SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Shanghai Xin Nanyang (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Shanghai Xin Nanyang is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shanghai Xin Nanyang
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Shanghai Xin Nanyang can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Shanghai Xin Nanyang, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Shanghai Xin Nanyang
2. Improving business portfolio management of Shanghai Xin Nanyang
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Schools sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Shanghai Xin Nanyang
Strengths of Shanghai Xin Nanyang | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Shanghai Xin Nanyang are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Shanghai Xin Nanyang staying ahead in the Schools industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang is one of the most innovative firm in Schools sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Shanghai Xin Nanyang in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Shanghai Xin Nanyang has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Shanghai Xin Nanyang to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Shanghai Xin Nanyang comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Schools 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
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang is one of the leading players in the Schools 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.
Learning organization
- Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Shanghai Xin Nanyang emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Shanghai Xin Nanyang to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang is present in almost all the verticals within the Schools industry. This has provided Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Ability to lead change in Schools
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang is one of the leading players in the Schools industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Schools industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Shanghai Xin Nanyang in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Shanghai Xin Nanyang in Schools industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Schools industry
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Shanghai Xin Nanyang to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Schools industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Shanghai Xin Nanyang to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Shanghai Xin Nanyang | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shanghai Xin Nanyang are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Shanghai Xin Nanyang needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Schools industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Shanghai Xin Nanyang can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Shanghai Xin Nanyang is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Schools industry using digital technology.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Shanghai Xin Nanyang has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Schools industry over the last five years. Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Shanghai Xin Nanyang has some of the most successful models in the Schools industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Shanghai Xin Nanyang is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Shanghai Xin Nanyang vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Schools industry, Shanghai Xin Nanyang needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Schools industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Schools industry.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Shanghai Xin Nanyang, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Schools industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Employees’ less understanding of Shanghai Xin Nanyang strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Skills based hiring in Schools industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Shanghai Xin Nanyang needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Shanghai Xin Nanyang Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Shanghai Xin Nanyang are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Shanghai Xin Nanyang can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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. Shanghai Xin Nanyang can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Shanghai Xin Nanyang to increase its market reach. Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Schools industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Schools industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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. Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Shanghai Xin Nanyang can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Shanghai Xin Nanyang operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Schools sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Schools industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Shanghai Xin Nanyang can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Schools industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Shanghai Xin Nanyang in the Schools industry. Now Shanghai Xin Nanyang can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Threats Shanghai Xin Nanyang External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Shanghai Xin Nanyang are -
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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Schools industry regulations.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Schools industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Shanghai Xin Nanyang in Schools industry. The Schools 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Schools industry and other sectors.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Schools industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Shanghai Xin Nanyang needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Schools sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Shanghai Xin Nanyang may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Schools sector.
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. Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang prominent markets.
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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang in the Schools sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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. Shanghai Xin Nanyang can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Schools industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shanghai Xin Nanyang Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang 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 Shanghai Xin Nanyang needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.