SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation
2. Improving business portfolio management of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Misc. Transportation sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation
Strengths of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Transportation industry. This has provided Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Transportation industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Transportation sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation in Misc. Transportation industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is one of the leading players in the Misc. Transportation 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Transportation industry
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Transportation industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Transportation 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.
Training and development
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has one of the best training and development program in Transportation 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Transportation industry
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation in the Transportation sector have low bargaining power. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has some of the most successful models in the Misc. Transportation industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Transportation industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Misc. Transportation industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is just above the Misc. Transportation 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Misc. Transportation industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Misc. Transportation industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Transportation industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Transportation industry, but Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation to focus more on services in the Misc. Transportation industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is one of the leading players in the Misc. Transportation industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Misc. Transportation industry in last five years.
Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can develop new processes and procedures in Misc. Transportation 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.
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. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Transportation 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
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Misc. Transportation industry.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Transportation industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Transportation industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation in the Misc. Transportation industry. Now Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Transportation industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Transportation industry. This can help Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation to build a more holistic ecosystem for Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation products in the Misc. Transportation industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Transportation 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Transportation sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Transportation industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Transportation 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Transportation industry.
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. Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation in Misc. Transportation industry. The Misc. Transportation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation in the Misc. Transportation sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Transportation industry are lowering. It can presents Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Transportation sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation is facing in Misc. Transportation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Misc. Transportation industry and other sectors.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation 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 Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
