Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical (603299) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Food Processing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Food Processing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical
Strengths of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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.
Ability to lead change in Food Processing
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is one of the leading players in the Food Processing industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Food Processing industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management in the Food Processing industry
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Food Processing 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Food Processing industry
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Food Processing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is present in almost all the verticals within the Food Processing industry. This has provided Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Food Processing 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.
Learning organization
- Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Food Processing 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.
Skills based hiring in Food Processing industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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.
High dependence on Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Food Processing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is just above the Food Processing 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has high operating costs in the Food Processing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Food Processing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Food Processing industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Food Processing industry, but Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to focus more on services in the Food Processing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Food Processing industry using digital technology.
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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Food Processing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can utilize new technology in the field of Food Processing 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 Food Processing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Food Processing sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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.
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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Food Processing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical in the Food Processing industry. Now Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Food Processing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Food Processing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Food Processing industry. This can help Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical to build a more holistic ecosystem for Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical products in the Food Processing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Food Processing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Food Processing 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.
Threats Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Food Processing sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical in Food Processing industry. The Food Processing 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.
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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Food Processing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Food Processing industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Food Processing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Food Processing industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical
– 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 Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical is facing in Food Processing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Food Processing industry are lowering. It can presents Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Food Processing sector.
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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jiangsu Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical 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 Jingshen Salt & Chemical needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
