Anhui Great Wall Military (601606) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Chemical Manufacturing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Anhui Great Wall Military (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Anhui Great Wall Military is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Anhui Great Wall Military
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Anhui Great Wall Military can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Anhui Great Wall Military, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Anhui Great Wall Military
2. Improving business portfolio management of Anhui Great Wall Military
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Anhui Great Wall Military
Strengths of Anhui Great Wall Military | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Anhui Great Wall Military are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Anhui Great Wall Military in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Anhui Great Wall Military has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Anhui Great Wall Military to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Chemical Manufacturing
– Anhui Great Wall Military is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Anhui Great Wall Military in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Anhui Great Wall Military has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Anhui Great Wall Military to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Anhui Great Wall Military to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Anhui Great Wall Military has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Anhui Great Wall Military 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 recruit top talent
– Anhui Great Wall Military is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Anhui Great Wall Military comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Anhui Great Wall Military is present in almost all the verticals within the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This has provided Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
High brand equity
– Anhui Great Wall Military has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Anhui Great Wall Military to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Anhui Great Wall Military has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Anhui Great Wall Military staying ahead in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Anhui Great Wall Military is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Anhui Great Wall Military in Chemical Manufacturing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Anhui Great Wall Military | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Anhui Great Wall Military are -
Skills based hiring in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Anhui Great Wall Military is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, but Anhui Great Wall Military needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Anhui Great Wall Military to focus more on services in the Chemical Manufacturing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Anhui Great Wall Military is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Anhui Great Wall Military needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Chemical Manufacturing industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Anhui Great Wall Military can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Anhui Great Wall Military is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ less understanding of Anhui Great Wall Military strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Anhui Great Wall Military is just above the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Anhui Great Wall Military has high operating costs in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Anhui Great Wall Military lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Anhui Great Wall Military is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Anhui Great Wall Military to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Anhui Great Wall Military 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Anhui Great Wall Military has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry over the last five years. Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Anhui Great Wall Military Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Anhui Great Wall Military are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Anhui Great Wall Military in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Anhui Great Wall Military in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Anhui Great Wall Military can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Anhui Great Wall Military can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Chemical Manufacturing 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 Anhui Great Wall Military can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Anhui Great Wall Military 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
– Anhui Great Wall Military has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemical Manufacturing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Anhui Great Wall Military to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Anhui Great Wall Military to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Anhui Great Wall Military is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Anhui Great Wall Military can utilize new technology in the field of Chemical Manufacturing industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Anhui Great Wall Military has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can help Anhui Great Wall Military to build a more holistic ecosystem for Anhui Great Wall Military products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Anhui Great Wall Military can develop new processes and procedures in Chemical Manufacturing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Anhui Great Wall Military External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Anhui Great Wall Military are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Anhui Great Wall Military is facing in Chemical Manufacturing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemical Manufacturing industry are lowering. It can presents Anhui Great Wall Military with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Anhui Great Wall Military in Chemical Manufacturing industry. The Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Anhui Great Wall Military may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Anhui Great Wall Military has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Anhui Great Wall Military needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
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. Anhui Great Wall Military needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Anhui Great Wall Military 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. Anhui Great Wall Military can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Anhui Great Wall Military 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.
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 Anhui Great Wall Military in the Chemical Manufacturing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Anhui Great Wall Military Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military 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 Anhui Great Wall Military needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.