Tianshan Wool A (813) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Metal Mining
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Tianshan Wool A (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Tianshan Wool A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Tianshan Wool A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tianshan Wool A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Tianshan Wool A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tianshan Wool A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Metal Mining sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tianshan Wool A
Strengths of Tianshan Wool A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tianshan Wool A are -
Analytics focus
– Tianshan Wool A 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 Metal Mining industry. The technology infrastructure of China 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tianshan Wool A in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Tianshan Wool A has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tianshan Wool A to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tianshan Wool A 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tianshan Wool A has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tianshan Wool A 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.
Ability to lead change in Metal Mining
– Tianshan Wool A is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Metal Mining industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Tianshan Wool A in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Tianshan Wool A is one of the most innovative firm in Metal Mining sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Metal Mining industry
– Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tianshan Wool A is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry in China. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in China. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Metal Mining industry
– Tianshan Wool A has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tianshan Wool A to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Metal Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tianshan Wool A to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Tianshan Wool A has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tianshan Wool A to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Tianshan Wool A has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials 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.
Weaknesses of Tianshan Wool A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tianshan Wool A are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tianshan Wool A has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tianshan Wool A is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Tianshan Wool A to provide better information regarding Metal Mining products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Tianshan Wool A needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Metal Mining industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Tianshan Wool A can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tianshan Wool A is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tianshan Wool A is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Metal Mining industry, but Tianshan Wool A needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tianshan Wool A to focus more on services in the Metal Mining industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Tianshan Wool A, in the dynamic environment of Metal Mining industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tianshan Wool A has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Metal Mining industry, Tianshan Wool A needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tianshan Wool A products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tianshan Wool A needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring in Metal Mining industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tianshan Wool A 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, Tianshan Wool A 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 Metal Mining industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tianshan Wool A has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Metal Mining 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 Tianshan Wool A 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.
Tianshan Wool A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Tianshan Wool A are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tianshan Wool A can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tianshan Wool A operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Metal Mining sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tianshan Wool A 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tianshan Wool A 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 Metal Mining industry.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tianshan Wool A can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Tianshan Wool A can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Metal Mining 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.
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. Tianshan Wool A 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, Tianshan Wool A 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tianshan Wool A to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Metal Mining industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Tianshan Wool A 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. Tianshan Wool A 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tianshan Wool A can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tianshan Wool A has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Metal Mining industry. This can help Tianshan Wool A to build a more holistic ecosystem for Tianshan Wool A products in the Metal Mining industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Tianshan Wool A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Tianshan Wool A are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tianshan Wool A in Metal Mining industry. The Metal Mining industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Tianshan Wool A 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.
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. Tianshan Wool A needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Metal Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Metal Mining industry are lowering. It can presents Tianshan Wool A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Metal Mining sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tianshan Wool A 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 Metal Mining industry and other sectors.
Regulatory challenges
– Tianshan Wool A 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 Metal Mining industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Tianshan Wool A 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tianshan Wool A has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Metal Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tianshan Wool A needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Metal Mining 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.
Increasing wage structure of Tianshan Wool A
– 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 Tianshan Wool A.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tianshan Wool A is facing in Metal Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Tianshan Wool A 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. Tianshan Wool A can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Metal Mining industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tianshan Wool A Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A 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 Tianshan Wool A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
