SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial
2. Improving business portfolio management of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Metal Mining sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial
Strengths of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is present in almost all the verticals within the Metal Mining industry. This has provided Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
Organizational Resilience of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Metal Mining industry
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Metal Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Metal Mining industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
High brand equity
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry in China. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in China. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Metal Mining 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial staying ahead in the Metal Mining industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in Metal Mining industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Metal Mining industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Metal Mining industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Metal Mining industry using digital technology.
High dependence on Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Metal Mining industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ less understanding of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Metal Mining industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has some of the most successful models in the Metal Mining industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring in Metal Mining industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Metal Mining industry over the last five years. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial, in the dynamic environment of Metal Mining industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Metal Mining industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Metal Mining industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Metal Mining industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial in the Metal Mining industry. Now Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Metal Mining sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can develop new processes and procedures in Metal Mining 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Metal Mining sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Metal Mining 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can utilize new technology in the field of Metal Mining industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to increase its market reach. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Metal Mining industry. This can help Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial to build a more holistic ecosystem for Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial products in the Metal Mining industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial are -
Environmental challenges
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Metal Mining industry.
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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Metal Mining sector.
Increasing wage structure of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial
– 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Metal Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Metal Mining 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.
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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial in the Metal Mining 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial in Metal Mining industry. The Metal Mining 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial is facing in Metal Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Metal Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial prominent markets.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Metal Mining industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Metal Mining industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial 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 Henan Mingtai Al.Industrial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
