Suga Intl (912) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Audio & Video Equipment
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Suga Intl (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Suga Intl is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, 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, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Suga Intl can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Suga Intl, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Suga Intl
2. Improving business portfolio management of Suga Intl
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Audio & Video Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Suga Intl
Strengths of Suga Intl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Suga Intl are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Audio & Video Equipment industry
– Suga Intl has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Suga Intl to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Suga Intl to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Suga Intl has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Suga Intl staying ahead in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Suga Intl is one of the most innovative firm in Audio & Video Equipment sector.
Diverse revenue streams
– Suga Intl is present in almost all the verticals within the Audio & Video Equipment industry. This has provided Suga Intl 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Suga Intl has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Audio & Video Equipment industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Suga Intl have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Suga Intl has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Suga Intl 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.
Analytics focus
– Suga Intl 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 Audio & Video Equipment 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
– Suga Intl has one of the best training and development program in Consumer Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Suga Intl comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Audio & Video Equipment 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.
Digital Transformation in Audio & Video Equipment industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Suga Intl digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Suga Intl 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Suga Intl 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Audio & Video Equipment industry
– Suga Intl is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses of Suga Intl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Suga Intl are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Suga Intl has high operating costs in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Suga Intl lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Suga Intl products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Suga Intl needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of Suga Intl strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Suga Intl 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Suga Intl 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry using digital technology.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Suga Intl 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.
Skills based hiring in Audio & Video Equipment industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Suga Intl 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Suga Intl is one of the leading players in the Audio & Video Equipment industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Audio & Video Equipment industry in last five years.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Suga Intl, in the dynamic environment of Audio & Video Equipment industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Suga Intl has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Suga Intl has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Audio & Video Equipment industry over the last five years. Suga Intl 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Audio & Video Equipment industry, Suga Intl 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Suga Intl is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Suga Intl to provide better information regarding Audio & Video Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Suga Intl Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Suga Intl are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Suga Intl can develop new processes and procedures in Audio & Video Equipment 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Suga Intl to increase its market reach. Suga Intl 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Suga Intl has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Audio & Video Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Suga Intl to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Suga Intl to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Suga Intl 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Suga Intl 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Audio & Video Equipment industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Suga Intl in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. Now Suga Intl can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Suga Intl in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Audio & Video Equipment industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Suga Intl has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Audio & Video Equipment industry. This can help Suga Intl to build a more holistic ecosystem for Suga Intl products in the Audio & Video Equipment industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Suga Intl is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Suga Intl can utilize new technology in the field of Audio & Video Equipment industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Suga Intl can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Audio & Video Equipment 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.
Threats Suga Intl External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Suga Intl are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Suga Intl 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Suga Intl may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Audio & Video Equipment sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl prominent markets.
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
– Suga Intl 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 Audio & Video Equipment industry regulations.
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 Suga Intl business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Suga Intl has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Audio & Video Equipment industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Suga Intl needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Audio & Video Equipment 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Audio & Video Equipment industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Suga Intl can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Suga Intl
– 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 Suga Intl.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Suga Intl is facing in Audio & Video Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Suga Intl in the Audio & Video Equipment sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Audio & Video Equipment industry are lowering. It can presents Suga Intl with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Audio & Video Equipment sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Suga Intl Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl 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 Suga Intl needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.