Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Trucking sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics
Strengths of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Ability to lead change in Trucking
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is one of the leading players in the Trucking industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Trucking industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Trucking industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Trucking industry
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is present in almost all the verticals within the Trucking industry. This has provided Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Trucking industry
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Trucking industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is one of the most innovative firm in Trucking sector.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Trucking industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics staying ahead in the Trucking industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is one of the leading players in the Trucking 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.
Weaknesses of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring in Trucking industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has some of the most successful models in the Trucking industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to provide better information regarding Trucking products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Trucking industry, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has high operating costs in the Trucking industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is just above the Trucking 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Trucking industry, but Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to focus more on services in the Trucking industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics, in the dynamic environment of Trucking industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics are -
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 Feiliks Intl Logistics can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Trucking sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Trucking 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Trucking industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Trucking industry.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics to increase its market reach. Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics can develop new processes and procedures in Trucking 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Trucking industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Threats Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Trucking industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics in Trucking industry. The Trucking 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.
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 Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Trucking industry are lowering. It can presents Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Trucking sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics is facing in Trucking sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Trucking sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Trucking industry and other sectors.
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 Feiliks Intl Logistics in the Trucking sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Trucking industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Trucking 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jiangsu Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics 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 Feiliks Intl Logistics needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.