SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Wuxi Smart Auto-control (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Wuxi Smart Auto-control is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Wuxi Smart Auto-control
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Wuxi Smart Auto-control can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wuxi Smart Auto-control, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Wuxi Smart Auto-control
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wuxi Smart Auto-control
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Misc. Fabricated Products sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Wuxi Smart Auto-control
Strengths of Wuxi Smart Auto-control | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wuxi Smart Auto-control are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Wuxi Smart Auto-control staying ahead in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wuxi Smart Auto-control in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Wuxi Smart Auto-control has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wuxi Smart Auto-control to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Wuxi Smart Auto-control in Misc. Fabricated Products industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Wuxi Smart Auto-control comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Analytics focus
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The technology infrastructure of China is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This has provided Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wuxi Smart Auto-control to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wuxi Smart Auto-control to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control is one of the leading players in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Digital Transformation in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wuxi Smart Auto-control digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wuxi Smart Auto-control has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses of Wuxi Smart Auto-control | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Wuxi Smart Auto-control are -
Skills based hiring in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wuxi Smart Auto-control products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wuxi Smart Auto-control needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of Wuxi Smart Auto-control strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, but Wuxi Smart Auto-control needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wuxi Smart Auto-control to focus more on services in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Wuxi Smart Auto-control has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Wuxi Smart Auto-control has high operating costs in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Wuxi Smart Auto-control lucrative customers.
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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Wuxi Smart Auto-control is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wuxi Smart Auto-control vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Wuxi Smart Auto-control needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Wuxi Smart Auto-control can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wuxi Smart Auto-control is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wuxi Smart Auto-control is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Wuxi Smart Auto-control to provide better information regarding Misc. Fabricated Products products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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. Fabricated Products industry using digital technology.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Wuxi Smart Auto-control, in the dynamic environment of Misc. Fabricated Products industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wuxi Smart Auto-control has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Wuxi Smart Auto-control Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Wuxi Smart Auto-control are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wuxi Smart Auto-control to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wuxi Smart Auto-control can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wuxi Smart Auto-control can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wuxi Smart Auto-control operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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. Fabricated Products industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wuxi Smart Auto-control to increase its market reach. Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This can help Wuxi Smart Auto-control to build a more holistic ecosystem for Wuxi Smart Auto-control products in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wuxi Smart Auto-control is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Wuxi Smart Auto-control can utilize new technology in the field of Misc. Fabricated Products industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Fabricated Products industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Wuxi Smart Auto-control can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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. Fabricated Products industry.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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.
Threats Wuxi Smart Auto-control External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Wuxi Smart Auto-control are -
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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wuxi Smart Auto-control needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Misc. Fabricated Products industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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, Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Fabricated Products industry are lowering. It can presents Wuxi Smart Auto-control with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Fabricated Products 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. Wuxi Smart Auto-control needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wuxi Smart Auto-control in Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Environmental challenges
– Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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. Wuxi Smart Auto-control can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry.
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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control in the Misc. Fabricated Products sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Wuxi Smart Auto-control Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control 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 Wuxi Smart Auto-control needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
