Saturday 27 August 2011

TOWS ANALYSIS | SWOT ANALYSIS The Body Shop

To carry out a more in depth analysis We also used a TOWS ANALYSIS | SWOT analysis, the which is a measure of the strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business, in order to see how the external pressures influence the business and how They can React to them.

This is about The Body Shop SWOT | TOWS analysis

Internal factors:

Strengths
  1. Brand (name, image, Ethic natural ingredients) 
  2. Experience, financial ... expertise of L'Oreal 
  3. Body Shop targets a niche market. By stating That it is not testing its products on animals and by Appearing to have an ecological profile, it has appealed to customers with ethical issues. Being the only shop in the shopping center sells ecological That Increased awareness of organic and eco friendly products (89% avoid synthetic chemicals in personal care goods) 
  4. Lack of Marketing, Guerrilla / Viral Strategy 
  5. Connection to political issues 
  6. Strong customer community 
  7. Strong social mission 
  8. Lack of shareholders 'consideration' 
  9. The first to break the market

Weaknesses

  1. Loss of trust from different ... the supply chain (publication. ..)
  2. Number of stores in the UK
  3. Not "purple" in the U.S. Market (They have been copied)

Opportunities

  1. Increased interest of men in Their (The Metrosexual factor)

Threats

  1. Slower distribution (Because of the chemical legislation)
  2. Unstable supplies of ingredients, materials and
  3. On the other hand the collapse of banking institutions and economy indicates
  4. Tougher times ahead for anybody trading on the high street.
  5. Exchange rate. The fall of pounds indicates higher prices for imported ingredients and products
  6. New legislation banning animal tested products and the marketing of Such policy may raise the competition.



Strengths
The Body Shop International has many strong traits of strength Them That have catapulted into the Limelight throughout the years. Many of Them Their are extremely unique to the which also grips the business Them Into Controversy and political "drama" as They undergo "business as usual".Their first strong strength revolves around The Body Shop's lack of a traditional marketing strategy. Instead, Their focus rests on a viral marketing strategy where consumers / customers will take the burden of advertising upon the Body Shop and tell Their friends. It is completely free and is proven.
Building on Their lack of a marketing program - The Body Shop has built an incredibly strong community of customers as They build up Their "trade" dollars. Entering the viral That strategy requires customers are willing to go out of the way to "trade" and to tell Their friends about the entire experience and Their incredible community supports this strategy.
Their strong social mission helps to build upon the previous strength as another strength. Not only is The Body Shop paving the way for corporate responsibility and community engagement - but They are building a Clientele That Wildly supports Their views and once again Their Will tell friends about it. The Fact That They are changing the world seems a to be just a small afterthought.The Body Shop has many other strengths That stay out of the norm of traditional business. Their lack of shareholders' consideration "Them helps to maintain Their mission without ...
Source: Mintel national statistics

Friday 26 August 2011

TOWS ANALYSIS

Tows is the acronym for Threats, Weakness, Opportunities and Strengths and SWOT is the acronym for strength, weakness, opportunities and strengths whereas Both refers to the same thing. SWOT Analysis twos or use by the firm to develop strategies or We can say the set of possible strategies. SWOT prefer Strategist or twos Because it Gives an alternative set of strategies the which help the firm to choose the strategies suit the firm in terms of available resources.
 

TOWS Analysis is not only the part of strategic management, it's also the part of marketing, human resources and other business areas. A TOWS Analysis must first start with defining a Desired end state or objective. A TOWS analysis may be incorporated into the strategic planning model. Strategic Planning, including SWOT and SCAN analysis, has been the subject of much research.
 

A SWOT Analysis That process generates information is helpful in matching an Organisation or group's goals, programs, and capacities to the social environment in the which it Operates. The 'SWOT' Itself is only a data capture exercise - the analysis follows later.
 

Strengths
 

Strengths are the strong areas or attributes of the company, the which are used to Overcome weakness and capitalize to take advantage of the external opportunities available in the industry.
 

Weakness
 

Weakness are painful for the company means these are the weak factors, the which needs to be Improve in Future Otherwise if They exposed to the competitors They can take the advantage of it.
Opportunities
 

Opportunities are the chances exist in the external environment, firm it depends whether the firm is willing to exploit the opportunities or may be They ignore the opportunities due to lack of resources.
 

Threats
Threats are always twisted for the firm, the minimum number of threats in the external environment of open many doors for the firm. Maximum number of threats for the firm Reduced Their power in the industry.
Should a firm not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities. Rather, it may have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying a fit the between the firm's strengths and upcoming opportunities. In some cases, the firm can Overcome a weakness in order to prepare Itself to pursue a compelling opportunity.
 

To develop strategies take into account That the SWOT profile, a matrix of these factors can be constructed. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown below:


To carry out a TOWS Analysis, consider the following combinations:
 

Strengths / Opportunities:
 

Consider all strengths one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each opportunity to determine how each internal strength can help you capitalize on each external opportunity.
 

