Ningbo Boway Alloy Material (601137) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Metal Mining
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Ningbo Boway Alloy Material (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Ningbo Boway Alloy Material is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ningbo Boway Alloy Material, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material
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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material
Strengths of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material are -
Ability to lead change in Metal Mining
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Analytics focus
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Metal Mining 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.
Training and development
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Metal Mining industry
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ningbo Boway Alloy Material to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Metal Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ningbo Boway Alloy Material to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ningbo Boway Alloy Material to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material is present in almost all the verticals within the Metal Mining industry. This has provided Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material is one of the most innovative firm in Metal Mining sector.
Weaknesses of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Ningbo Boway Alloy Material, in the dynamic environment of Metal Mining industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Metal Mining industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ less understanding of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Metal Mining industry, but Ningbo Boway Alloy Material needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ningbo Boway Alloy Material to focus more on services in the Metal Mining industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has high operating costs in the Metal Mining industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ningbo Boway Alloy Material lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring in Metal Mining industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Ningbo Boway Alloy Material Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Metal Mining sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Metal Mining industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
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. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Metal Mining industry. This can help Ningbo Boway Alloy Material to build a more holistic ecosystem for Ningbo Boway Alloy Material products in the Metal Mining industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ningbo Boway Alloy Material operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Metal Mining sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Metal Mining industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ningbo Boway Alloy Material in the Metal Mining industry. Now Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ningbo Boway Alloy Material to increase its market reach. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Metal Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
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. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Metal Mining industry.
Environmental challenges
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Metal Mining industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Metal Mining sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Metal Mining industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Metal Mining industry are lowering. It can presents Ningbo Boway Alloy Material with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Metal Mining sector.
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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material in the Metal Mining sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Metal Mining industry and other sectors.
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. Ningbo Boway Alloy Material needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Metal Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ningbo Boway Alloy Material Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material 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 Ningbo Boway Alloy Material needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
