SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for ArcherMind Tech Nanjing (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that ArcherMind Tech Nanjing can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the ArcherMind Tech Nanjing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing
2. Improving business portfolio management of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing
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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing
Strengths of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing are -
High brand equity
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled ArcherMind Tech Nanjing to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is one of the most innovative firm in Software & Programming sector.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Ability to lead change in Software & Programming
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Software & Programming industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled ArcherMind Tech Nanjing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing in Software & Programming industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Software & Programming industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For ArcherMind Tech Nanjing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps ArcherMind Tech Nanjing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Software & Programming industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is one of the leading players in the Software & Programming 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.
Organizational Resilience of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing ArcherMind Tech Nanjing does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – ArcherMind Tech Nanjing staying ahead in the Software & Programming industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing are -
Lack of clear differentiation of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Software & Programming industry, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at ArcherMind Tech Nanjing, in the dynamic environment of Software & Programming industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on ArcherMind Tech Nanjing ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Software & Programming 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Software & Programming industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ less understanding of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Skills based hiring in Software & Programming industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Software & Programming industry, but ArcherMind Tech Nanjing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help ArcherMind Tech Nanjing to focus more on services in the Software & Programming industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Software & Programming industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 Software & Programming industry.
ArcherMind Tech Nanjing Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing are -
Buying journey improvements
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Manufacturing automation
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects ArcherMind Tech Nanjing can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Software & Programming industry. This can help ArcherMind Tech Nanjing to build a more holistic ecosystem for ArcherMind Tech Nanjing products in the Software & Programming 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing to increase its market reach. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 Software & Programming industry.
Loyalty marketing
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
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. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
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. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Threats ArcherMind Tech Nanjing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing are -
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.
Environmental challenges
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Software & Programming industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing in the Software & Programming 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– ArcherMind Tech Nanjing has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Software & Programming industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that ArcherMind Tech Nanjing is facing in Software & Programming sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Software & Programming industry are lowering. It can presents ArcherMind Tech Nanjing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Software & Programming sector.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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.
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. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Software & Programming industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Software & Programming industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. ArcherMind Tech Nanjing can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ArcherMind Tech Nanjing Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing 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 ArcherMind Tech Nanjing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.