Strength / Threats:
 

Consider all strengths one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each threat to determine how each internal strength can help you avoid every external threat.
 

Weaknesses / Opportunities:
 

Weaknesses Consider all one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each opportunity to determine how each internal weakness can be eliminated by using each external opportunity.
 

Weaknesses / Threats:
 

Weaknesses Consider all one by one listed in the SWOT Analysis with each threat to determine Both can be avoided

SWOT analysis Dos and Don'ts
Other people DO get INVOLVED.
DO any exploits That expertise and resources are already available within the Organisation.
DO use a SWOT analysis in conjunction with other techniques, Such as PESTLE analysis, PRIMO-F analysis, Porter's five forces, competitor analysis or scenario planning etc.
DO incorporate your analysis within an ongoing process for monitoring changes in the business environment.
DO NOT try to do this on your own.
DO NOT jump to Conclusions about the future based on the past or the present.
DO NOT get bogged down in collecting the vast amounts of detailed information without analysing your Findings appropriately.

The final analysis

The value of the SWOT Lies Mainly in the fact That it constitutes a self-assessment for management. The problem, however, is that the deceptively simple elements Appear. Actually deciding what the strengths and Weaknesses of the Organisation are, as well as assessing the impact and probability of opportunities and threats, is far more complex than Appears at first sight.
 

The inherent risk of making incorrect assumptions Pls assessing the SWOT elements Often Causes Management to procrastinate Pls it comes to deciding the between Various strategic alternatives, frequently resulting in unnecessary and undesirable delays.
 

SWOT is an infinitely flexible framework, the which is made Easier to apply Pls PESTLE is used to review and shortlist external factors and PRIMO-F to review and prioritise internal factors.

Sunday 21 August 2011

Critical Small Business SWOT Analysis Example

Here is a SWOT analysis | TOWS Analysis example based on an exercise i had to do recently. A SWOT analysis examines the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) of a perspective of one thing, be it a company, a product, a proposition, and idea, a method, or option , etc.
SWOT Analysis In this example, it was a proposition to enter a new market for a small software company That Had been producing it's own sophisticated decision support and productivity software for Nearly 25 years. SWOT Tells you what is good and bad about a business or a particular proposition. Once you have worked out the SWOT analysis you can then respond by creating goals and strategies by
  • Maintaining, building on and leveraging your Strengths
  • Prioritising and optimising you Opportunities
  • Fixing or exiting from your Weaknesses
  • Countering your Threats

When doing a SWOT it is good to keep your answers short, simple, specific, and realistic. So let's get started and remember to keep foucusing on the proposition ...
The propostion was to resell an exciting new business intelligence (BI) product for example like Tableau the which overcomes many of the limitations of the existing BI products - Difficult to use, costly, and slow to implement and change.
 

Many resellers have Their own software product or service existing client base on to the which They can build sales of the product resold ... adding value if They can with consultancy and training.
This company also has the problem That come three to five years now Their main product Potentially Will be displaced by new technology. They need a replacement product lines Quickly. Their current market is 'slow' with a sales life cycle of 18 months to two years.
They are also based in a rural setting with large and medium sized Few Organisations around, but They Make the maximum use of the Internet to service current national and worldwide customer base.
So here we go with this SWOT Analysis example.
 


Strengths
  • Good with databases and analysis
  • Experience of selling overseas
  • Interested and passionate about data analysis and trending 
  • Good balance sheet
  • Reselling a product is quick - no product development required.

Weaknesses
  • Currently have a small customer base with Few customers with time to Analyse Their data
  • No other vertical markets - would need to find one!
  • Only receive a percentage of sale - question about potential profitability
  • Lots of potential competition - from established products ... 'We already have one of Those thanks'
  • Need 'good paying customers to Prevent cashflow issue - having pay software vendors before the client has paid.
  • Credibility with large corporations or Organisations - little direct experience of the big BI projects

Opportunities
  • Create an 'Add On' to Existing Products or Services
  • BI software is a growing market
  • Use the product to find new application areas for area company
  • Use the product to find new vertical market for a new product base.
  • Offer Consultancy and Training
  • Initial cost of sale recovered over time by Further sales of the product to the same account.
  • Current trends in industry and commerce to Reduced costs - great need for data analysis

Threats
  • Vendors selling policy changes and drops resellers
  • Bad product release product spoils the image ... and effects the ability to sell
  • Company is drawn resources away from current high value added (high profitability) activities to this lower value added (low profitability) activity.
  • Competing with vendors own sales teams and other more local resellers

