PMP (PMP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for PMP (Australia)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , PMP is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PMP

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that PMP can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the PMP, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which PMP 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of PMP can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of PMP
2. Improving business portfolio management of PMP
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Office Supplies sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of PMP

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Strengths of PMP | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of PMP are -

High brand equity

– PMP has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled PMP to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that PMP 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the PMP 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– PMP has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Office Supplies industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of PMP have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Strong track record of project management in the Office Supplies industry

– PMP is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of PMP in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. PMP has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps PMP to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Office Supplies industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For PMP digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. PMP 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.

Innovation driven organization

– PMP is one of the most innovative firm in Office Supplies sector.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– PMP has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – PMP staying ahead in the Office Supplies industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Successful track record of launching new products

– PMP has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. PMP 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– PMP is present in almost all the verticals within the Office Supplies industry. This has provided PMP 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.

Analytics focus

– PMP 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 Office Supplies industry. The technology infrastructure of Australia 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.

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Weaknesses of PMP | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of PMP are -

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, PMP has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Office Supplies industry over the last five years. PMP even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

PMP has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Office Supplies industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, PMP is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help PMP to provide better information regarding Office Supplies products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that PMP needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Office Supplies industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at PMP can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as PMP is planning to shift buying processes online.

High dependence on PMP ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of PMP still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Office Supplies industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though PMP has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, PMP 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 Office Supplies industry using digital technology.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As PMP is one of the leading players in the Office Supplies industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Office Supplies industry in last five years.

Skills based hiring in Office Supplies industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at PMP 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of PMP is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Office Supplies industry, but PMP needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help PMP to focus more on services in the Office Supplies industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Products dominated business model

– Even though PMP has some of the most successful models in the Office Supplies industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. PMP should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Australia, PMP needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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PMP Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of PMP are -

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Office Supplies industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for PMP in the Office Supplies industry. Now PMP can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, PMP 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of PMP has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Office Supplies industry. This can help PMP to build a more holistic ecosystem for PMP products in the Office Supplies industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 PMP 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for PMP 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, PMP can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that PMP operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Office Supplies sector.

Leveraging digital technologies

– PMP 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help PMP to increase its market reach. PMP 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– PMP can develop new processes and procedures in Office Supplies 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.

Manufacturing automation

– PMP can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Office Supplies 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects PMP can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, PMP is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. PMP can utilize new technology in the field of Office Supplies industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at PMP 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 Office Supplies industry.

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Threats PMP External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of PMP are -

High dependence on third party suppliers

– PMP 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.

Environmental challenges

– PMP 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. PMP can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Office Supplies industry.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Office Supplies industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. PMP can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, PMP may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Office Supplies sector.

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. PMP 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.

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 PMP business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– PMP has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Office Supplies industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, PMP needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Office Supplies 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.

Regulatory challenges

– PMP needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Office Supplies industry regulations.

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 wage structure of PMP

– 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 PMP.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– PMP 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 Office Supplies industry.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, PMP 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 PMP prominent markets.

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. PMP needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Office Supplies industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of PMP Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at PMP 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 PMP 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 PMP 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 PMP 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 PMP needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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