SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Shantou Dongfeng Printing (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Shantou Dongfeng Printing is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shantou Dongfeng Printing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Shantou Dongfeng Printing can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Shantou Dongfeng Printing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Shantou Dongfeng Printing
2. Improving business portfolio management of Shantou Dongfeng Printing
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Printing Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Shantou Dongfeng Printing
Strengths of Shantou Dongfeng Printing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Shantou Dongfeng Printing are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Printing Services
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Printing Services industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Shantou Dongfeng Printing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Shantou Dongfeng Printing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Shantou Dongfeng Printing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Shantou Dongfeng Printing staying ahead in the Printing Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Shantou Dongfeng Printing in Printing Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Printing Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Shantou Dongfeng Printing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Shantou Dongfeng Printing has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Printing Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Shantou Dongfeng Printing have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Shantou Dongfeng Printing emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Printing Services industry
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Shantou Dongfeng Printing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Printing Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Shantou Dongfeng Printing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Shantou Dongfeng Printing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Shantou Dongfeng Printing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shantou Dongfeng Printing are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Shantou Dongfeng Printing has some of the most successful models in the Printing Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Shantou Dongfeng Printing should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Shantou Dongfeng Printing is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Shantou Dongfeng Printing vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring in Printing Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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.
High dependence on Shantou Dongfeng Printing ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Shantou Dongfeng Printing still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Printing Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Shantou Dongfeng Printing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Shantou Dongfeng Printing is just above the Printing Services 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Printing Services industry, Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Shantou Dongfeng Printing, in the dynamic environment of Printing Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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, Shantou Dongfeng Printing has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Printing Services industry over the last five years. Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Shantou Dongfeng Printing needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Shantou Dongfeng Printing has high operating costs in the Printing Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Shantou Dongfeng Printing lucrative customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Shantou Dongfeng Printing strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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.
Shantou Dongfeng Printing Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Shantou Dongfeng Printing are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Printing Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Shantou Dongfeng Printing to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Shantou Dongfeng Printing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Shantou Dongfeng Printing can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Shantou Dongfeng Printing operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Printing Services sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Shantou Dongfeng Printing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Shantou Dongfeng Printing can utilize new technology in the field of Printing Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Shantou Dongfeng Printing in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Printing Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Printing Services 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Printing Services 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.
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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Printing Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Shantou Dongfeng Printing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Printing Services industry. This can help Shantou Dongfeng Printing to build a more holistic ecosystem for Shantou Dongfeng Printing products in the Printing Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Printing Services industry.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Shantou Dongfeng Printing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Shantou Dongfeng Printing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Shantou Dongfeng Printing are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Printing Services industry are lowering. It can presents Shantou Dongfeng Printing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Printing Services sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Printing Services industry and other sectors.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Shantou Dongfeng Printing in Printing Services industry. The Printing Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing prominent markets.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Shantou Dongfeng Printing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Shantou Dongfeng Printing will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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.
Increasing wage structure of Shantou Dongfeng Printing
– 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing.
Environmental challenges
– Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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. Shantou Dongfeng Printing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Printing Services industry.
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. Shantou Dongfeng Printing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Printing Services 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Printing Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Shantou Dongfeng Printing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Shantou Dongfeng Printing may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Printing Services sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shantou Dongfeng Printing Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing 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 Shantou Dongfeng Printing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
