Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities (1265) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Natural Gas Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities
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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities
Strengths of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Organizational Resilience of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Training and development
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is one of the most innovative firm in Natural Gas Utilities sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Natural Gas Utilities industry
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities staying ahead in the Natural Gas Utilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Natural Gas Utilities industry
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities in the Utilities sector have low bargaining power. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Weaknesses of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ less understanding of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Natural Gas Utilities industry, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 dependence on Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is just above the Natural Gas Utilities 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has high operating costs in the Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Natural Gas Utilities industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is planning to shift buying processes online.
Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
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. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Natural Gas Utilities industry. This can help Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to build a more holistic ecosystem for Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities products in the Natural Gas Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Natural Gas Utilities industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities to increase its market reach. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Threats Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Natural Gas Utilities industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 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, Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
Environmental challenges
– Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Natural Gas Utilities industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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.
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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Natural Gas Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Natural Gas Utilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities
– 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities 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 Tianjin Jinran Public Utilities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
