SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech
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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech
Strengths of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech are -
Training and development
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
High brand equity
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech in Chemical Manufacturing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management in the Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is one of the most innovative firm in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is just above the Chemical Manufacturing industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, but Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to focus more on services in the Chemical Manufacturing industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech, in the dynamic environment of Chemical Manufacturing industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Chemical Manufacturing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to increase its market reach. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech can utilize new technology in the field of Chemical Manufacturing industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Chemical Manufacturing sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Threats Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech are -
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. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech.
Increasing wage structure of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech
– 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech.
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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech in the Chemical Manufacturing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemical Manufacturing 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
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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, Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech is facing in Chemical Manufacturing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech 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 Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
