SWOT Analysis For Ventura Boats: Challenges And Opportunities

Question:

Discuss about the Analysis Business Market of The Ventura Boats.

Through the analysis of the Ventura Boats Case study, the reports develops the understanding regarding challenges present in business market. The nature of business of Ventura and review of business process, challenges and opportunities increase the knowledge regarding strength and weakness of the company. The analysis of the threat and opportunities with support from marketing theories also helps in recommending alternative strategies that Ventura Boats can take in the future to revive their business.

Strength:

Ventura Boats mainly deals with designing high quality small-sized luxury boats. However, their specialty is that they build the boats in traditional hand-build ways from traditional materials. Their main strength is that as their business have prospered till now, they have a strong reserve of cash. Strong cash reserve is likely to provide positive implications in the area of long-term strategic growth and future market share. It is also indicative of strong performance of the company till now (Enqvist, Graham and Nikkinen 2014).

Weakness:

One of the major weak point of Ventura Boat is that despite the availability of newer and efficient technologies in materials and manufacturing processes, the company has still not embraced new technology. The technology used for manufacturing the boat is very outdated and this is the major reason for decline and low demand of many of its product in the Australian market. Secondly, the dependence on traditional methods and materials to build boats is likely to hinder their growth in overseas market too.  

Opportunity:

The possibility of minimum restrictions imposed by overseas government on the use of traditional boats is an advantage for Ventura boats. They can use this opportunity to expand their traditional business in overseas market. This will help them to overcome the challenges of domestic markets. As there is a prediction that Australian government legislation is likely to restrict the use of some of their traditional boats, they can seize the opportunity of fewer restrictions on traditional boats in overseas market. This will help them to expand their business as well as legalized their traditional products for many more years to come. The other advantage of doing business overseas is that the company may offer unique products that may not be available in that region and the product may become a high demand products among new base of customers. This is likely to mitigate threats in business. Secondly, shifting business to overseas might give great exposure to the company which will eventually benefit their business (Hohentha et al. 2014).

Weakness

Threats:

Considering the decline in many of the traditional boats produced at Ventura Boats, the company could have used their experience in industry to adapt new and efficient technologies to make innovative products. However, this move of Ventura Boats can be threatened by the illegalization of many of their current products. Thus means a decline and loss in business not just for Ventura, but also for all traditional boat manufacturing companies too. The research by Habtay. and Holmén (2014) also suggest that antecedents of disruption can differ based on the type of technology or market driven business model used in firms.

By conducting the SWOT analysis for Ventura Boats, the main factor that has been identified to be a major threat in its business is the lack of application of advanced and efficient technologies in materials and manufacturing process for boats. This is indeed a great threat for the company because technology can provide both tangible and intangible benefits to business that influences customer demand. If a company remains updated with the use of technology in its services, it can positively influence business operations. If the Company is capable enough to offer new products with the use of advanced manufacturing material and technology, it is likely to facilitate value creation of the firm too (Jaakkola and Alexander 2014). However, dependence on traditional methods and no efforts towards innovation in business process can hinder the cash flow as well as shrinkage of service or products in target market.

Ventura Boats have not yet manufactured any new boats with advanced technology and this is likely to affect customer utility and customer’s demand for product too. This is because product innovation is found to be directly linked with customer’s demand and engagement with a company. Traditional methods of manufacturing products or service cannot the capture the depth of customer responses and it affects the creation of loyal customers too (Cui and Wu 2016). Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty are two important elements of marketing theory and practice. A customer’s loyalty towards products can be maintained if the company is updated with current demands of customers. This is in relevance with the customers demand theory which states the relationship between customers demand for products and their prices (Jahanshani et al. 2014). Hence, more the effort is paid towards increasing the consumer’s demand towards a product, the more likely is the opportunities of business growth and profitability.

Opportunity

In the context of Ventura Boats, lack of application of technology is a major disadvantage for them. They need to understand that the capacity for new technology is likely to accelerate economic growth and reach new customers in a new way too. This approach would instead support Ventura Boats to further strengthen their business and find ways by which they could penetrate newer markets by the production of new models. They can also use lesser restrictions of traditional boats in overseas government to sustain competitive advantage in business. This is particularly important for business manager of Ventura Boats because recognizing the appropriate opportunity in business can help them to take more targeted approach towards fulfillment of business goals. Ventura Boast can use the opportunity of lower restriction of traditional boats overseas to boost sale in overseas market (Achtenhagen, Melin and Naldi 2013).

The dependence on traditional products and little application of advanced manufacturing technology and materials is the major limitation that can affect the business of Ventura Boats in the future. A strategic alternative business options recommended for Venture Boats to save their products form decline in the Australian market is that they must focus on investing on technological infrastructure to contribute to manufacturing innovation. Adaption of new processed in marketing and shifting to advanced methods in producing boats can also give them the advantage of producing high quality goods and minimizing cost expense too. It can also increase their ability to become more competitive by realizing efficient business operations through the use of technology. Focusing on existing technology in boat manufacturing can help them to fulfill unmet needs that earlier led to the decline of the products. Integration of technology in both products and business processed is a step towards competitiveness and value creation (Adner and Kapoor 2010).

Another recommendation for Venture Boats is that they must engage in market analysis of target overseas country to protect their traditional product. In this case too, use of technology will support them to enter untapped market and stay ahead in the competition. The knowledge regarding business practice, cultural factor of target country and demand of specific features in product can help companies to successfully conduct business internationally. However, moving business to international market is always associated with risk and business decisions should be made by considering about culture, legal and regulatory barriers, Government assistance for business and economic feasibility of the new market. This strategy can help Ventura Boats to conquer untapped markets and increase the demand of their products too (Cavusgil et al.2012).

Conclusion:

The report summarized the strength and weakness present in the Ventura Boats company. The analysis of the weakness and threats present in the company with support from marketing theories and concept has helped in recommending effective alternative strategy for company. Role of technology and tactical moves to conduct business in overseas market can be an effective step for Ventura Boats to shift its business and protect the quality and demand of their boats in domestic as well as international market.

Reference

Achtenhagen, L., Melin, L. and Naldi, L., 2013. Dynamics of business models–strategizing, critical capabilities and activities for sustained value creation. Long range planning, 46(6), pp.427-442.

Adner, R. and Kapoor, R., 2010. Value creation in innovation ecosystems: How the structure of technological interdependence affects firm performance in new technology generations. Strategic management journal, 31(3), pp.306-333.

Cavusgil, S.T., Ghauri, P.N. and Akcal, A.A., 2012. Doing business in emerging markets. Sage.

Cui, A.S. and Wu, F., 2016. Utilizing customer knowledge in innovation: antecedents and impact of customer involvement on new product performance. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 44(4), pp.516-538.

Enqvist, J., Graham, M. and Nikkinen, J., 2014. The impact of working capital management on firm profitability in different business cycles: Evidence from Finland. Research in International Business and Finance, 32, pp.36-49.

Habtay, S.R. and Holmén, M., 2014. Incumbents’ responses to disruptive business model innovation: The moderating role of technology vs. market-driven innovation. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 11, 18(4), pp.289-309.

Hohenthal, J., Johanson, J. and Johanson, M., 2014. Network knowledge and business-relationship value in the foreign market. International Business Review, 23(1), pp.4-19.

Jaakkola, E. and Alexander, M., 2014. The role of customer engagement behavior in value co-creation: a service system perspective. Journal of Service Research, 17(3), pp.247-261.

Jahanshani, A.A., Hajizadeh, G.M.A., Mirdhamadi, S.A., Nawaser, K. and Khaksar, S.M.S., 2014. Study the effects of customer service and product quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty.