SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Fountaine Pajo (France)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Fountaine Pajo is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, 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 Fountaine Pajo can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fountaine Pajo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Fountaine Pajo
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fountaine Pajo
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Recreational Products sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Fountaine Pajo
Strengths of Fountaine Pajo | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fountaine Pajo are -
Innovation driven organization
– Fountaine Pajo is one of the most innovative firm in Recreational Products sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fountaine Pajo in Recreational Products industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry. The technology infrastructure of France 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Fountaine Pajo comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Recreational Products 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fountaine Pajo 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fountaine Pajo has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fountaine Pajo 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Fountaine Pajo in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Fountaine Pajo has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fountaine Pajo to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Recreational Products
– Fountaine Pajo is one of the leading players in the Recreational Products industry in France. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Recreational Products industry in France but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Fountaine Pajo in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Recreational Products industry
– Fountaine Pajo has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fountaine Pajo to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Recreational Products industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fountaine Pajo to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fountaine Pajo has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Recreational Products industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Fountaine Pajo have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Recreational Products industry
– Fountaine Pajo is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fountaine Pajo is present in almost all the verticals within the Recreational Products industry. This has provided Fountaine Pajo 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.
Weaknesses of Fountaine Pajo | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Fountaine Pajo is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fountaine Pajo vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Fountaine Pajo, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Recreational Products 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Fountaine Pajo has high operating costs in the Recreational Products industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Fountaine Pajo lucrative customers.
High dependence on Fountaine Pajo ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Fountaine Pajo still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Recreational Products industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Fountaine Pajo has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fountaine Pajo is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Recreational Products industry, but Fountaine Pajo needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fountaine Pajo to focus more on services in the Recreational Products industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fountaine Pajo products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fountaine Pajo needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Fountaine Pajo needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Recreational Products industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Fountaine Pajo can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fountaine Pajo is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fountaine Pajo has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Recreational Products industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Recreational Products industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in France, Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Fountaine Pajo 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.
Fountaine Pajo Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Fountaine Pajo are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fountaine Pajo has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Recreational Products industry. This can help Fountaine Pajo to build a more holistic ecosystem for Fountaine Pajo products in the Recreational Products industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Recreational Products industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Fountaine Pajo in the Recreational Products industry. Now Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fountaine Pajo 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. Fountaine Pajo 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.
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. Fountaine Pajo can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Recreational Products industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Fountaine Pajo can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fountaine Pajo can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fountaine Pajo operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Recreational Products sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Fountaine Pajo can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Recreational Products 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fountaine Pajo to increase its market reach. Fountaine Pajo 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.
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 Fountaine Pajo 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fountaine Pajo can develop new processes and procedures in Recreational Products 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fountaine Pajo has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Recreational Products sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Fountaine Pajo to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fountaine Pajo to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry.
Threats Fountaine Pajo External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Fountaine Pajo are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Recreational Products industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Fountaine Pajo can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fountaine Pajo has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Recreational Products industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fountaine Pajo needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Recreational Products 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Fountaine Pajo 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 Recreational Products industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fountaine Pajo 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Recreational Products industry are lowering. It can presents Fountaine Pajo with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Recreational Products sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fountaine Pajo is facing in Recreational Products sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Fountaine Pajo business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Fountaine Pajo 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. Fountaine Pajo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Recreational Products industry.
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. Fountaine Pajo needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Recreational Products industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Fountaine Pajo.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fountaine Pajo Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo 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 Fountaine Pajo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
