Maison Internationale Informatique (ALMII) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Maison Internationale Informatique (France)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Maison Internationale Informatique is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Maison Internationale Informatique

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Maison Internationale Informatique can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Maison Internationale Informatique, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Maison Internationale Informatique can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Maison Internationale Informatique
2. Improving business portfolio management of Maison Internationale Informatique
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Schools sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Maison Internationale Informatique

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Strengths of Maison Internationale Informatique | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Maison Internationale Informatique are -

Digital Transformation in Schools industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Maison Internationale Informatique digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Training and development

– Maison Internationale Informatique has one of the best training and development program in Services 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.

Learning organization

- Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Maison Internationale Informatique is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Maison Internationale Informatique emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Maison Internationale Informatique in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Maison Internationale Informatique has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Maison Internationale Informatique to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Innovation driven organization

– Maison Internationale Informatique is one of the most innovative firm in Schools sector.

Diverse revenue streams

– Maison Internationale Informatique is present in almost all the verticals within the Schools industry. This has provided Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Organizational Resilience of Maison Internationale Informatique

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Maison Internationale Informatique does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Maison Internationale Informatique has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Schools industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Maison Internationale Informatique have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Strong track record of project management in the Schools industry

– Maison Internationale Informatique is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Schools industry

– Maison Internationale Informatique has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Maison Internationale Informatique to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Schools industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Maison Internationale Informatique to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Maison Internationale Informatique has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Maison Internationale Informatique staying ahead in the Schools industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

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Weaknesses of Maison Internationale Informatique | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Maison Internationale Informatique supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Maison Internationale Informatique is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Maison Internationale Informatique vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Maison Internationale Informatique, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Schools 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Schools industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in France, Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Schools industry.

High dependence on Maison Internationale Informatique ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of Maison Internationale Informatique still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Schools industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Maison Internationale Informatique has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Maison Internationale Informatique has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Schools 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Maison Internationale Informatique has high operating costs in the Schools industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Maison Internationale Informatique lucrative customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Maison Internationale Informatique, in the dynamic environment of Schools industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Maison Internationale Informatique has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Maison Internationale Informatique is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Schools industry, but Maison Internationale Informatique needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Maison Internationale Informatique to focus more on services in the Schools industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Maison Internationale Informatique needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Schools industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Maison Internationale Informatique can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Maison Internationale Informatique is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Maison Internationale Informatique is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Maison Internationale Informatique to provide better information regarding Schools products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Employees’ less understanding of Maison Internationale Informatique strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

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Maison Internationale Informatique Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Maison Internationale Informatique are -

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Maison Internationale Informatique is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Maison Internationale Informatique can utilize new technology in the field of Schools industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Maison Internationale Informatique can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help Maison Internationale Informatique to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Maison Internationale Informatique to increase its market reach. Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Maison Internationale Informatique can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Maison Internationale Informatique operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Schools sector.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Maison Internationale Informatique can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Schools industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Maison Internationale Informatique in the Schools industry. Now Maison Internationale Informatique can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Maison Internationale Informatique can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Schools 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Maison Internationale Informatique can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Schools 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Schools industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Maison Internationale Informatique 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. Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Schools industry.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

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Threats Maison Internationale Informatique External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Maison Internationale Informatique are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Maison Internationale Informatique in Schools industry. The Schools 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 disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

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 Maison Internationale Informatique business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Schools industry.

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. Maison Internationale Informatique 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Maison Internationale Informatique is facing in Schools sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Schools industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Maison Internationale Informatique can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Maison Internationale Informatique in the Schools sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Maison Internationale Informatique may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Schools sector.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Schools industry are lowering. It can presents Maison Internationale Informatique with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Schools 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. Maison Internationale Informatique needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Schools industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Maison Internationale Informatique Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Maison Internationale Informatique 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 Maison Internationale Informatique needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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