Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink
2. Improving business portfolio management of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink
Strengths of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Learning organization
- Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink in Chemical Manufacturing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink staying ahead in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Chemical Manufacturing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Chemical Manufacturing 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.
High dependence on Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Chemical Manufacturing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry over the last five years. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry using digital technology.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has high operating costs in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink are -
Buying journey improvements
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to increase its market reach. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Chemical Manufacturing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemical Manufacturing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can develop new processes and procedures in Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can help Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink to build a more holistic ecosystem for Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Chemical Manufacturing 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemical Manufacturing industry are lowering. It can presents Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemical Manufacturing sector.
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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Environmental challenges
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry.
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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink in Chemical Manufacturing industry. The Chemical Manufacturing 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
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. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Chemical Manufacturing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink 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 Guangdong Sky Dragon Printing Ink needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
