SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for S.A.S. Dragon (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , S.A.S. Dragon is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that S.A.S. Dragon can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the S.A.S. Dragon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of S.A.S. Dragon
2. Improving business portfolio management of S.A.S. Dragon
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Electronic Instr. & Controls sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of S.A.S. Dragon
Strengths of S.A.S. Dragon | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of S.A.S. Dragon are -
Ability to lead change in Electronic Instr. & Controls
– S.A.S. Dragon is one of the leading players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled S.A.S. Dragon in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– S.A.S. Dragon has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – S.A.S. Dragon staying ahead in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– S.A.S. Dragon is one of the most innovative firm in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that S.A.S. Dragon 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– S.A.S. Dragon has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. S.A.S. Dragon 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– S.A.S. Dragon has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of S.A.S. Dragon have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– S.A.S. Dragon is present in almost all the verticals within the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. This has provided S.A.S. Dragon 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.
Analytics focus
– S.A.S. Dragon 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls 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
- S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at S.A.S. Dragon emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of S.A.S. Dragon in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Weaknesses of S.A.S. Dragon | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of S.A.S. Dragon are -
Lack of clear differentiation of S.A.S. Dragon products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, S.A.S. Dragon needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As S.A.S. Dragon is one of the leading players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry in last five years.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, S.A.S. Dragon needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, S.A.S. Dragon has high operating costs in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract S.A.S. Dragon lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though S.A.S. Dragon has some of the most successful models in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. S.A.S. Dragon should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, S.A.S. Dragon needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, S.A.S. Dragon is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help S.A.S. Dragon to provide better information regarding Electronic Instr. & Controls products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on S.A.S. Dragon ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of S.A.S. Dragon still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though S.A.S. Dragon has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of S.A.S. Dragon is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry, but S.A.S. Dragon needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help S.A.S. Dragon to focus more on services in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ less understanding of S.A.S. Dragon strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon, in the dynamic environment of Electronic Instr. & Controls industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. S.A.S. Dragon has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
S.A.S. Dragon Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of S.A.S. Dragon are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– S.A.S. Dragon has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled S.A.S. Dragon to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help S.A.S. Dragon to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– S.A.S. Dragon can develop new processes and procedures in Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, S.A.S. Dragon is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. S.A.S. Dragon can utilize new technology in the field of Electronic Instr. & Controls 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, S.A.S. Dragon 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.
Buying journey improvements
– S.A.S. Dragon can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, S.A.S. Dragon can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that S.A.S. Dragon operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at S.A.S. Dragon 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry.
Loyalty marketing
– S.A.S. Dragon 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.
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. S.A.S. Dragon can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects S.A.S. Dragon can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of S.A.S. Dragon are -
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. S.A.S. Dragon 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.
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 S.A.S. Dragon.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– S.A.S. Dragon 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– S.A.S. Dragon 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon prominent markets.
Environmental challenges
– S.A.S. Dragon 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. S.A.S. Dragon can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Electronic Instr. & Controls industry are lowering. It can presents S.A.S. Dragon with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Electronic Instr. & Controls sector.
Increasing wage structure of S.A.S. Dragon
– 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 S.A.S. Dragon.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for S.A.S. Dragon in Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. The Electronic Instr. & Controls 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, S.A.S. Dragon may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Electronic Instr. & Controls 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. S.A.S. Dragon needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Electronic Instr. & Controls industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– S.A.S. Dragon 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 Electronic Instr. & Controls industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of S.A.S. Dragon Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon 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 S.A.S. Dragon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.