Essay on SWOT Analysis of Zipcar

Discount Tire Co. (2016) SWOT summarized the following analysis of the company, “Strengths: Comprehensive product and service portfolio, robust store operations and brand image and online shopping with interactive wheel system. Weaknesses: Private ownership and limited geographical spread increases its business risks. Opportunities: Positive outlook for the United States new cars market and establishment of new stores for business expansion. Threats: Intense competition and growing retail operations of other tire manufacturers” (Discount Tire Co, 2016, p. 12). This SWOT analysis if used properly, can help organizations make decisions that align their vision with their goals.

The main purpose of this paper is through the company 's external and internal environment analysis to evaluate the company in the industry and future developments. Assess the external environment mainly through PESTLE Analysis and Porter 's 5 Forces. Strategic Recourses & Capability Analysis for internal environmental assessment is conducted. Finally, the company somehow SWOT analysis, concluded ••••

When manipulating a business’s strategy, it is important to focus on the external factors in the environment. An external analysis is where a business conducts environmental scanning that present a company with the key external forces influencing the organization. The facets of external forces examined are the business environment, remote environment, or the competitive environment. A business environment is all of the external factors in the general environment that a firm cannot control, but can affect their strategy. The remote environment is the forces that affect most firms. Lastly, a competitive environment is the firm’s specific industry and its entirety. The external analysis is pertinent to a company called Dick’s Drive- In; without it, Dick’s would not be a thriving popular business today.

the internal analysis of the firm and the external analysis of the industry and competitive environment

Macro environment is crucial to the development of a company. All the external factors can have huge positive or negative influences on Travis Perkins plc, therefore a better understanding of the environment of the company is of supreme significance (Peng & Nunes, 2007). Among all the analysis tools, PEST analysis is one of the most effective tools to analyze the external environment of a company (Riley, 2012). This part will demonstrate PESTLE analysis of Travis Perkins plc below. The result of PESTLE analysis can be demonstrated in the following table 1.

These are the strengths within your organisation. What exactly is it about you and your business that is better than the competition? Examples might include quality products, advanced technology, advanced knowledge and a long established business. Identifying the strengths of your current business or a new venture can improve the efficiency of your sales and marketing efforts – it helps you to visualise the unique selling point of your business which helps you write better sales copy, create better sales letters, make more successful sales calls and develop smarter marketing campaigns.

PEST analysis is an imperative strategy tool used for a company, mainly to oversee and assists in project management. PEST analysis stands for the political, economic, social and technological factors of an organization. This tool is used as an aspect of an organization's competitive strategy to analyze and assess the critical external factors that may positively or negatively impact the organization (Kadlubek, 2016). When a PEST analysis is performed, the external factors are analyzed and monitor the external marketing environment. A company may consist of several external factors that can bolster or impede the development of an organization; therefore, it is beneficial and more productive to subdivide the external analysis into more feasible segments (Frederick, Agnes and John, 2011).

A company’s strengths are found within their own company and members. Depending on how well and to what extent a company uses its resources determines just what its strengths are. These strengths may be what they do better than other companies, what they do different from other

It is the latter, however, that will determine the company’s long-term ability to remain competitive. Currently, the software that Zipcar is using is certainly innovative but simply not complex enough to create several years of lead. Whilst obtaining a patent on the technology will usually protect it for 20 years, there is no guarantee that this will deter competitors from entering the market if prospects appear to be lucrative; nor will it impede them, particularly given the potential competitors of car rental agencies and car manufacturers, both of whom have the resources to develop a competing, if not more sophisticated, technology. Given these concerns, Chase will want to consider allocating $300,000 removing any technology risk from the current “wave” and driving a third wave that focuses on innovation and creation of unique attributes that can be associated specifically with Zipcar cars.

Businesses in the same industry compete against each other to meet their organization goals and sustain competitive advantage over one another. But to meet those goals, it’s important for businesses to analyze their internal and external environment to allow them to come up with new business strategies beneficial to the business. Firms can use SWOT as a starting point. SWOT is a basic technique that can be used by business owners to analyze their business and industry condition (Dess, G., Lumpkin G.T., Eisner, A., McNamara, G, 2013). Using SWOT will help business owners understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of their business. It would help them analyze and come up

[Case: Zipcar] Zipcar’s SWOT and financial analysis a) Strengths Firstly, Zipcar seized 80% of US market share, making it the strong player in the market. Secondly, as the company is able to acquire its competitors (Flexcar-US, Streetcar Ltd-UK), they can reduce the competitors as well as gain those market shares and customer bases from those 2 companies. Thirdly, Zipcar’s customer-friendly and disruptive business model is what makes it unique. They leverages accessibility, make it available close to where people live or work and need access to vehicle, which is one of the threat of car renting. The company also allows the members to use a car when required, which provides true flexibility. Supported by advanced technology (RFID System r),

An external analysis looks at the general macro environment and industry attractiveness. A PESTEL analysis will be used to look at the macro environment and Porter’s Five Forces framework will follow to provide a clearer picture of industry attractiveness.

As Zappos faces the challenge of determining next steps in regards to maintaining the existing business unit or to enter a new business venture, the SWOT analysis will provide clarity in the firms Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This is an extremely suitable

An analysis of the external environment includes the factors in a business’s external environment about a business's industry, competition, and political and social environments, and affects the firm’s strategy (Aaker, 2001).

This analysis consists of analyzing the external environment of the company (competitors, social, technological, regulations, etc.). The purpose is to identify the key opportunities and threats in the environment.