So what They Should aim of adopting the strategy in this SWOT analysis example.
  1. They Should Focus Their Efforts on departments of large and medium-sized Organisations companies to maximise the long term 'add on' or repeat sales as the product use within Their customer spreads Organisation over time. This type of customer is also more Likely to buy the most expensive (higher profit) product resellers eg Server software rather than desktop software. Should targeting this market segment also minimize payment issues and protect cash flow. Also it minimises the drift to the low profitability work.
  2. They need to build Their competence and credibility Quickly eg offering technical newsletters or bulletins, and try to distinguish themselves with highly responsive technical support. They need a competitive advantage over other resellers and the main vendors. 
  3. Offer existing customers a service e.g. Benchmarking - do Their analysis for Them
  4. As the software vendor is not in Their time-zone, They need to take advantage of this 'local' advantage
  5. Should They move fast and to invest to gain a good customer base before other resellers enter the market 
  6. They Should try to find customers for the product / services in the industry, They are in now and in related industries. This would build on Their current knowledge (strength) of Their current experience
  7. Should They focus on high value added activities Such as training courses and consultancy
  8. They Should Consider adding a second BI product to Their portfolio or developing Their own BI product in the medium to long run to guard against a vendor policy change or a bad product release
This concludes this example SWOT analysis. I hope you found it of interest.

Saturday 20 August 2011

SWOT Matrix Definition

Welcome to the SWOT Matrix Guide. What Exactly is SWOT Matrix Analysis definition?
SWOT is as an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. These four factors make up the SWOT MATRIX.

A SWOT analysis can be used to measure an organization's competencies and identify opportunities to taken by business management in the future.


Above is a sample template for personal or business use.

Organizations conduct a SWOT Analysis in order to identify various factors that can impact performance. In other words, SWOT is used to improve the current situation.

Internal aspects are scrutinized by looking at the Strengths and Weaknesses of the business such as employee skills and products. Opportunities and Threats are examined to reveal external factors facing the business, such as competitors or the economic situation.

Friday 19 August 2011

Creately for SWOT Analysis Templates

Creately is an online collaborative diagram software for creating free SWOT diagrams to analyze the internal and external factors that may affect your business.
 

Free SWOT Analysis Template

  • Easy to use web interface to edit & create SWOT templates 
  • Ready-made templates for online SWOT diagrams
  • Easy online collaboration with shared team projects
  • Multiple version support so you'll never lose your SWOT diagrams
  • 1- Click to Share, Export and Publish your SWOT diagrams online 
  • No installs or downloads. Access from anywhere, anytime- works in your browser





How to Perform a SWOT or TOWS ANALYSIS ANALYSIS

SWOT Analysis and Valuable TOWS analysis is a step in the analysis of your situation. Assess your company's strengths, Weaknesses, market opportunities, and threats through a SWOT analysis and TOWS analysis is a very simple That process can offer insights into the powerful potential issues and critically affect a business.
The SWOT analysis and TOWS analysis begins by conducting an inventory of internal strengths and Weaknesses in your organization. Will you then see the external opportunities and threats That Could Affect the organization, based on your market and the overall environment. Do not worry about elaborating on this topic at this stage; bullet points may be the best way to get started. Capture you believe are relevant factors in each of four regions. Will you want to review what has been noted here as you work through your marketing plan. The main purpose of the SWOT analysis is to identify and assign each significant factor, positive and negative, with one of four categories, so you can view your business objectively. SWOT or TOWS analysis Will be a useful tool in developing and Confirming your marketing objectives and strategies.
 

Some experts suggest That you Consider more elaborate external opportunities and threats before the strengths and Weaknesses. Marketing Plan Pro Will allow you to complete your SWOT analysis and TOWS Analysis in whatever order works best for you. In either situation, you Will want to review these four areas in detail.
 

Strength
 

Illustrates the power of positive attributes, tangible and intangible, internal to your organization. They are in your control. What do you do well? What resources do you have? What are the advantages you have over your competitors?
You may want to evaluate your strengths on a regional basis, Such as marketing, finance, manufacturing, and organizational structure. Strengths including the positive attributes of the people INVOLVED in the business, including Their knowledge, background, education, letters, contacts, reputation, or That They bring skills. Strength also includes intangible assets Such as available capital, equipment, credit, established customers, existing distribution channels, copyrighted materials, patents, and information processing systems, and other Valuable resource in business.
Strength capture the positive aspects internal to your business That adds value or offer you a competitive advantage. This is your chance to remind yourself of the existing value in your business.
 

Weakness
 

Note Weaknesses in your business. Weakness is a factor within your control That Reduced-your ability to Obtain or maintain competitive advantage. Areas you Might Improve?
Might Weaknesses include lack of expertise, limited resources, lack of access to skills or technology, inferior service, or poor location of your business. That these are factors are under your control, but for Various Reasons, the which need improvement to effectively accomplish your marketing goals.
Weaknesses capture the negative aspects internal to your business the which reduces the value you offer, or a place you at a competitive loss. That this is the area you need to Improve in order to Compete with the best of your competitors. The more accurately you identify your Weaknesses, the more the SWOT or TOWS Valuable Will be for your assessment.
 

