361 Degrees Int (1361) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Footwear
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for 361 Degrees Int (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , 361 Degrees Int is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that 361 Degrees Int can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 361 Degrees Int, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of 361 Degrees Int
2. Improving business portfolio management of 361 Degrees Int
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 361 Degrees Int
Strengths of 361 Degrees Int | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 361 Degrees Int are -
High brand equity
– 361 Degrees Int has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 361 Degrees Int to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 361 Degrees Int in Footwear industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– 361 Degrees Int has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – 361 Degrees Int staying ahead in the Footwear industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– 361 Degrees Int is present in almost all the verticals within the Footwear industry. This has provided 361 Degrees Int 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
– 361 Degrees Int is one of the most innovative firm in Footwear sector.
Digital Transformation in Footwear industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For 361 Degrees Int digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. 361 Degrees Int 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Footwear industry
– 361 Degrees Int 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
– 361 Degrees Int has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. 361 Degrees Int 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– 361 Degrees Int 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.
Ability to lead change in Footwear
– 361 Degrees Int is one of the leading players in the Footwear industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Footwear industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled 361 Degrees Int in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing 361 Degrees Int does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of 361 Degrees Int | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of 361 Degrees Int are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, 361 Degrees Int is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help 361 Degrees Int to provide better information regarding Footwear products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, 361 Degrees Int 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. 361 Degrees Int 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As 361 Degrees Int is one of the leading players in the Footwear industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Footwear industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as 361 Degrees Int is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of 361 Degrees Int, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Footwear 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though 361 Degrees Int 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. 361 Degrees Int should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Footwear industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, 361 Degrees Int 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 Footwear industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, 361 Degrees Int 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.
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 361 Degrees Int supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, 361 Degrees Int is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left 361 Degrees Int vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of 361 Degrees Int is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Footwear industry, but 361 Degrees Int needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help 361 Degrees Int to focus more on services in the Footwear industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
361 Degrees Int Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of 361 Degrees Int are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for 361 Degrees Int 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.
Buying journey improvements
– 361 Degrees Int 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help 361 Degrees Int to increase its market reach. 361 Degrees Int 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.
Loyalty marketing
– 361 Degrees Int 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects 361 Degrees Int can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, 361 Degrees Int is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. 361 Degrees Int can utilize new technology in the field of Footwear industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, 361 Degrees Int 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.
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 361 Degrees Int in the Footwear industry. Now 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. 361 Degrees Int can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of 361 Degrees Int has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Footwear industry. This can help 361 Degrees Int to build a more holistic ecosystem for 361 Degrees Int products in the Footwear industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, 361 Degrees Int can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that 361 Degrees Int operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Footwear sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– 361 Degrees Int 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.
Threats 361 Degrees Int External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of 361 Degrees Int are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that 361 Degrees Int is facing in Footwear sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– 361 Degrees Int 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. 361 Degrees Int can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Footwear industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Footwear industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. 361 Degrees Int can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– 361 Degrees Int 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 Footwear industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 361 Degrees Int 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.
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. 361 Degrees Int 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 wage structure of 361 Degrees Int
– 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 361 Degrees Int.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– 361 Degrees Int has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Footwear industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 361 Degrees Int needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Footwear sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– 361 Degrees Int 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– 361 Degrees Int 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, 361 Degrees Int 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.
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. 361 Degrees Int needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Footwear industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of 361 Degrees Int Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int 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 361 Degrees Int needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
