SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm
2. Improving business portfolio management of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Major Drugs sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm
Strengths of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm in Major Drugs industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Major Drugs industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm is present in almost all the verticals within the Major Drugs industry. This has provided Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Major Drugs industry
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Major Drugs industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Major Drugs 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Major Drugs 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.
Training and development
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has one of the best training and development program in Healthcare 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 brand equity
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Organizational Resilience of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm are -
High dependence on Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Major Drugs industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Major Drugs industry, but Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to focus more on services in the Major Drugs industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm, in the dynamic environment of Major Drugs industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Major Drugs industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Major Drugs industry.
Employees’ less understanding of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring in Major Drugs industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Major Drugs industry, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Major Drugs industry over the last five years. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm are -
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. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Major Drugs industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm in the Major Drugs industry. Now Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Major Drugs 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Major Drugs industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Major Drugs industry. This can help Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to build a more holistic ecosystem for Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm products in the Major Drugs industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can develop new processes and procedures in Major Drugs 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Major Drugs 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to increase its market reach. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can utilize new technology in the field of Major Drugs industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm are -
Increasing wage structure of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm
– 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Major Drugs industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm in the Major Drugs sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Major Drugs industry regulations.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High 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. Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Major Drugs industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Major Drugs sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Major Drugs industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Major Drugs industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Major Drugs 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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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.
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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Major Drugs industry are lowering. It can presents Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Major Drugs sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm 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 Guangxi Liuzhou Pharm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.