Weiqiao Textile Co (2698) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Textiles - Non Apparel
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Weiqiao Textile Co (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Weiqiao Textile Co is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Weiqiao Textile Co
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Weiqiao Textile Co can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Weiqiao Textile Co, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Weiqiao Textile Co
2. Improving business portfolio management of Weiqiao Textile Co
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Textiles - Non Apparel sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Weiqiao Textile Co
Strengths of Weiqiao Textile Co | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Weiqiao Textile Co are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Weiqiao Textile Co comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Ability to lead change in Textiles - Non Apparel
– Weiqiao Textile Co is one of the leading players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Weiqiao Textile Co in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Weiqiao Textile Co has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Weiqiao Textile Co does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Weiqiao Textile Co has one of the best training and development program in Consumer Cyclical 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.
Analytics focus
– Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Learning organization
- Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Weiqiao Textile Co emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– Weiqiao Textile Co is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Weiqiao Textile Co digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Weiqiao Textile Co in Textiles - Non Apparel industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– Weiqiao Textile Co has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Weiqiao Textile Co to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Weiqiao Textile Co to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses of Weiqiao Textile Co | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Weiqiao Textile Co are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Weiqiao Textile Co has some of the most successful models in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Weiqiao Textile Co should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Weiqiao Textile Co has high operating costs in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Weiqiao Textile Co lucrative customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Weiqiao Textile Co strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Weiqiao Textile Co, in the dynamic environment of Textiles - Non Apparel industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Weiqiao Textile Co has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Weiqiao Textile Co, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Weiqiao Textile Co is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry, but Weiqiao Textile Co needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Weiqiao Textile Co to focus more on services in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Weiqiao Textile Co needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Weiqiao Textile Co can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Weiqiao Textile Co is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Weiqiao Textile Co has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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, Weiqiao Textile Co has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry over the last five years. Weiqiao Textile Co even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High 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 Weiqiao Textile Co supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Weiqiao Textile Co is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Weiqiao Textile Co vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Weiqiao Textile Co Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Weiqiao Textile Co are -
Loyalty marketing
– Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Weiqiao Textile Co is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Weiqiao Textile Co can utilize new technology in the field of Textiles - Non Apparel industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Weiqiao Textile Co can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Weiqiao Textile Co operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Textiles - Non Apparel sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Textiles - Non Apparel industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Weiqiao Textile Co in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. Now Weiqiao Textile Co can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Textiles - Non Apparel industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Weiqiao Textile Co can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Weiqiao Textile Co has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Textiles - Non Apparel industry. This can help Weiqiao Textile Co to build a more holistic ecosystem for Weiqiao Textile Co products in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Weiqiao Textile Co has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Textiles - Non Apparel sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Weiqiao Textile Co to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Weiqiao Textile Co to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Threats Weiqiao Textile Co External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Weiqiao Textile Co are -
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 Weiqiao Textile Co in the Textiles - Non Apparel sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co prominent markets.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Weiqiao Textile Co has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Weiqiao Textile Co needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
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. Weiqiao Textile Co 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Textiles - Non Apparel industry are lowering. It can presents Weiqiao Textile Co with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Textiles - Non Apparel sector.
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 Weiqiao Textile Co.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Weiqiao Textile Co in Textiles - Non Apparel industry. The Textiles - Non Apparel 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Textiles - Non Apparel industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Weiqiao Textile Co can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Textiles - Non Apparel industry.
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. Weiqiao Textile Co needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Textiles - Non Apparel industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Weiqiao Textile Co is facing in Textiles - Non Apparel sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Weiqiao Textile Co Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co 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 Weiqiao Textile Co needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
