Gansu Guofang Industry (601086) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Retail (Department & Discount)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Gansu Guofang Industry (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Gansu Guofang Industry is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gansu Guofang Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Gansu Guofang Industry can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gansu Guofang Industry, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Gansu Guofang Industry
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gansu Guofang Industry
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 Gansu Guofang Industry
Strengths of Gansu Guofang Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gansu Guofang Industry are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gansu Guofang Industry has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Gansu Guofang Industry has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gansu Guofang Industry to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gansu Guofang Industry to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– Gansu Guofang Industry is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Gansu Guofang Industry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gansu Guofang Industry to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Organizational Resilience of Gansu Guofang Industry
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Gansu Guofang Industry does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Gansu Guofang Industry has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gansu Guofang Industry to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Gansu Guofang Industry emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Department & Discount)
– Gansu Guofang Industry is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Gansu Guofang Industry in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Gansu Guofang Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gansu Guofang Industry are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Gansu Guofang Industry, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Department & Discount) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gansu Guofang Industry has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gansu Guofang Industry is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, but Gansu Guofang Industry needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gansu Guofang Industry to focus more on services in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Gansu Guofang Industry is one of the leading players in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Gansu Guofang Industry needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gansu Guofang Industry has some of the most successful models in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Gansu Guofang Industry should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Gansu Guofang Industry needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Gansu Guofang Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gansu Guofang Industry is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Retail (Department & Discount) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry, Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Gansu Guofang Industry Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Gansu Guofang Industry are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
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 Gansu Guofang Industry in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. Now Gansu Guofang Industry can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry 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. Gansu Guofang Industry can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Department & Discount) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Gansu Guofang Industry can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
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 Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gansu Guofang Industry can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gansu Guofang Industry operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Retail (Department & Discount) sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gansu Guofang Industry can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Gansu Guofang Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Gansu Guofang Industry are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
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.
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 Gansu Guofang Industry.
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. Gansu Guofang Industry needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Department & Discount) industry are lowering. It can presents Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gansu Guofang Industry is facing in Retail (Department & Discount) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Gansu Guofang Industry 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. Gansu Guofang Industry can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gansu Guofang Industry has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Department & Discount) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
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. Gansu Guofang Industry can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Gansu Guofang Industry 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of Gansu Guofang Industry
– 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 Gansu Guofang Industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gansu Guofang Industry Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry 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 Gansu Guofang Industry needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
