SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Semiconductors sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic
Strengths of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Digital Transformation in Semiconductors industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Semiconductors industry
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Semiconductors industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic staying ahead in the Semiconductors industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Semiconductors 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.
Learning organization
- Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Semiconductors 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is one of the leading players in the Semiconductors 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has high operating costs in the Semiconductors industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is one of the leading players in the Semiconductors industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Semiconductors industry in last five years.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Semiconductors industry, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Semiconductors industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Semiconductors industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Semiconductors industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has some of the most successful models in the Semiconductors industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to provide better information regarding Semiconductors products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic are -
Loyalty marketing
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Semiconductors industry. This can help Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to build a more holistic ecosystem for Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic products in the Semiconductors industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to increase its market reach. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Semiconductors industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can utilize new technology in the field of Semiconductors industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Semiconductors industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Semiconductors industry.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Semiconductors sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Semiconductors 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic in the Semiconductors sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic in Semiconductors industry. The Semiconductors 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Semiconductors industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Semiconductors 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Semiconductors industry and other sectors.
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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Semiconductors industry are lowering. It can presents Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Semiconductors sector.
Increasing wage structure of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic
– 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Semiconductors industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Semiconductors industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic 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 Zhejiang Xinneng Photovoltaic needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
