SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Sheffield Resources Ltd (Australia)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Sheffield Resources Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sheffield Resources Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Sheffield Resources Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sheffield Resources Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Sheffield Resources Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sheffield Resources Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Non-Metallic Mining sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sheffield Resources Ltd
Strengths of Sheffield Resources Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sheffield Resources Ltd are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Sheffield Resources Ltd staying ahead in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Ability to lead change in Non-Metallic Mining
– Sheffield Resources Ltd is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in Australia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in Australia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Sheffield Resources Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Non-Metallic Mining industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sheffield Resources Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
High brand equity
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sheffield Resources Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sheffield Resources Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sheffield Resources Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Non-Metallic Mining industry
– Sheffield Resources Ltd is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Non-Metallic Mining industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Sheffield Resources Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sheffield Resources Ltd is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in Australia. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Australia. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry. The technology infrastructure of Australia 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.
Weaknesses of Sheffield Resources Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sheffield Resources Ltd are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sheffield Resources Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, but Sheffield Resources Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sheffield Resources Ltd to focus more on services in the Non-Metallic Mining industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Sheffield Resources Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Non-Metallic Mining 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Skills based hiring in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Sheffield Resources Ltd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Non-Metallic Mining industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Sheffield Resources Ltd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sheffield Resources Ltd is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sheffield Resources Ltd has some of the most successful models in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Sheffield Resources Ltd should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sheffield Resources Ltd is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sheffield Resources Ltd has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Non-Metallic 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Sheffield Resources Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Sheffield Resources Ltd are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sheffield Resources Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
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 Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Non-Metallic Mining sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Sheffield Resources Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sheffield Resources Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sheffield Resources Ltd in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Sheffield Resources Ltd in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. Now Sheffield Resources Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Non-Metallic Mining industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sheffield Resources Ltd 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. Sheffield Resources Ltd 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Non-Metallic Mining industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Sheffield Resources Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Sheffield Resources Ltd can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Sheffield Resources Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Non-Metallic Mining 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sheffield Resources Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sheffield Resources Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Non-Metallic Mining sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Sheffield Resources Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Sheffield Resources Ltd are -
Environmental challenges
– Sheffield Resources Ltd 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. Sheffield Resources Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry regulations.
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 Sheffield Resources Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sheffield Resources Ltd has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sheffield Resources Ltd needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Non-Metallic 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sheffield Resources Ltd is facing in Non-Metallic Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd prominent markets.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Non-Metallic Mining industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Sheffield Resources Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Sheffield Resources Ltd in the Non-Metallic Mining sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Non-Metallic Mining industry are lowering. It can presents Sheffield Resources Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Non-Metallic Mining 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. Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd 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 Sheffield Resources Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.