario Exploration&Royalty ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Solitario Exploration&Royalty still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Metal Mining industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Solitario Exploration&Royalty has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Solitario Exploration&Royalty is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Metal Mining industry, but Solitario Exploration&Royalty needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Solitario Exploration&Royalty to focus more on services in the Metal Mining industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Solitario Exploration&Royalty is just above the Metal Mining 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Solitario Exploration&Royalty, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Metal Mining 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Solitario Exploration&Royalty is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Metal Mining industry in last five years.
Solitario Exploration&Royalty Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Solitario Exploration&Royalty are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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, Solitario Exploration&Royalty can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Solitario Exploration&Royalty operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Metal Mining sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Solitario Exploration&Royalty is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Solitario Exploration&Royalty can utilize new technology in the field of Metal Mining industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Metal Mining 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Solitario Exploration&Royalty has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Metal Mining industry. This can help Solitario Exploration&Royalty to build a more holistic ecosystem for Solitario Exploration&Royalty products in the Metal Mining 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Solitario Exploration&Royalty in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Metal Mining industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Solitario Exploration&Royalty can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty can develop new processes and procedures in Metal Mining 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Metal Mining sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Solitario Exploration&Royalty to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Solitario Exploration&Royalty to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Metal Mining industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Solitario Exploration&Royalty in the Metal Mining industry. Now Solitario Exploration&Royalty can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Solitario Exploration&Royalty External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Solitario Exploration&Royalty are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Solitario Exploration&Royalty may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Metal Mining sector.
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, Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty prominent markets.
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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty.
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.
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. Solitario Exploration&Royalty needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Metal Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Metal Mining industry.
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. Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty
– 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Solitario Exploration&Royalty is facing in Metal Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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. Solitario Exploration&Royalty can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Metal Mining industry.
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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Solitario Exploration&Royalty Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty 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 Solitario Exploration&Royalty needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.