SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Imprimerie Chirat (France)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Imprimerie Chirat is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Imprimerie Chirat
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Imprimerie Chirat can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Imprimerie Chirat, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Imprimerie Chirat
2. Improving business portfolio management of Imprimerie Chirat
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Printing Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Imprimerie Chirat
Strengths of Imprimerie Chirat | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Imprimerie Chirat are -
Analytics focus
– Imprimerie Chirat 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 Printing Services 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Imprimerie Chirat has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Imprimerie Chirat is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry in France. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in France. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Imprimerie Chirat is one of the most innovative firm in Printing Services sector.
Digital Transformation in Printing Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Imprimerie Chirat digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Printing Services industry
– Imprimerie Chirat has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Imprimerie Chirat to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Printing Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Imprimerie Chirat to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Ability to lead change in Printing Services
– Imprimerie Chirat is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry in France. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Printing Services industry in France but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Imprimerie Chirat in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Imprimerie Chirat
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Imprimerie Chirat does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Imprimerie Chirat has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Imprimerie Chirat staying ahead in the Printing Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Imprimerie Chirat is present in almost all the verticals within the Printing Services industry. This has provided Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Imprimerie Chirat are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Imprimerie Chirat needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Printing Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Imprimerie Chirat can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Imprimerie Chirat is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Imprimerie Chirat, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Printing Services 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 dependence on Imprimerie Chirat ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Imprimerie Chirat still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Printing Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Imprimerie Chirat has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Imprimerie Chirat is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Imprimerie Chirat to provide better information regarding Printing Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Imprimerie Chirat has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Printing Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Imprimerie Chirat has some of the most successful models in the Printing Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Imprimerie Chirat should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Printing Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in France, Imprimerie Chirat 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 Printing Services industry.
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 Imprimerie Chirat supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Imprimerie Chirat is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Imprimerie Chirat vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Imprimerie Chirat is one of the leading players in the Printing Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Printing Services industry in last five years.
Employees’ less understanding of Imprimerie Chirat strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Imprimerie Chirat is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Printing Services industry, but Imprimerie Chirat needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Imprimerie Chirat to focus more on services in the Printing Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Imprimerie Chirat Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Imprimerie Chirat are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Imprimerie Chirat can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Imprimerie Chirat operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Printing Services sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Imprimerie Chirat is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Imprimerie Chirat can utilize new technology in the field of Printing Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Imprimerie Chirat 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Imprimerie Chirat in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Printing Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Imprimerie Chirat 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
– Imprimerie Chirat can develop new processes and procedures in Printing Services 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.
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. Imprimerie Chirat can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Imprimerie Chirat has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Printing Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Imprimerie Chirat to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Imprimerie Chirat to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Imprimerie Chirat 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
– Imprimerie Chirat can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Printing Services 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Imprimerie Chirat can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Imprimerie Chirat are -
Environmental challenges
– Imprimerie Chirat 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. Imprimerie Chirat can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Printing Services 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. Imprimerie Chirat 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.
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 Imprimerie Chirat business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Imprimerie Chirat needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Printing Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Imprimerie Chirat
– 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 Imprimerie Chirat.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Imprimerie Chirat may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Printing Services sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Imprimerie Chirat is facing in Printing Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Imprimerie Chirat.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Printing Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Imprimerie Chirat can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Imprimerie Chirat 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.
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 Imprimerie Chirat in the Printing Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Imprimerie Chirat Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat 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 Imprimerie Chirat needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.