Opportunities
 

Assess opportunities interesting external factor is the reason for your business there and Prosper. It is external to your business. Are there opportunities in your market, or in the environment, than you expect to benefit?
These opportunities Reflect the potential you can realize through implementing your marketing strategy. Opportunities may be the result of market growth, lifestyle changes, the settlement of problems associated with the current situation, positive market Perceptions about your business, or the ability to offer Greater Value That Will create demand for your services. If the relevant time period where, in the vicinity of opportunity. Is this an ongoing opportunity, or whether the window of opportunity? How critical is your time?
Opportunities outside of your business. If you have Identified "opportunities" that's internal to the organization and within your control, Will you want to classify Them as strengths.
 

Threat
 

What factors are potential threats to your business? Threats include factors beyond your control That can put your marketing strategy, or the business Itself, at risk. It also external - you have no control over Them, but you can get the benefits of having an emergency plan to deal with Them if They Should occur.
The threat is the challenge created by an unfavorable trend or development That can lead to worsening of income or profit. Competition - existing or Potentially - always a threat. Other threats may include Intolerable price increases by suppliers, government regulation, economic downturns, destroy or scope of the press and media, consumer behavior change to Reduced your sales, or the introduction of a "leap-frog" technologies That can Make your product, equipment or services obsolete. What Situations Might threaten your Marketing Efforts? Get your worst Fears on the table. Part of this list may be speculative, and still add value to your SWOT analysis.
This may be Valuable to classify your threats According to "their seriousness" and "probability of occurrence."
The better you to identify potential threats, the more Likely you can position themselves to proactively plan and respond to them. Will you look back on these threats you Pls Consider your contingency plans.
 

Implication
 

Internal strengths and Weaknesses, compared with external opportunities and threats, can Provide additional insight into the condition and potential business. How can you use power to take better advantage of opportunities ahead and minimize the threat of danger That may be introduced if They Become Reality? How Weaknesses can be minimized or eliminated? The actual value of the SWOT analysis in Bringing this information together, to assess the most promising opportunities, and issues most important.
 

An example
 

AMT is a computer store in the middle market in the United States. Lately, business has steadily Declined throughs, Mainly due to Increasing competition from larger office products stores with national brand names. Here is a SWOT analysis is included in marketing plans.
 

Strength

    
Knowledge. Our competitors are retailers, pushing boxes. We know systems, networks, connectivity, programming, all the Value Added Resellers (VARs), and data management.
    
Relationship selling. We know our customers, one by one. Our direct sales force maintains close contact.
    
History. We've been in town forever. We have the loyalty of customers and vendors. We are a local.

Weakness

    
Cost. Chain stores have better economics. Their per-unit costs low enough sales. They do not offer what we offer in terms of selling knowledge, but the cost per square foot and per dollar of sales is much lower.
    
Price and volume. Major stores pushing boxes can sell less. component of Their costs are less and They benefit from volume buying with the main vendors.
    
Brand power. Take one look at Them full-page ads, in color, in the Sunday paper. That We can not match. We do not have national name That flows into national advertising.


Opportunities

    
Local area network. LAN Become commonplace in small business, and even in my home office. Business today assume LANs are part of normal office work. This is an opportunity for us Because LANs are much more knowledge and service intensive than the standard PC off-the-shelf.
    
Internet. The Increasing opportunities of the Internet offer us another field strength compared to the box-on-the-shelf major chain stores. Our customers want to help more with the Internet and We Are in a better position to give it to them.
    
Training. Large stores do not Provide training, but as systems Become more complicated with LAN and Internet usage, training more in demand. This is particularly true of our main target market.
    
Service. As our target market needs more service, our competitors are less Likely than ever to Provide it. Their business model does not include service, just selling boxes.

Threat

    
Computer as a tool. The volume of purchases and sales of computers as products in boxes, Should not need support, training, connectivity services, etc. As people think of computers in these terms, They think they need our service orientation less.
    
Greater price-oriented stores. When They lower the price of a big ad in the newspaper, our customers think We do not give good value.

Utilizing the SWOT analysis or TOWS analysis can bring insights into time well invested.

Thursday 18 August 2011

Starbucks SWOT Analysis and Strategy-Tactics

In Marketing Planning and Control, We learn to combine the SWOT analysis with STEEPLE / C to Produce a full understanding of a brand. I tried to analyze the SWOT from Starbucks. In Addition, We also make-a strategy and tactic Starbucks future.
 

SWOT Analysis
 

Strengths
 

1. Starbucks is the leading retailer and roaster for brand specialty coffee in the world.2. Strong brand image with the motto 'The Starbucks Experience'.3. Starbucks is a global organization with more than 16,000 retails in 48 countries in the entire world.4. One of the strongest franchises in the world with more than 6500 licenses and shops in the world.5. Starbucks is known for Providing superior products and services.6. Starbucks Offered Both functional and emotional benefits.7. Starbucks is number 7 on Fortune Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" for 2008.8. Have loyal customers in all of Starbucks' existing countries.9. High quality control in all Starbucks' retails.10. Have a consistent high quality of service.11. Sophisticated atmosphere typical of the Italian coffee houses, music, interior design and artwork.12. Outlets positioned in high street locations, malls, other businesses within areas like offices building.13. Wi-Fi Internet service in all of Starbucks retails.14. Fast coffee serving.15. The Process of Preparing the product does not need highly sophisticated technology.16. Have a lot of flavors variation.17. Limited number of strong competitors.18. High market share and market growth.19. Always aim to help support environment, ex: by using recyclable tissue.20. Always treat the employees as a partner not just as employees.21. Welcome all questions, comments and feedback where customers Could send it by email, SMS or just inform it in. Starbucks retails.22. Have a Starbucks Workers Union the which helps employees to inform Their thoughts to management.
 

