Elumeo SE (ELBG) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Fabricated Products
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Elumeo SE (Germany)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Elumeo SE is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Elumeo SE can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Elumeo SE, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Elumeo SE
2. Improving business portfolio management of Elumeo SE
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Germany
4. Making a Misc. Fabricated Products sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Elumeo SE
Strengths of Elumeo SE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Elumeo SE are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Elumeo SE comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Elumeo SE has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Fabricated Products industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Elumeo SE have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Elumeo SE 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Elumeo SE in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Elumeo SE has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Elumeo SE to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Elumeo SE 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Elumeo SE has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Elumeo SE staying ahead in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Elumeo SE has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Elumeo SE to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Elumeo SE is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This has provided Elumeo SE 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Elumeo SE is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– Elumeo SE has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Elumeo SE to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Elumeo SE to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Elumeo SE 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.
Learning organization
- Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Elumeo SE emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Elumeo SE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Elumeo SE are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Elumeo SE, in the dynamic environment of Misc. Fabricated Products industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Elumeo SE has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on Elumeo SE ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Elumeo SE still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Misc. Fabricated Products industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Elumeo SE has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Elumeo SE needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Elumeo SE can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Elumeo SE is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Elumeo SE 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Elumeo SE, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Elumeo SE is one of the leading players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Elumeo SE has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Elumeo SE has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry over the last five years. Elumeo SE 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Elumeo SE 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Elumeo SE is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry, but Elumeo SE needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Elumeo SE to focus more on services in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Elumeo SE has high operating costs in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Elumeo SE lucrative customers.
Elumeo SE Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Elumeo SE are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Elumeo SE can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Fabricated Products industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Elumeo SE in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry. Now Elumeo SE can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Elumeo SE 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. Elumeo SE 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Elumeo SE has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Fabricated Products industry. This can help Elumeo SE to build a more holistic ecosystem for Elumeo SE products in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Elumeo SE 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.
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 Elumeo SE 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Elumeo SE can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
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. Elumeo SE can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Elumeo SE 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry.
Buying journey improvements
– Elumeo SE can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Elumeo SE can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Elumeo SE operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Elumeo SE to increase its market reach. Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Elumeo SE are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Fabricated Products industry are lowering. It can presents Elumeo SE with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Elumeo SE 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry and other sectors.
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 Elumeo SE in the Misc. Fabricated Products sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Elumeo SE may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Fabricated Products sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Elumeo SE 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Elumeo SE 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. Elumeo SE can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Fabricated Products industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Elumeo SE in Misc. Fabricated Products industry. The Misc. Fabricated Products 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.
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. Elumeo SE 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE prominent markets.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Elumeo SE is facing in Misc. Fabricated Products sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Elumeo SE business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Elumeo SE 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 Misc. Fabricated Products industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Elumeo SE Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE 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 Elumeo SE needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
