SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Xinjiang Sailing (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Xinjiang Sailing is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Xinjiang Sailing can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xinjiang Sailing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Xinjiang Sailing
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xinjiang Sailing
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Computer Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Xinjiang Sailing
Strengths of Xinjiang Sailing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xinjiang Sailing are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Analytics focus
– Xinjiang Sailing 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 Computer Services 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.
Training and development
– Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Learning organization
- Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Xinjiang Sailing emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xinjiang Sailing has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Xinjiang Sailing staying ahead in the Computer Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Xinjiang Sailing 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
– Xinjiang Sailing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Xinjiang Sailing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Xinjiang Sailing is one of the most innovative firm in Computer Services sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Services industry
– Xinjiang Sailing has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Xinjiang Sailing to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Computer Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Xinjiang Sailing to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Computer Services industry
– Xinjiang Sailing is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Xinjiang Sailing has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Computer Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Xinjiang Sailing have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Xinjiang Sailing is one of the leading players in the Computer 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.
Weaknesses of Xinjiang Sailing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Xinjiang Sailing are -
High dependence on Xinjiang Sailing ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Xinjiang Sailing still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Computer Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Xinjiang Sailing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Xinjiang Sailing needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Computer Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Xinjiang Sailing can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Xinjiang Sailing is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Xinjiang Sailing has high operating costs in the Computer Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Xinjiang Sailing lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Xinjiang Sailing needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Computer Services industry, Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Xinjiang Sailing strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Xinjiang Sailing don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Xinjiang Sailing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Computer Services industry, but Xinjiang Sailing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Xinjiang Sailing to focus more on services in the Computer Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Xinjiang Sailing is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Xinjiang Sailing to provide better information regarding Computer Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Computer Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Xinjiang Sailing 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 Computer Services industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Xinjiang Sailing has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Xinjiang Sailing has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Computer 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.
Xinjiang Sailing Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Xinjiang Sailing are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Xinjiang Sailing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Xinjiang Sailing has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Computer Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Xinjiang Sailing to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Xinjiang Sailing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Xinjiang Sailing 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 Computer Services industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Xinjiang Sailing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Computer Services industry. This can help Xinjiang Sailing to build a more holistic ecosystem for Xinjiang Sailing products in the Computer Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Xinjiang Sailing to increase its market reach. Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Xinjiang Sailing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Xinjiang Sailing can utilize new technology in the field of Computer Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Computer Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Xinjiang Sailing in the Computer Services industry. Now Xinjiang Sailing can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Computer Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Xinjiang Sailing 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. Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Threats Xinjiang Sailing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Xinjiang Sailing are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Computer Services industry are lowering. It can presents Xinjiang Sailing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Computer Services sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Xinjiang Sailing in Computer Services industry. The Computer Services 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Xinjiang Sailing 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 Computer Services industry regulations.
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.
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. Xinjiang Sailing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Xinjiang Sailing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Xinjiang Sailing needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer 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.
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 Xinjiang Sailing business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Xinjiang Sailing.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Xinjiang Sailing 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Computer Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Xinjiang Sailing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Xinjiang Sailing 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 Computer Services industry.
Increasing wage structure of Xinjiang Sailing
– 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 Xinjiang Sailing.
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 Xinjiang Sailing in the Computer Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Xinjiang Sailing Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing 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 Xinjiang Sailing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
