Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, 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 -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Software & Programming industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Software & Programming 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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Software & Programming industry, but Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to focus more on services in the Software & Programming industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Software & Programming industry over the last five years. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
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.
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.
Skills based hiring in Software & Programming industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
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 -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can utilize new technology in the field of Software & Programming industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Software & Programming sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Software & Programming industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software in the Software & Programming industry. Now Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
Buying journey improvements
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Software & Programming industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, 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.
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.
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to increase its market reach. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Software & Programming industry. This can help Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software to build a more holistic ecosystem for Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software products in the Software & Programming industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Software & Programming industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Software & Programming sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 Software & Programming industry regulations.
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. Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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.
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sichuan Jiuyuan Yinhai Software 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 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.
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.
