Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bright Smart Securities & Commodities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Conglomerates sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities
Strengths of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Conglomerates 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Conglomerates industry
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Bright Smart Securities & Commodities staying ahead in the Conglomerates industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Conglomerates industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is one of the leading players in the Conglomerates 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 Conglomerates
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is one of the leading players in the Conglomerates industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Conglomerates industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Bright Smart Securities & Commodities in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Conglomerates industry
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Conglomerates industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is one of the most innovative firm in Conglomerates sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities in Conglomerates industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Conglomerates 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.
Training and development
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has one of the best training and development program in Conglomerates 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.
Weaknesses of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has some of the most successful models in the Conglomerates industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ less understanding of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is one of the leading players in the Conglomerates industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Conglomerates industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Bright Smart Securities & Commodities needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Conglomerates industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Bright Smart Securities & Commodities, in the dynamic environment of Conglomerates industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is just above the Conglomerates 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to provide better information regarding Conglomerates products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on Bright Smart Securities & Commodities ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Conglomerates industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Conglomerates industry using digital technology.
Bright Smart Securities & Commodities Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can develop new processes and procedures in Conglomerates 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Conglomerates 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Conglomerates sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Conglomerates industry. This can help Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to build a more holistic ecosystem for Bright Smart Securities & Commodities products in the Conglomerates industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Conglomerates industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can utilize new technology in the field of Conglomerates industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Conglomerates industry.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Conglomerates 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bright Smart Securities & Commodities to increase its market reach. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bright Smart Securities & Commodities in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Conglomerates industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
Threats Bright Smart Securities & Commodities External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities are -
Increasing wage structure of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities
– 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Conglomerates industry are lowering. It can presents Bright Smart Securities & Commodities with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Conglomerates sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Conglomerates industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Bright Smart Securities & Commodities needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Conglomerates industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Conglomerates industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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.
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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities in the Conglomerates sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities prominent markets.
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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Conglomerates sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Conglomerates industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bright Smart Securities & Commodities has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Conglomerates industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bright Smart Securities & Commodities needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Conglomerates 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bright Smart Securities & Commodities Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities 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 Bright Smart Securities & Commodities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
