Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd (HUO) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Fish/Livestock
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd (Australia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Fish/Livestock sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd
Strengths of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Fish/Livestock industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Fish/Livestock industry
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Fish/Livestock industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd in Fish/Livestock industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Fish/Livestock sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Fish/Livestock industry. This has provided Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
Ability to lead change in Fish/Livestock
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is one of the leading players in the Fish/Livestock industry in Australia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Fish/Livestock industry in Australia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Fish/Livestock 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.
Weaknesses of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Fish/Livestock industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Australia, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Fish/Livestock industry.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to provide better information regarding Fish/Livestock products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring in Fish/Livestock industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Fish/Livestock industry, but Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to focus more on services in the Fish/Livestock industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Fish/Livestock industry using digital technology.
High dependence on Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Fish/Livestock industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ less understanding of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is one of the leading players in the Fish/Livestock industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Fish/Livestock industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Fish/Livestock industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Fish/Livestock industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Fish/Livestock sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Fish/Livestock industry. This can help Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd products in the Fish/Livestock industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Fish/Livestock 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Fish/Livestock industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Fish/Livestock 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Fish/Livestock sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Fish/Livestock 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Fish/Livestock industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Fish/Livestock industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd is facing in Fish/Livestock 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd in the Fish/Livestock sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Fish/Livestock industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd in Fish/Livestock industry. The Fish/Livestock 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Fish/Livestock sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd
– 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd.
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. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 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. Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Fish/Livestock industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd 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 Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.