SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Beijing Wanji Tech (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Beijing Wanji Tech is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Beijing Wanji Tech
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Beijing Wanji Tech can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beijing Wanji Tech, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Beijing Wanji Tech
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beijing Wanji Tech
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Misc. Capital Goods sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Beijing Wanji Tech
Strengths of Beijing Wanji Tech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Beijing Wanji Tech are -
Analytics focus
– Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– Beijing Wanji Tech has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Beijing Wanji Tech to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Beijing Wanji Tech to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Beijing Wanji Tech comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Ability to lead change in Misc. Capital Goods
– Beijing Wanji Tech is one of the leading players in the Misc. Capital Goods industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Misc. Capital Goods industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Beijing Wanji Tech in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Beijing Wanji Tech
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Beijing Wanji Tech does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Beijing Wanji Tech has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Capital Goods industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Beijing Wanji Tech have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Beijing Wanji Tech is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This has provided Beijing Wanji Tech a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Digital Transformation in Misc. Capital Goods industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Beijing Wanji Tech digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Learning organization
- Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Beijing Wanji Tech emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Beijing Wanji Tech has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Beijing Wanji Tech to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Beijing Wanji Tech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Beijing Wanji Tech are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Beijing Wanji Tech has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Misc. Capital Goods 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry, Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Beijing Wanji Tech has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Capital Goods industry over the last five years. Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech is just above the Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Beijing Wanji Tech needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Beijing Wanji Tech has high operating costs in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Beijing Wanji Tech lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Beijing Wanji Tech is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Capital Goods industry, but Beijing Wanji Tech needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Beijing Wanji Tech to focus more on services in the Misc. Capital Goods industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Beijing Wanji Tech has some of the most successful models in the Misc. Capital Goods industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Beijing Wanji Tech should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Beijing Wanji Tech Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Beijing Wanji Tech are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Beijing Wanji Tech has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Capital Goods industry. This can help Beijing Wanji Tech to build a more holistic ecosystem for Beijing Wanji Tech products in the Misc. Capital Goods industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Beijing Wanji Tech has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Capital Goods sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Beijing Wanji Tech to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Capital Goods industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Beijing Wanji Tech in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. Now Beijing Wanji Tech can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Beijing Wanji Tech can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Beijing Wanji Tech can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Beijing Wanji Tech operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Capital Goods sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Beijing Wanji Tech can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Beijing Wanji Tech is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Beijing Wanji Tech can utilize new technology in the field of Misc. Capital Goods industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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. Beijing Wanji Tech can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Threats Beijing Wanji Tech External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech in the Misc. Capital Goods sector and impact the bottomline 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. Beijing Wanji Tech needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Capital Goods industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Beijing Wanji Tech 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Misc. Capital Goods industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Capital Goods industry are lowering. It can presents Beijing Wanji Tech with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Capital Goods sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Beijing Wanji Tech may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Capital Goods sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech prominent markets.
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 Beijing Wanji Tech.
Increasing wage structure of Beijing Wanji Tech
– 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 Beijing Wanji Tech.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Beijing Wanji Tech has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Capital Goods industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Beijing Wanji Tech needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Capital Goods 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
– Beijing Wanji Tech 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. Beijing Wanji Tech can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Capital Goods industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Beijing Wanji Tech is facing in Misc. Capital Goods sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Beijing Wanji Tech in Misc. Capital Goods industry. The Misc. Capital Goods 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Beijing Wanji Tech Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech 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 Beijing Wanji Tech needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
