SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Verbio Vereinigte (Germany)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Verbio Vereinigte is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Verbio Vereinigte
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Verbio Vereinigte can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Verbio Vereinigte, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Verbio Vereinigte
2. Improving business portfolio management of Verbio Vereinigte
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Germany
4. Making a Chemical Manufacturing sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Verbio Vereinigte
Strengths of Verbio Vereinigte | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Verbio Vereinigte are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Verbio Vereinigte in Chemical Manufacturing industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Verbio Vereinigte has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Verbio Vereinigte has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Verbio Vereinigte staying ahead in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Verbio Vereinigte does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Verbio Vereinigte has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Verbio Vereinigte 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.
Digital Transformation in Chemical Manufacturing industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Verbio Vereinigte digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Verbio Vereinigte 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.
Ability to lead change in Chemical Manufacturing
– Verbio Vereinigte is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in Germany. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in Germany but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Verbio Vereinigte in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Verbio Vereinigte has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Chemical Manufacturing industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Verbio Vereinigte have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Verbio Vereinigte is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in Germany. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Germany. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Verbio Vereinigte has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Verbio Vereinigte to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Verbio Vereinigte to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Chemical Manufacturing industry
– Verbio Vereinigte is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses of Verbio Vereinigte | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Verbio Vereinigte is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Verbio Vereinigte vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Verbio Vereinigte has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry over the last five years. Verbio Vereinigte even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Germany, Verbio Vereinigte 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Verbio Vereinigte products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Verbio Vereinigte needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Verbio Vereinigte is just above the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Verbio Vereinigte is one of the leading players in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Chemical Manufacturing industry in last five years.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Verbio Vereinigte is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Verbio Vereinigte to provide better information regarding Chemical Manufacturing products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Germany, Verbio Vereinigte needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Verbio Vereinigte, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Chemical Manufacturing 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 Verbio Vereinigte ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Verbio Vereinigte still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Chemical Manufacturing industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Verbio Vereinigte has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, Verbio Vereinigte 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.
Verbio Vereinigte Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Verbio Vereinigte are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Verbio Vereinigte 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Chemical Manufacturing industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Verbio Vereinigte in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. Now Verbio Vereinigte can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Verbio Vereinigte can develop new processes and procedures in Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Verbio Vereinigte can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Verbio Vereinigte 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.
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. Verbio Vereinigte can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Verbio Vereinigte in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Chemical Manufacturing industry. This can help Verbio Vereinigte to build a more holistic ecosystem for Verbio Vereinigte products in the Chemical Manufacturing industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Verbio Vereinigte has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Chemical Manufacturing sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Verbio Vereinigte to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Verbio Vereinigte to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Verbio Vereinigte can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Verbio Vereinigte 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Verbio Vereinigte are -
Regulatory challenges
– Verbio Vereinigte 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte prominent markets.
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. Verbio Vereinigte 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.
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. Verbio Vereinigte needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Chemical Manufacturing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Verbio Vereinigte.
Increasing wage structure of Verbio Vereinigte
– 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 Verbio Vereinigte.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Verbio Vereinigte 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 Chemical Manufacturing industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Verbio Vereinigte has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Chemical Manufacturing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Verbio Vereinigte needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Chemical Manufacturing 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Chemical Manufacturing industry are lowering. It can presents Verbio Vereinigte with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Chemical Manufacturing sector.
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 Chemical Manufacturing industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Verbio Vereinigte 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
– Verbio Vereinigte 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Verbio Vereinigte is facing in Chemical Manufacturing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Verbio Vereinigte Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte 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 Verbio Vereinigte needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.