SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum
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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum
Strengths of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Metal Mining industry
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum in Metal Mining industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Ability to lead change in Metal Mining
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is one of the leading players in the Metal Mining industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Metal Mining industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is one of the most innovative firm in Metal Mining sector.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is present in almost all the verticals within the Metal Mining industry. This has provided Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Organizational Resilience of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum are -
High dependence on Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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. Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Metal Mining industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is just above the Metal Mining 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum, in the dynamic environment of Metal Mining industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Metal Mining industry, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Metal Mining industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Metal Mining industry. This can help Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum to build a more holistic ecosystem for Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum products in the Metal Mining industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Metal 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Metal Mining sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum to increase its market reach. Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Threats Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum is facing in Metal Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum
– 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum.
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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum in the Metal Mining sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Metal Mining industry are lowering. It can presents Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Metal Mining sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Metal Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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.
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. Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Metal Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum 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 Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
