Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv (600119) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Business Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv
2. Improving business portfolio management of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Business Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv
Strengths of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Business Services industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Learning organization
- Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Business Services industry
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Business Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv staying ahead in the Business Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Business Services industry
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is one of the leading players in the Business Services 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Business Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Business Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
Organizational Resilience of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring in Business Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Business Services 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has high operating costs in the Business Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Business Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Business Services industry over the last five years. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Business Services industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Business Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Business Services industry, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can utilize new technology in the field of Business Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Business Services 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Business Services sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can develop new processes and procedures in Business Services 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Business Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv in the Business Services industry. Now Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Business Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv to increase its market reach. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv are -
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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv in the Business Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv.
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. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Business Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Business Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Business Services 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.
Environmental challenges
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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. Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Business Services industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Business Services industry are lowering. It can presents Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Business Services sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Business Services sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv is facing in Business Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Business Services industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Business Services industry regulations.
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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv 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 Y.U.D. Yangtze River Inv needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
