Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , ANTA Sports Products is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ANTA Sports Products
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that ANTA Sports Products can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the ANTA Sports Products, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of ANTA Sports Products
2. Improving business portfolio management of ANTA Sports Products
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Footwear sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of ANTA Sports Products
Strengths of ANTA Sports Products | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of ANTA Sports Products are -
Analytics focus
– ANTA Sports Products 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 Footwear industry. The technology infrastructure of Hong Kong 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Footwear industry
– ANTA Sports Products is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of ANTA Sports Products in the Consumer Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. ANTA Sports Products has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps ANTA Sports Products to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Footwear industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For ANTA Sports Products digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. ANTA Sports Products 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.
Organizational Resilience of ANTA Sports Products
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing ANTA Sports Products does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– ANTA Sports Products has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled ANTA Sports Products to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that ANTA Sports Products 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– ANTA Sports Products has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Footwear industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of ANTA Sports Products have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– ANTA Sports Products has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. ANTA Sports Products 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.
Innovation driven organization
– ANTA Sports Products is one of the most innovative firm in Footwear sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– ANTA Sports Products is one of the leading players in the Footwear industry in Hong Kong. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Hong Kong. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of ANTA Sports Products comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Footwear 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 ANTA Sports Products | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, ANTA Sports Products is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left ANTA Sports Products vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of ANTA Sports Products is just above the Footwear 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, ANTA Sports Products has high operating costs in the Footwear industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract ANTA Sports Products lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though ANTA Sports Products has some of the most successful models in the Footwear industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. ANTA Sports Products 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, ANTA Sports Products is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help ANTA Sports Products to provide better information regarding Footwear products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of ANTA Sports Products is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Footwear industry, but ANTA Sports Products needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help ANTA Sports Products to focus more on services in the Footwear industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– ANTA Sports Products 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that ANTA Sports Products needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Footwear industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at ANTA Sports Products can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as ANTA Sports Products is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at ANTA Sports Products, in the dynamic environment of Footwear industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. ANTA Sports Products has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on ANTA Sports Products ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of ANTA Sports Products still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Footwear industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though ANTA Sports Products has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, ANTA Sports Products has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Footwear industry over the last five years. ANTA Sports Products 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.
ANTA Sports Products Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of ANTA Sports Products are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at ANTA Sports Products 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 Footwear industry.
Buying journey improvements
– ANTA Sports Products can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Footwear 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.
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. ANTA Sports Products can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– ANTA Sports Products has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Footwear sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled ANTA Sports Products to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help ANTA Sports Products to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Footwear industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. ANTA Sports Products 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. ANTA Sports Products 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.
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 ANTA Sports Products 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help ANTA Sports Products to increase its market reach. ANTA Sports Products 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, ANTA Sports Products can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that ANTA Sports Products operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Footwear sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– ANTA Sports Products can develop new processes and procedures in Footwear 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of ANTA Sports Products has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Footwear industry. This can help ANTA Sports Products to build a more holistic ecosystem for ANTA Sports Products products in the Footwear industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– ANTA Sports Products can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Footwear 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– ANTA Sports Products 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Footwear industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for ANTA Sports Products in the Footwear industry. Now ANTA Sports Products can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats ANTA Sports Products External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of ANTA Sports Products are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Footwear industry are lowering. It can presents ANTA Sports Products with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Footwear 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.
Environmental challenges
– ANTA Sports Products 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. ANTA Sports Products can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Footwear industry.
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 ANTA Sports Products.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for ANTA Sports Products in Footwear industry. The Footwear 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on ANTA Sports Products 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 Footwear industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that ANTA Sports Products is facing in Footwear 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 ANTA Sports Products business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of ANTA Sports Products
– 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 ANTA Sports Products.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– ANTA Sports Products 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 Footwear industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, ANTA Sports Products may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Footwear sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ANTA Sports Products Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products 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 ANTA Sports Products needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
