Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Software & Programming sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software
Strengths of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Software & Programming
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Software & Programming industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Software & Programming industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in Software & Programming industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is one of the most innovative firm in Software & Programming sector.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Analytics focus
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Software & Programming 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Software & Programming industry
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Software & Programming industry
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Software & Programming industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software, in the dynamic environment of Software & Programming industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ less understanding of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Software & Programming industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Software & Programming industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has some of the most successful models in the Software & Programming industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Software & Programming industry, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Software & Programming industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Software & Programming industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Software & Programming 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, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Software & Programming industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can develop new processes and procedures in Software & Programming industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Software & Programming industry.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Software & Programming sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Software & Programming 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.
Threats Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is facing in Software & Programming 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Software & Programming industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Software & Programming industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Software & Programming 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Software & Programming industry are lowering. It can presents Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Software & Programming 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in the Software & Programming sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in Software & Programming industry. The Software & Programming 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Increasing wage structure of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software
– 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Software & Programming industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.