Weaknesses
 

1. High cost of not pricing the which all kind of markets Could buy Starbucks' products.2. Starbucks Considered 'American Global' the which cost a sentimental issue for customers in some countries.3. Too focused on U.S. domestic market.4. Starbucks refuses to guarantee That milk, beverages, chocolate, ice cream, and baked goods sold in the company's stores are free of genetically-modified ingredients.5. Because of its perfectness of service employees, some employees complaints about the management the which Push Them to always be perfect. That is why They Make Starbucks Workers Union.
Opportunities
 

1. The potential employees are educated people the which make it Easier to train Them. 2. Customer is not price sensitive. 3. Could be Able to change the negative image of the coffee into a positive one. 4. High consumerism in Indonesia. 5. Easier to penetrate the market Because what it sells is the fulfillment of self esteem and need to be love or to belong to community the which is the major reason why peoples buy a product. 6. Strong financial support. 7. High growth of economy and market in Indonesia, ESPECIALLY in urban areas. 8. The democratic economy policies in Indonesia make it Easier for Starbucks to Expand Their Business. 9. Peoples in Indonesia Starbucks places positioned as one of the best meeting point. 10. Could Their diverse product not only in coffee. 11. Many of Starbucks coffee beans are organic using. 12. Some of Starbucks beans are harvested in Indonesia island of Sumatra and Sulawesi. Starbucks purchasing high quality beans in these islands at premium prices to help the Farmers to Support Their families and to invest in a sustainable production. Starbucks paid an average price of $ 1.20 per pound against the commodity average price of $ 0:40 to 0:50 per pound
 

Threats
 

1. Global financial crisis not the which the make peoples growing niche to Spend too much money. 2. Low income in Indonesia makes it hard for Starbucks to penetrate more market segmentation. 3. Sentimental issue to the bad effects of coffee from society. 4. Some people believes That Starbucks is turning the world into a generic corporate giant mess. 5. Critics said it exploits That farm workers in third countries. 6. It said driving small Domination That Starbucks cafes out of business. 7. Issues Stated That Starbucks Their exploits workers by paying a very minimum wage with a very high standard of work They need to fulfill. 8. Threats of substitute products and services include items Such as drink other colas, teas or juices That are sold in retails.
Strategy and Tactics for Starbucks
 

Strategy
 

Strategy for Starbucks in Indonesia for the next 1 year is That We proposed Called to Make a Starbucks campaign for health. Will this campaign focus on the health benefits peoples That Will get from drinking a cup of Starbucks. We will change people perception about the coffee into a positive one and cooperate with other companies in Indonesia to show our support to people health. The fact Is that coffee Actually one of the healthiest beverages billions of people consume regularly.
 

The average of 300mg of coffee with exercise increase of energy by 20% and Decrease fatigue levels while burning fat Increased 107% Greater Than without caffeine. This can be Happened Because coffee contains hydroxycitric acid and chromium That can increase of up to 30% in metabolic rate. It Might guard against gout, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. Studies has shown positive results with diabetic That compare consumption rates, including reports suggest That People who drink two cups a day were the resource persons 50 percent less Likely to develop diabetes and also has been proven by doctors. The trouble comes Pls people start adding sugar and cream to Their coffee, or even worse, buying thick, blended drinks with whipped cream on top.
 

Pls coffee consumed in excess can be very addictive, stimulate, and a mood charger. A large amount of coffee or caffeine consumed all at once can have a negative effect on blood. Too much coffee over time can stain people's health. We believe That this negative perception of coffee Could be a threat to Starbucks. But We also see this as an opportunity Actually When We can change behavior of people in Indonesia to consume healthy coffee and make it as part of Their Life.
 

Tactics Product: We will create a new flavor of Dark Coffee with Fruits toppings. This coffee can also be added with skim milk. Dark coffee is the best coffee for health Considered it has not been mixed with full cream milk, whipped cream, etc. Fruits toppings in this product is a real fruit, not blended with the coffee but just a complementary to add more vitamins while drinking the coffee. For People who want to add milk in it, We Will just add skim milk Because it contains low fat rather than full cream milk fat for the which contains the body.
 

This Product Will Provide a free one fruit topping. But if people want to add more than one topping, add They Could by Rp 5,000, - for each coffee. The size of the product is the usual size of Starbucks cups where a white cup for hot drinks and a transparent cup for cold drinks. Will this tactic be launch and develop for one year and continue to be one of the Starbucks flavors for years after.
 

