SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Shenzhen Zqgame (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Shenzhen Zqgame is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Shenzhen Zqgame can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Shenzhen Zqgame, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Shenzhen Zqgame
2. Improving business portfolio management of Shenzhen Zqgame
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Software & Programming sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Shenzhen Zqgame
Strengths of Shenzhen Zqgame | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Shenzhen Zqgame are -
Training and development
– Shenzhen Zqgame has one of the best training and development program in Technology industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Digital Transformation in Software & Programming industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Shenzhen Zqgame digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Analytics focus
– Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Software & Programming 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
High brand equity
– Shenzhen Zqgame has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Shenzhen Zqgame to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Shenzhen Zqgame is present in almost all the verticals within the Software & Programming industry. This has provided Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Shenzhen Zqgame has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Software & Programming industry
– Shenzhen Zqgame is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Shenzhen Zqgame
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Shenzhen Zqgame does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Software & Programming industry
– Shenzhen Zqgame has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Shenzhen Zqgame to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Software & Programming industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Shenzhen Zqgame to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Shenzhen Zqgame emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Shenzhen Zqgame | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shenzhen Zqgame are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Shenzhen Zqgame needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Software & Programming industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Shenzhen Zqgame can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Shenzhen Zqgame is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Shenzhen Zqgame, in the dynamic environment of Software & Programming industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Shenzhen Zqgame has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Software & Programming industry, Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Shenzhen Zqgame is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Software & Programming industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Shenzhen Zqgame has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Software & Programming industry over the last five years. Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Software & Programming industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring in Software & Programming industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Shenzhen Zqgame still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Software & Programming industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Shenzhen Zqgame has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Shenzhen Zqgame is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Software & Programming industry, but Shenzhen Zqgame needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Shenzhen Zqgame to focus more on services in the Software & Programming industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Shenzhen Zqgame has some of the most successful models in the Software & Programming industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Shenzhen Zqgame should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Shenzhen Zqgame Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Shenzhen Zqgame are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Software & Programming industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Shenzhen Zqgame 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. Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Software & Programming industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Shenzhen Zqgame in the Software & Programming industry. Now Shenzhen Zqgame can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Shenzhen Zqgame is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Shenzhen Zqgame can utilize new technology in the field of Software & Programming industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Software & Programming industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Shenzhen Zqgame can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Shenzhen Zqgame in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Software & Programming industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Shenzhen Zqgame can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Software & Programming 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Shenzhen Zqgame can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
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 Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Shenzhen Zqgame can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Software & Programming 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.
Threats Shenzhen Zqgame External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Shenzhen Zqgame are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Shenzhen Zqgame is facing in Software & Programming sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
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 Shenzhen Zqgame business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Shenzhen Zqgame needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Software & Programming industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Shenzhen Zqgame may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Software & Programming sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Software & Programming industry and other sectors.
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 Shenzhen Zqgame.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame prominent markets.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Shenzhen Zqgame has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Software & Programming industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Shenzhen Zqgame needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Software & Programming 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
– Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Software & Programming industry regulations.
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 Shenzhen Zqgame in the Software & Programming sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Shenzhen Zqgame 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shenzhen Zqgame Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame 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 Shenzhen Zqgame needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.