SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Finaxo Environnement (France)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Finaxo Environnement is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, 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, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Finaxo Environnement
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Finaxo Environnement can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Finaxo Environnement, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Finaxo Environnement
2. Improving business portfolio management of Finaxo Environnement
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Water Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Finaxo Environnement
Strengths of Finaxo Environnement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Finaxo Environnement are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Finaxo Environnement has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Water Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Finaxo Environnement have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Water Utilities industry
– Finaxo Environnement is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Finaxo Environnement emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Water Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Finaxo Environnement digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Finaxo Environnement 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Finaxo Environnement in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Finaxo Environnement has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Finaxo Environnement to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Finaxo Environnement is present in almost all the verticals within the Water Utilities industry. This has provided Finaxo Environnement 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.
Ability to lead change in Water Utilities
– Finaxo Environnement is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities industry in France. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Water Utilities industry in France but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Finaxo Environnement in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Water Utilities industry
– Finaxo Environnement has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Finaxo Environnement to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Water Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Finaxo Environnement to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Finaxo Environnement 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 recruit top talent
– Finaxo Environnement is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Finaxo Environnement comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Water Utilities 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Finaxo Environnement in Water Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Finaxo Environnement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Finaxo Environnement are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Finaxo Environnement has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Water Utilities industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Finaxo Environnement is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Water Utilities industry, but Finaxo Environnement needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Finaxo Environnement to focus more on services in the Water Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Finaxo Environnement has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Finaxo Environnement has high operating costs in the Water Utilities industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Finaxo Environnement lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Water Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in France, Finaxo Environnement 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 Water Utilities industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Finaxo Environnement 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Finaxo Environnement, in the dynamic environment of Water Utilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Finaxo Environnement has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Finaxo Environnement has some of the most successful models in the Water Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Finaxo Environnement should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Finaxo Environnement is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Finaxo Environnement to provide better information regarding Water Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on Finaxo Environnement ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Finaxo Environnement still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Water Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Finaxo Environnement has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Finaxo Environnement is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Water Utilities industry in last five years.
Finaxo Environnement Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Finaxo Environnement are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Finaxo Environnement can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Water Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Finaxo Environnement 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. Finaxo Environnement 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Finaxo Environnement has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Water Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Finaxo Environnement to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Finaxo Environnement to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Finaxo Environnement 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Finaxo Environnement 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Finaxo Environnement has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Water Utilities industry. This can help Finaxo Environnement to build a more holistic ecosystem for Finaxo Environnement products in the Water Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Finaxo Environnement can develop new processes and procedures in Water Utilities 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Finaxo Environnement can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Water Utilities 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Water Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Finaxo Environnement in the Water Utilities industry. Now Finaxo Environnement can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Finaxo Environnement 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 Water Utilities industry.
Threats Finaxo Environnement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement.
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. Finaxo Environnement 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Finaxo Environnement has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Water Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Finaxo Environnement needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Water Utilities 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.
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 Finaxo Environnement business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Water Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Finaxo Environnement 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
– Finaxo Environnement 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 Water Utilities industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Water Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Finaxo Environnement with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Water Utilities sector.
Increasing wage structure of Finaxo Environnement
– 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 Finaxo Environnement.
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. Finaxo Environnement needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Finaxo Environnement 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 Water Utilities industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Finaxo Environnement 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. Finaxo Environnement can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Water Utilities industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Finaxo Environnement Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement 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 Finaxo Environnement needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
