Suchuang Gas Corp (1430) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Natural Gas Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Suchuang Gas Corp (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Suchuang Gas Corp is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Suchuang Gas Corp
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Suchuang Gas Corp can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Suchuang Gas Corp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Suchuang Gas Corp
2. Improving business portfolio management of Suchuang Gas Corp
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 Suchuang Gas Corp
Strengths of Suchuang Gas Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Suchuang Gas Corp are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– Suchuang Gas Corp has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Suchuang Gas Corp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Suchuang Gas Corp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Suchuang Gas Corp in Natural Gas Utilities industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Suchuang Gas Corp in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Suchuang Gas Corp has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Suchuang Gas Corp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Suchuang Gas Corp has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Natural Gas Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Suchuang Gas Corp have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Ability to lead change in Natural Gas Utilities
– Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Suchuang Gas Corp has one of the best training and development program in Utilities 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Suchuang Gas Corp is one of the most innovative firm in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Digital Transformation in Natural Gas Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Suchuang Gas Corp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
High brand equity
– Suchuang Gas Corp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Suchuang Gas Corp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Suchuang Gas Corp is one of the leading players in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Weaknesses of Suchuang Gas Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Suchuang Gas Corp are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Suchuang Gas Corp 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. Suchuang Gas Corp should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Suchuang Gas Corp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, but Suchuang Gas Corp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Suchuang Gas Corp to focus more on services in the Natural Gas Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Suchuang Gas Corp 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. Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Suchuang Gas Corp 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, Suchuang Gas Corp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Suchuang Gas Corp is one of the leading players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Natural Gas Utilities industry in last five years.
Lack of clear differentiation of Suchuang Gas Corp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Suchuang Gas Corp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Suchuang Gas Corp, in the dynamic environment of Natural Gas Utilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Suchuang Gas Corp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Suchuang Gas Corp Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Suchuang Gas Corp are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Suchuang Gas Corp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Suchuang Gas Corp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Suchuang Gas Corp is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Suchuang Gas Corp can utilize new technology in the field of Natural Gas Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
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. Suchuang Gas Corp 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. Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
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 Suchuang Gas Corp to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Suchuang Gas Corp to increase its market reach. Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Suchuang Gas Corp can develop new processes and procedures in Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Suchuang Gas Corp can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Suchuang Gas Corp in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. Now Suchuang Gas Corp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Suchuang Gas Corp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can help Suchuang Gas Corp to build a more holistic ecosystem for Suchuang Gas Corp products in the Natural Gas Utilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Suchuang Gas Corp External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Suchuang Gas Corp are -
Regulatory challenges
– Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp prominent markets.
Increasing wage structure of Suchuang Gas Corp
– 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 Suchuang Gas Corp.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
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 Suchuang Gas Corp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Suchuang Gas Corp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Suchuang Gas Corp needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Environmental challenges
– Suchuang Gas Corp 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. Suchuang Gas Corp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp in the Natural Gas Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Suchuang Gas Corp is facing in Natural Gas Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Natural Gas Utilities industry are lowering. It can presents Suchuang Gas Corp 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Suchuang Gas Corp Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp 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 Suchuang Gas Corp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.