Price:
The price for this product is Rp 29,500, - for tall size, Rp 34,500, - for grande size and Rp 39,500, - for venti size.
 

Place:
To support Starbucks for Health Campaign, more places Will be a 24 hours Starbucks retails where Starbucks Will also open 10 retails per year. Will this be a convenience to customers where They can Decide what time They would like to drink a hot or cold Starbucks coffee. Places That Will be open for 24 hours are Starbucks Kemang Village, Citywalk, Rest area in Karawaci Freeway and Summarecon Serpong. Will this support 24 hours some of the Starbucks store in the EX and Sarinah. This tactic will from the start IMMEDIATELY and finish in 2 months.
 

Promotion:
To Communicate the message of healthy coffee We Will use:
 

1. Advertising Advertising for Starbucks Will be done by advertising in magazines and newspapers. Will this be conduct by one advertising per month. Another kind of advertising is by creating roll banner in retails. The message of the advertising is to Communicate the benefits of drinking a cup of coffee in daily life. The Banner Will not be displayed for the first 3 months and there Will be a change in design and displayed for another 3 months and continuously for one year.
 

2. Sales Promotion That Will be sales promotion conduct is a buy one get one Starbucks Dark Coffee with toppings by using BCA Credit Card. This Will be Implemented for one year. Other tactic is cooperating with GNC, companies That Produce vitamins for health. When customers buy Starbucks for Rp 500,000, - by combining recipients in one month starting from the first recipient, Will They get 10% discount buying Pls GNC product in any amount. Will this be conduct for the first 6 months.
For the next six months, Starbucks Will cooperate with Fitness First. If Starbucks customers will buy a total of Rp 100,000, - in one transaction, Will They get a free trial voucher to any Fitness First. Will this tactic be Implemented in 6 months after cooperating with GNC tactic.

Tuesday 16 August 2011

TOWS Analysis for Decision Making Strategy

How does a firm Decide to pursue one course of action over another? Along with SWOT analysis, TOWS analysis is a process That requires management to think critically of its operations. Several action plans by identifying That Could Improve the company's position, TOWS analysis allows management to choose That Those strategies most effectively capitalize on the available opportunities.

For companies to develop adequate and Successful business strategies, they must sufficiently analyze internal and external Their environments.(Continues below article). One helpful development tool entails strategic SWOT analysis, the which identifies the strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing a company.
However, a major shortcoming of this method involves its focus on the company's internal environment at the expense of its external situation. Subsequent to the SWOT model, Organizations Should Conduct a TOWS analysis, a procedure That focuses more on the external environment. Although the acronym is simply reversed SWOT, TOWS analysis takes a different approach to linking a company's internal strengths and Weaknesses with its external opportunities and threats. This approach allows a business to Cleary identify and evaluate the options it Could pursue.
 
To perform a proper analysis tows, the company must first conduct a SWOT analysis to identify its internal strengths and Weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. The rest of the procedure involves dividing and linking the Appropriate Classifications into four categories:

    
* Maxi-Maxi

    
* Maxi-Mini

    
* Mini-Maxi

    
* Mini-Mini



Creating a TOWS Matrix is ​​an easy and Visually helpful way to aid in this process.

"Maxi-Maxi" Strategy
 
Under the Maxi-Maxi classification, an organization identifies the Appropriate strengths it can use to take advantage of its opportunities. The firm needs to distinguish and list the strengths That Could aid in the maximization of each one of its listed opportunities. For example, possible strengths That Could Help a company penetrate new markets Could include a high-brand recognition, high-brand loyalty, large levels of research and development spending, and superior customer service.
 
"Maxi-Mini" Strategy
 
The Maxi-Mini category identifies the strengths the company can exploit to minimize its external threats. For instance, a potential threat to a firm Could be the loss of market share to a new competitor entering the market. Could one way the firm protect its position involves developing a marketing campaign emphasizing its superior customer service or its competitor's inferior customer service.
 
"Mini-Maxi" Strategy
 
With the Mini-Maxi strategy, a company wants to use its external opportunities to minimize its internal Weaknesses. To illustrate, consider a company faces rising labor That costs in its home country. Simultaneously, it has Identified an attractive opportunity to outsource some of its operations to another country where the cost of labor is far cheaper. This prospect of outsourcing reduces the company's threat of rising labor expenses.
 
"Mini-Mini" Strategy
 
Mini-Mini strategies Attempt to minimize the company's Weaknesses and Prevent external threats. This section matches the firm's threats and Weaknesses in order for the company to Recognize the potential Situations That Could Harm its operations. Possible once these conditions are realized, the company can conceive of Airways to protect its business. For example, a firm can enter into a strategic alliance or merge with one of its competitors to protect its operations from a rival firm. Moreover, the option to withdraw from a market or suspend operations are always present.

