SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Retail (Department & Discount) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding
Strengths of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Department & Discount) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Organizational Resilience of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has one of the best training and development program in Services industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding in Retail (Department & Discount) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry over the last five years. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to provide better information regarding Retail (Department & Discount) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Retail (Department & Discount) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is just above the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding are -
Buying journey improvements
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to increase its market reach. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
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. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Retail (Department & Discount) industry. This can help Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding to build a more holistic ecosystem for Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding products in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. Now Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Department & Discount) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Loyalty marketing
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding prominent markets.
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. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Department & Discount) 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.
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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding.
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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Department & Discount) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Department & Discount) industry are lowering. It can presents Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding 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 Lanzhou Minbai Shareholding needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.