SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
technology disruption, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Personal Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape
Strengths of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is one of the leading players in the Personal Services 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Personal Services industry
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
High brand equity
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Analytics focus
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Personal Services 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is one of the most innovative firm in Personal Services sector.
Learning organization
- Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is present in almost all the verticals within the Personal Services industry. This has provided Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Weaknesses of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Personal Services industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is one of the leading players in the Personal Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Personal Services industry in last five years.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is just above the Personal Services industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Personal Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Personal Services industry over the last five years. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Personal Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ less understanding of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Personal Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Personal Services industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Personal Services industry, but Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape to focus more on services in the Personal Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape, in the dynamic environment of Personal Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Personal Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can utilize new technology in the field of Personal Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Personal Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Personal Services industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Personal Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape in the Personal Services industry. Now Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Personal Services sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Personal Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
Threats Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Personal Services industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape prominent markets.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Personal Services industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Personal Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Personal Services 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.
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. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Personal Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Personal Services industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Personal Services sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape is facing in Personal Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
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. Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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.
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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape 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 Jiangsu Dongzhu Landscape needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.