Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas (603706) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Natural Gas Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Natural Gas Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas
Strengths of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas staying ahead in the Natural Gas Utilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Natural Gas Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management in the Natural Gas Utilities industry
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Digital Transformation in Natural Gas Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is one of the leading players in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas, in the dynamic environment of Natural Gas Utilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas to provide better information regarding Natural Gas Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Natural Gas Utilities 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is one of the leading players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Natural Gas Utilities industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is just above the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas are -
Loyalty marketing
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Natural Gas Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can help Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas to build a more holistic ecosystem for Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas products in the Natural Gas Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Natural Gas Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Natural Gas Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
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. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas are -
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. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas is facing in Natural Gas Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas.
Regulatory challenges
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Environmental challenges
– Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas in Natural Gas Utilities industry. The Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas prominent markets.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Natural Gas Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas 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 Xinjiang East Universe Group Gas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.