Friday 12 August 2011

SWOT ANALYSIS MODEL

SWOT analysis, method, or model is a way to analyze competitive position of your company. SWOT analysis uses so-called SWOT matrix to assess both internal and external aspects of doing your business. The SWOT framework is a tool for auditing an organization and its environment.

SWOT is the first stage of planning and helps decision makers to focus on key issues. SWOT method is a key tool for company top officials to formulate strategic plans. Each letter in the word SWOT represents one strong word: S = strengths, W = weaknesses, O = opportunities, T = threats.
SWOT model analyzes factors that are internal to your business and also factors that affect your company from outside. Strengths and weaknesses in the SWOT matrix are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors.

SWOT can be used in conjunction with other tools for strategic planning, such as the Porter's Five-Forces analysis or the Balanced Scorecard framework. SWOT is a very popular tool in marketing because it is quick, easy, and intuitive.

What is SWOT matrix?

The concept of determining strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities is the fundamental idea behind the SWOT model. To present the model in a more understandable way, scholars came up with so-called SWOT matrix. SWOT matrix is only a graphical representation of the SWOT framework. 

SWOT analysis matrix

The above is a schema of how SWOT works. You start at the top level and go down to details. When this is filled with content, it gets the shape of a matrix, such as the example below: 


 SWOT matrix makes understanding the model easier.

Can you show SWOT analysis on an example?


Strengths and weaknesses are internal value creating (or destroying) factors such as assets, skills, or resources a company has at its disposal relatively to its competitors. Below you can find a few examples of what your strengths might be:

  • Unique product
  • Location of your business
  • Patents, know-how, trade secrets
  • Worker's unique skill set
  • Corporate culture, company image
  • Quality of your product
  • Access to financing
  • Operational efficiency

The following list shows a few examples of weaknesses:

  • Location of your business
  • Lack of quality and customer service
  • Poor marketing and sales
  • Access to resources
  • Undifferentiated products or services

Opportunities and threats are external value creating (or destroying) factors a company cannot control but emerge from either the competitive dynamics of the industry or market or from demographic, economic, political, technical, social, legal, or cultural factors.

An opportunity in the SWOT model could be for example:

  • A new emerging or developing market (niche product, place - new country, less competition)
  • Merger, joint venture, or strategic alliance
  • Market trends
  • New technologies
  • Social changes (for example demographics)

And now the final one, threats. A threat could be:

  • New competition in the market, possibly with new products or services
  • Price wars
  • Economic conditions
  • Political changes
  • Competitor oligopoly or monopoly
  • Taxation
  • Availability of resources

Factors related to each aspect of the SWOT model depend very much of the nature of your business. SWOT for a manufacturing company will be different from a SWOT for an internet start-up.

Is SWOT analysis a hard science?

The answer is no. SWOT analysis can be very subjective. Someone can see a new firm coming into the market as a threat because it takes away your current customers. Someone else might see the same company as opportunity because that company might have innovative ideas which your business can explore, and your business might even benefit from possible takeover of that new competitor.

What is the difference between SWOT and TOWS?

TOWS analysis is very similar to the SWOT method. TOWS simply looks at the negative factors first in order to turn them into positive factors.
How should I do the SWOT analysis?

There is a number of simple rules that you can go by when creating a SWOT matrix in SWOT analysis.

Be realistic: Make sure you assess your situation objectively. It is better to be more pessimistic about weaknesses and threats and lighter about strengths and opportunities.

Today versus future: When doing the SWOT analysis, distinguish between today's state of your business and your expectation for the future. Mixing your expectation with the current state will result in skewed outcome.

Simple: Keep your SWOT matrix short and simple. Avoid complexity and over analysis. If you want to include many points to each quadrant of the SWOT matrix, it is a good idea to weight them.

What is the next step in SWOT analysis?

We mentioned that the SWOT analysis is very subjective. One way to bring numbers into the SWOT analysis and make it more useful is to weight individual items. Give a weight to every item in the SWOT matrix and then add them together. Each quadrant in the SWOT matrix will result in some number which as a whole will give you a better picture where your business is relative to other quadrants. This leads us to two models called the IFE matrix and EFE matrix that are rooted in the SWOT analysis.

There are three other models related to this called the BCG matrix model, SPACE matrix model, and QSPM model which you can find here: BCG matrix, SPACE matrix model, QSPM model.

In case you have any questions about SWOT analysis, you are welcome to ask them at our management discussion forum.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

SWOT Analysis (Strategy)

SWOT is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

SWOT analysis is an important tool for auditing the overall strategic position of a business and its environment.

Once key strategic issues have been identified, they feed into business objectives, particularly marketing objectives. SWOT analysis can be used in conjunction with other tools for audit and analysis, such as PEST analysis and Porter's Five-Forces analysis. It is also a very popular tool with business and marketing students because it is quick and easy to learn.


The Key Distinction - Internal and External Issues

Strengths and weaknesses are Internal factors. For example, a strength could be your specialist marketing expertise. A weakness could be the lack of a new product.

