Guangdong Electric Power Devel (200539) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Guangdong Electric Power Devel (China)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Guangdong Electric Power Devel is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Guangdong Electric Power Devel

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Guangdong Electric Power Devel can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Guangdong Electric Power Devel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Guangdong Electric Power Devel can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Guangdong Electric Power Devel
2. Improving business portfolio management of Guangdong Electric Power Devel
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Electric Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Guangdong Electric Power Devel

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Strengths of Guangdong Electric Power Devel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Guangdong Electric Power Devel are -

High brand equity

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Guangdong Electric Power Devel to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Ability to lead change in Electric Utilities

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel is one of the leading players in the Electric Utilities industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electric Utilities industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Guangdong Electric Power Devel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Diverse revenue streams

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel is present in almost all the verticals within the Electric Utilities industry. This has provided Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Learning organization

- Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Guangdong Electric Power Devel emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Training and development

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Guangdong Electric Power Devel in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Guangdong Electric Power Devel has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Guangdong Electric Power Devel to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Analytics focus

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Guangdong Electric Power Devel staying ahead in the Electric Utilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Electric Utilities industry

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Guangdong Electric Power Devel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Electric Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Guangdong Electric Power Devel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

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Weaknesses of Guangdong Electric Power Devel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Guangdong Electric Power Devel are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Guangdong Electric Power Devel is planning to shift buying processes online.

Employees’ less understanding of Guangdong Electric Power Devel strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of China, Guangdong Electric Power Devel needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Guangdong Electric Power Devel, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Electric Utilities 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Electric Utilities industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Electric Utilities industry.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Guangdong Electric Power Devel, in the dynamic environment of Electric Utilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Guangdong Electric Power Devel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Electric Utilities industry, Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Guangdong Electric Power Devel is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Guangdong Electric Power Devel vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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Guangdong Electric Power Devel Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Guangdong Electric Power Devel are -

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Guangdong Electric Power Devel in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Electric Utilities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Buying journey improvements

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel in the Electric Utilities industry. Now Guangdong Electric Power Devel can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Guangdong Electric Power Devel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Guangdong Electric Power Devel can utilize new technology in the field of Electric Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Electric Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Guangdong Electric Power Devel can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Electric Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Guangdong Electric Power Devel to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Guangdong Electric Power Devel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Electric Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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.

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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Guangdong Electric Power Devel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Guangdong Electric Power Devel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electric Utilities sector.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Guangdong Electric Power Devel has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Electric Utilities industry. This can help Guangdong Electric Power Devel to build a more holistic ecosystem for Guangdong Electric Power Devel products in the Electric Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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Threats Guangdong Electric Power Devel External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Guangdong Electric Power Devel are -

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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Electric Utilities industry and other sectors.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Guangdong Electric Power Devel is facing in Electric Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Electric Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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.

Environmental challenges

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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. Guangdong Electric Power Devel can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Electric Utilities industry.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel prominent markets.

Regulatory challenges

– Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Electric Utilities industry regulations.

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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel in the Electric Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel.

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 wage structure of Guangdong Electric Power Devel

– 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electric Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Guangdong Electric Power Devel with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electric Utilities sector.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Guangdong Electric Power Devel Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel 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 Guangdong Electric Power Devel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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