Traqueur SA (ALTRA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Security Systems & Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Traqueur SA (France)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Traqueur SA is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Traqueur SA can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Traqueur SA, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Traqueur SA
2. Improving business portfolio management of Traqueur SA
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Security Systems & Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Traqueur SA
Strengths of Traqueur SA | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Traqueur SA are -
Learning organization
- Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Traqueur SA emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Security Systems & Services industry
– Traqueur SA has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Traqueur SA to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Security Systems & Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Traqueur SA to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Traqueur SA has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Traqueur SA staying ahead in the Security Systems & Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Security Systems & Services industry
– Traqueur SA is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Traqueur SA has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Security Systems & Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Traqueur SA have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Traqueur SA is one of the leading players in the Security Systems & 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Traqueur SA is one of the most innovative firm in Security Systems & Services sector.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Traqueur SA 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Traqueur SA has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Traqueur SA 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.
Organizational Resilience of Traqueur SA
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Traqueur SA does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Traqueur SA is present in almost all the verticals within the Security Systems & Services industry. This has provided Traqueur SA 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Traqueur SA comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Security Systems & Services 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.
Weaknesses of Traqueur SA | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Traqueur SA are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in Security Systems & Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in France, Traqueur SA 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 Security Systems & Services industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Traqueur SA is one of the leading players in the Security Systems & Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Security Systems & Services industry in last five years.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Traqueur SA is just above the Security Systems & Services industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Traqueur SA 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Traqueur SA needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Security Systems & Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Traqueur SA can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Traqueur SA is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of France, Traqueur SA needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on Traqueur SA ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Traqueur SA still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Security Systems & Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Traqueur SA has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Traqueur SA has some of the most successful models in the Security Systems & Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Traqueur SA should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Traqueur SA has high operating costs in the Security Systems & Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Traqueur SA lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Traqueur SA products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Traqueur SA needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Traqueur SA has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Security Systems & 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.
Traqueur SA Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Traqueur SA 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, Traqueur SA can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Traqueur SA operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Security Systems & Services sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Traqueur SA 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Traqueur SA has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Security Systems & Services industry. This can help Traqueur SA to build a more holistic ecosystem for Traqueur SA products in the Security Systems & Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Security Systems & Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Traqueur SA 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. Traqueur SA 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Traqueur SA is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Traqueur SA can utilize new technology in the field of Security Systems & Services 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, Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Traqueur SA can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Traqueur SA has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Security Systems & Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Traqueur SA to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Traqueur SA to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Traqueur SA can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Security Systems & Services 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 Traqueur SA 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Traqueur SA can develop new processes and procedures in Security Systems & 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. Traqueur SA can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Traqueur SA to increase its market reach. Traqueur SA 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.
Threats Traqueur SA External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Traqueur SA are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Traqueur SA has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Security Systems & Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Traqueur SA needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Security Systems & Services 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Traqueur SA 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Traqueur SA 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 Security Systems & Services 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. Traqueur SA needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Security Systems & Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Traqueur SA 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. Traqueur SA can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Security Systems & Services industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Traqueur SA 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 Security Systems & Services industry regulations.
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 Traqueur SA business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Traqueur SA
– 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 Traqueur SA.
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.
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 Traqueur SA.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Traqueur SA is facing in Security Systems & Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Traqueur SA in the Security Systems & Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Traqueur SA Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA 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 Traqueur SA needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.