SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Forestiere Equatoriale (France)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Forestiere Equatoriale is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Forestiere Equatoriale
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Forestiere Equatoriale can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Forestiere Equatoriale, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Forestiere Equatoriale
2. Improving business portfolio management of Forestiere Equatoriale
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Railroads sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Forestiere Equatoriale
Strengths of Forestiere Equatoriale | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Forestiere Equatoriale are -
Learning organization
- Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Forestiere Equatoriale emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Forestiere Equatoriale has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Analytics focus
– Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Railroads 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Forestiere Equatoriale has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Railroads industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Forestiere Equatoriale have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Railroads industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Forestiere Equatoriale digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Railroads
– Forestiere Equatoriale is one of the leading players in the Railroads industry in France. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Railroads industry in France but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Forestiere Equatoriale in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Forestiere Equatoriale is one of the most innovative firm in Railroads sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Forestiere Equatoriale in Railroads industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Forestiere Equatoriale has one of the best training and development program in Transportation 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Forestiere Equatoriale comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Railroads 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Forestiere Equatoriale in the Transportation sector have low bargaining power. Forestiere Equatoriale has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Forestiere Equatoriale to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Forestiere Equatoriale | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Forestiere Equatoriale are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in Railroads industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in France, Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Railroads industry.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Forestiere Equatoriale has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Railroads industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Forestiere Equatoriale is just above the Railroads 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Forestiere Equatoriale is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Railroads industry, but Forestiere Equatoriale needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Forestiere Equatoriale to focus more on services in the Railroads industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Forestiere Equatoriale, in the dynamic environment of Railroads industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Forestiere Equatoriale has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Railroads industry, Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Forestiere Equatoriale is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Forestiere Equatoriale to provide better information regarding Railroads products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Forestiere Equatoriale is one of the leading players in the Railroads industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Railroads industry in last five years.
Employees’ less understanding of Forestiere Equatoriale strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Forestiere Equatoriale needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Railroads industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Forestiere Equatoriale can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Forestiere Equatoriale is planning to shift buying processes online.
Forestiere Equatoriale Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Forestiere Equatoriale are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Forestiere Equatoriale in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Railroads industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Forestiere Equatoriale has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Railroads industry. This can help Forestiere Equatoriale to build a more holistic ecosystem for Forestiere Equatoriale products in the Railroads 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 Forestiere Equatoriale to increase its market reach. Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Forestiere Equatoriale 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
– Forestiere Equatoriale can develop new processes and procedures in Railroads 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Forestiere Equatoriale is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Forestiere Equatoriale can utilize new technology in the field of Railroads industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Railroads industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Forestiere Equatoriale can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Forestiere Equatoriale can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Railroads 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Forestiere Equatoriale has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Railroads sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Forestiere Equatoriale to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Forestiere Equatoriale to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Forestiere Equatoriale External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Forestiere Equatoriale are -
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 Forestiere Equatoriale.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Railroads industry.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Forestiere Equatoriale is facing in Railroads sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale prominent markets.
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. Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Environmental challenges
– Forestiere Equatoriale 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. Forestiere Equatoriale can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Railroads industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Forestiere Equatoriale in Railroads industry. The Railroads 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.
Increasing wage structure of Forestiere Equatoriale
– 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 Forestiere Equatoriale.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Railroads industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Forestiere Equatoriale can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Forestiere Equatoriale may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Railroads sector.
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. Forestiere Equatoriale needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Railroads industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Forestiere Equatoriale 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Forestiere Equatoriale Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale 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 Forestiere Equatoriale needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
