Beiqi Foton Motor (600166) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Auto & Truck Manufacturers
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Beiqi Foton Motor (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Beiqi Foton Motor is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Beiqi Foton Motor
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Beiqi Foton Motor can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beiqi Foton Motor, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Beiqi Foton Motor
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beiqi Foton Motor
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Beiqi Foton Motor
Strengths of Beiqi Foton Motor | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Beiqi Foton Motor are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Beiqi Foton Motor in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Beiqi Foton Motor has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Beiqi Foton Motor comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
Learning organization
- Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Beiqi Foton Motor emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Beiqi Foton Motor is present in almost all the verticals within the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. This has provided Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– Beiqi Foton Motor is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Beiqi Foton Motor is one of the most innovative firm in Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Beiqi Foton Motor in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Beiqi Foton Motor has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Beiqi Foton Motor to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Auto & Truck Manufacturers
– Beiqi Foton Motor is one of the leading players in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Beiqi Foton Motor in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Beiqi Foton Motor has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Beiqi Foton Motor staying ahead in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– Beiqi Foton Motor has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Beiqi Foton Motor to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Beiqi Foton Motor to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Beiqi Foton Motor | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Beiqi Foton Motor are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Beiqi Foton Motor is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Beiqi Foton Motor to provide better information regarding Auto & Truck Manufacturers products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Beiqi Foton Motor, in the dynamic environment of Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Beiqi Foton Motor has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Beiqi Foton Motor needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Beiqi Foton Motor can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Beiqi Foton Motor is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Beiqi Foton Motor has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
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 Beiqi Foton Motor supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Beiqi Foton Motor is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Beiqi Foton Motor vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Beiqi Foton Motor strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry using digital technology.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry, Beiqi Foton Motor 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry.
Skills based hiring in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Beiqi Foton Motor Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Beiqi Foton Motor are -
Loyalty marketing
– Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Beiqi Foton Motor has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Beiqi Foton Motor to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Beiqi Foton Motor can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Beiqi Foton Motor can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. This can help Beiqi Foton Motor to build a more holistic ecosystem for Beiqi Foton Motor products in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Beiqi Foton Motor 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, Beiqi Foton Motor is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Beiqi Foton Motor can utilize new technology in the field of Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Beiqi Foton Motor can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Beiqi Foton Motor 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. Beiqi Foton Motor 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. Beiqi Foton Motor can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Beiqi Foton Motor in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. Now Beiqi Foton Motor can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Beiqi Foton Motor External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Beiqi Foton Motor are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Beiqi Foton Motor has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Beiqi Foton Motor needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Beiqi Foton Motor may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry.
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 Beiqi Foton Motor in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Beiqi Foton Motor needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry are lowering. It can presents Beiqi Foton Motor with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Beiqi Foton Motor in Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry. The Auto & Truck Manufacturers 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Beiqi Foton Motor 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.
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.
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 Beiqi Foton Motor.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Beiqi Foton Motor 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. Beiqi Foton Motor can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Auto & Truck Manufacturers industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Beiqi Foton Motor is facing in Auto & Truck Manufacturers sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Beiqi Foton Motor Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor 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 Beiqi Foton Motor needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
