Cibox Inter A (CIBP) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Computer Storage Devices
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Cibox Inter A (France)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Cibox Inter A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Cibox Inter A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cibox Inter A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Cibox Inter A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cibox Inter A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Computer Storage Devices sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cibox Inter A
Strengths of Cibox Inter A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cibox Inter A are -
Learning organization
- Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Cibox Inter A emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Computer Storage Devices industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cibox Inter A digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cibox Inter A 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 brand equity
– Cibox Inter A has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cibox Inter A to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cibox Inter A 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cibox Inter A in the Technology sector have low bargaining power. Cibox Inter A has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cibox Inter A to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cibox Inter A 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cibox Inter A
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Cibox Inter A does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Computer Storage Devices
– Cibox Inter A is one of the leading players in the Computer Storage Devices industry in France. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Computer Storage Devices industry in France but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Cibox Inter A in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cibox Inter A in Computer Storage Devices industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Computer Storage Devices industry
– Cibox Inter A has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cibox Inter A to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Computer Storage Devices industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cibox Inter A to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Cibox Inter A has one of the best training and development program in Technology 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cibox Inter A is one of the most innovative firm in Computer Storage Devices sector.
Weaknesses of Cibox Inter A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cibox Inter A are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cibox Inter A has some of the most successful models in the Computer Storage Devices industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Cibox Inter A should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cibox Inter A 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 France, Cibox Inter A needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Computer Storage Devices industry, Cibox Inter A 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Cibox Inter A needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Computer Storage Devices industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Cibox Inter A can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cibox Inter A is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cibox Inter A is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Computer Storage Devices industry, but Cibox Inter A needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cibox Inter A to focus more on services in the Computer Storage Devices industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cibox Inter A 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 Computer Storage Devices industry using digital technology.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Cibox Inter A, in the dynamic environment of Computer Storage Devices industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cibox Inter A has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Cibox Inter A has high operating costs in the Computer Storage Devices industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cibox Inter A lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cibox Inter A is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Cibox Inter A to provide better information regarding Computer Storage Devices products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cibox Inter A is one of the leading players in the Computer Storage Devices industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Computer Storage Devices industry in last five years.
Cibox Inter A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Cibox Inter A are -
Loyalty marketing
– Cibox Inter A 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Computer Storage Devices industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Cibox Inter A in the Computer Storage Devices industry. Now Cibox Inter A can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cibox Inter A can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Computer Storage Devices industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cibox Inter A can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cibox Inter A is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cibox Inter A can utilize new technology in the field of Computer Storage Devices industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cibox Inter A 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cibox Inter A 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cibox Inter A 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 Computer Storage Devices industry.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cibox Inter A to increase its market reach. Cibox Inter A 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Computer Storage Devices industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cibox Inter A 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. Cibox Inter A 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cibox Inter A in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Computer Storage Devices industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Cibox Inter A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Cibox Inter A are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cibox Inter A in Computer Storage Devices industry. The Computer Storage Devices 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.
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 Cibox Inter A.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cibox Inter A has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Computer Storage Devices industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cibox Inter A needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Computer Storage Devices 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.
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 Cibox Inter A in the Computer Storage Devices sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cibox Inter A demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Computer Storage Devices industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Computer Storage Devices industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cibox Inter A can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cibox Inter A 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 Computer Storage Devices 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. Cibox Inter A needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Computer Storage Devices industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Cibox Inter A 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 Computer Storage Devices industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Computer Storage Devices industry are lowering. It can presents Cibox Inter A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Computer Storage Devices sector.
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 Cibox Inter A business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Cibox Inter A 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. Cibox Inter A can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Computer Storage Devices industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cibox Inter A Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A 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 Cibox Inter A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
