Jiangsu Jiangnan Water (601199) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Water Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Jiangsu Jiangnan Water (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jiangsu Jiangnan Water, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Water Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water
Strengths of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water are -
Training and development
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has one of the best training and development program in Utilities 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Water Utilities industry
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Water Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities 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.
Ability to lead change in Water Utilities
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Water Utilities industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Jiangsu Jiangnan Water in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
Learning organization
- Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Jiangsu Jiangnan Water emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Water Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Water Utilities industry
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water in Water Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in Water Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Water Utilities industry.
High dependence on Jiangsu Jiangnan Water ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Water Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Water Utilities industry in last five years.
Employees’ less understanding of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jiangsu Jiangnan Water vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to provide better information regarding Water Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring in Water Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is just above the Water Utilities 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Water Utilities 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has some of the most successful models in the Water Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Jiangsu Jiangnan Water Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can utilize new technology in the field of Water Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Water Utilities 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jiangsu Jiangnan Water operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Water Utilities sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Water Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
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. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Water Utilities 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can develop new processes and procedures in Water Utilities 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Water Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jiangsu Jiangnan Water to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Jiangsu Jiangnan Water External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Water Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jiangsu Jiangnan Water in Water Utilities industry. The Water Utilities 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.
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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Water Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Water Utilities 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Jiangsu Jiangnan Water may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Water Utilities sector.
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. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water.
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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water in the Water Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Jiangnan Water Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water 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 Jiangsu Jiangnan Water needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.