Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities (1635) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Natural Gas Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities
2. Improving business portfolio management of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Natural Gas Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities
Strengths of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities are -
Digital Transformation in Natural Gas Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is one of the leading players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Natural Gas Utilities industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Natural Gas Utilities industry
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Natural Gas 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is one of the most innovative firm in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is present in almost all the verticals within the Natural Gas Utilities industry. This has provided Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities in Natural Gas Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is just above the Natural Gas Utilities 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 dependence on Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Natural Gas Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Natural Gas Utilities industry over the last five years. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has some of the most successful models in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities to provide better information regarding Natural Gas Utilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Skills based hiring in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
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. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. Now Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Natural Gas 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Natural Gas Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can help Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities to build a more holistic ecosystem for Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities products in the Natural Gas Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Threats Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Natural Gas Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry and other sectors.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
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.
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.
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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities
– 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Natural Gas Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Natural Gas Utilities sector.
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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities in the Natural Gas Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities 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 Shanghai DaZhong Public Utilities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.