Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TKECF) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Electric Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc., and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc.
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc.
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Electric Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc.
Strengths of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Electric Utilities 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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.
Analytics focus
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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 Electric Utilities 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.
Learning organization
- Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is one of the most innovative firm in Electric Utilities sector.
High brand equity
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has one of the best training and development program in Utilities 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.
Digital Transformation in Electric Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Strong track record of project management in the Electric Utilities industry
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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.
Weaknesses of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electric Utilities industry, but Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. to focus more on services in the Electric Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. to provide better information regarding Electric Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electric Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Electric Utilities industry over the last five years. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Employees’ less understanding of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has some of the most successful models in the Electric Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Electric Utilities industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Electric Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Electric Utilities industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is just above the Electric Utilities 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Electric Utilities industry in last five years.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. to increase its market reach. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Electric Utilities 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
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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.
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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Electric Utilities industry. This can help Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. to build a more holistic ecosystem for Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. products in the Electric Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Electric Utilities industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Electric Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. in the Electric Utilities industry. Now Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Electric Utilities 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.
Threats Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. are -
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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 Electric Utilities industry.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electric Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electric Utilities sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Electric Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Electric Utilities 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.
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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. in the Electric Utilities sector and impact the bottomline 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. in Electric Utilities industry. The Electric Utilities 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. prominent markets.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Electric Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc..
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. is facing in Electric Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., 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 Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.