Opportunities and threats are external factors. For example, an opportunity could be a developing distribution channel such as the Internet, or changing consumer lifestyles that potentially increase demand for a company's products. A threat could be a new competitor in an important existing market or a technological change that makes existing products potentially obsolete.

it is worth pointing out that SWOT analysis can be very subjective - two people rarely come-up with the same version of a SWOT analysis even when given the same information about the same business and its environment. Accordingly, SWOT analysis is best used as a guide and not a prescription. Adding and weighting criteria to each factor increases the validity of the analysis.


Areas to Consider

Some of the key areas to consider when identifying and evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are listed in the example SWOT analysis below:

Monday 8 August 2011

SWOT | TOWS ANALYSIS

SWOT is the acronym for strength, weakness, opportunities and strengths whereas tows is the acronym for threats, opportunities, weakness and strengths Both refers to the same thing. SWOT or TOWS analysis use by the firm to develop strategies or We can say the set of possible strategies. Strategist prefer SWOT or TOWS MATRIX Because it Gives an alternative set of strategies the which help the firm to choose the strategies suit the firm in terms of available resources.

SWOT analysis is not only the part of strategic management, it's also the part of marketing, human resources and other business areas. In this tutorials We Will discuss the way to develop the TOWS matrix and its attributes in detail and also give examples to show firm develop strategies using a SWOT or TOWS matrix.

What are the Things need to be included in the SWOT or TOWS matrix?

SWOT or TOWS matrix as discussed above consist of strength, weakness opportunities and threats, using variety of these strategies are developed. The most common tabular form of the SWOT or TOWS is shown in the figure below.


I would like to explain strengths, weakness opportunities and threats before going into details to Make Easier for the readers unfamiliar to this topic.
Strengths
Strengths are the strong areas or attributes of the company, the which are used to Overcome weakness and capitalize to take advantage of the external opportunities available in the industry.Weakness
Weakness are painful for the company means these are the weak factors, the which needs to be Improve in Future Otherwise if They exposed to the competitors They can take the advantage of it.
OpportunitiesOpportunities are the chances exist in the external environment, firm it depends whether the firm is willing to exploit the opportunities or may be They ignore the opportunities due to lack of resources.
Threats
Threats are always twisted for the firm, the minimum number of threats in the external environment of open many doors for the firm. Maximum number of threats for the firm Reduced Their power in the industry.
How to identify strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats for the TOWS Matrix?
Well, if you have Them Same question its a good one, finding strengths, weakness, opportunism and threats is deep thinking process. The best thing to do ask the decision maker, employee, strategic partners and customers as well about your good and bad points. The other way out to use some statistical and mathematical tool.In strategic management strengths and weakness are extracted from the IFE Matrix, opportunities and threats from EFE matrix.
Example of Wal-Mart Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and ThreatsWal-Mart Strengths


    
* Customer oriented
    
* SAM'S Club customers Able to buy in bulk
    
* Super centers offer one stop shopping
    
* Satisfaction guaranteed programs promoting customer goodwill
    
* Buy from local merchants Pls possible
    
* Stock ownership and profit-sharing with employees
    
* Leads industry in information technology
    
* Ongoing development of its employees Strong community involvement

Wal-Mart Weakness


    
* No formal mission statement
    
* Membership only for SAM'S Club
    
* Keep poor performing employees on hand
    
* Old fashioned store policies
    
* Few women in top management and Minorities
Wal-Mart Opportunities

    
* Consumers want ease of shopping
    
* Internet shopping growing
    
* Dollar value Increasing
    
* Similar shopping patterns worldwide
    
* Retail sales expected to increase of
    
* Environment conscious consumers
    
* Elderly population growing
    
* The Asian market is virtually untapped by retail
    
* European Market untapped by retail

Wal-Mart Threats

    
* Regulation of Wal-Mart Pharmacies
    
* Small towns do not want the entry of Wal-Mart
    
* Bad media exposure for Kathie Lee Brand
    
* Variety of competition nationally, regionally and locally
    
* Substitute products more easily Because of intense competition

What type of strategies are the part of the TOWS Matrix?
The SWOT Matrix is ​​an Important matching tool that helps managers develops four types of strategies:

   
1. -SO strategies use a firm's internal strengths to take advantage of external opportunities.
   
2. WO-strategies are aimed at Improving Internal Weaknesses by taking advantage of external opportunities.
   
3. -ST strategies use a firm's strengths to avoid or Reduced the impact of external threats.
   
4. -WT strategies are defensive tactics directed at reducing internal Weaknesses and avoiding external threats.

Example of Pakistan State Oil TOWS Matrix




The TOWS matrix above shows the four types of strategies, SO PSO strategies are developed using the strengths to exploit external opportunities, WO strategies are developed to Overcome Weaknesses by utilizing the opportunities. ST strategies are developed by a PSO to minimize or Eliminate the threats using the internal strengths and last WT strategies are developed to avoid threat and minimize Weaknesses.