Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth
The target market of Citibank cards in India was aligned with the profitability objectives of the company. However, if it continued with its current strategy, it faced the risk of being a niche player in a growing market and losing the profit potential from other segments and geographies in the near future. The CEO needed to reconsider the target market and finalize a marketing strategy in the face of the changing composition of the marketplace, the competition and the commercial imperatives of the credit card business. This was a critical decision that would have a long-term impact on resource deployment and budgeting.
Swot Analysis of "Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth" written by Jaydeep Mukherjee, Sanket Kawde includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Citibank Cards facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Citibank Cards, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Citibank Cards 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 Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Citibank Cards
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Citibank Cards
Strengths Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Citibank Cards in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Citibank Cards has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Citibank Cards digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Citibank Cards 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Citibank Cards is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Citibank Cards are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Citibank Cards is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Citibank Cards is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Citibank Cards
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Citibank Cards does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Citibank Cards in the sector have low bargaining power. Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Citibank Cards to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Citibank Cards is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Citibank Cards to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Citibank Cards to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Citibank Cards is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth case study 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Citibank Cards 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 Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth, it seems that the employees of Citibank Cards 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth HBR case study mentions - Citibank Cards takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jaydeep Mukherjee, Sanket Kawde suggests that, Citibank Cards is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Citibank Cards is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Citibank Cards needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Citibank Cards to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Citibank Cards has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Citibank Cards has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Citibank Cards 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth, in the dynamic environment Citibank Cards has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Citibank Cards has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Citibank Cards supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Citibank Cards vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Citibank Cards has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Citibank Cards 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Citibank Cards products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Citibank Cards needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Citibank Cards can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Citibank Cards can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Citibank Cards is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Citibank Cards 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, as suggested in case study, Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Citibank Cards 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Citibank Cards 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Citibank Cards can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Citibank Cards can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Citibank Cards has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Citibank Cards to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Citibank Cards in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Citibank Cards can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Citibank Cards operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Citibank Cards 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Developing new processes and practices
– Citibank Cards can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Citibank Cards can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth suggest that firm 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.
Threats Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth, Citibank Cards may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Citibank Cards can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Citibank Cards 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 prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth .
Environmental challenges
– Citibank Cards 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. Citibank Cards can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Citibank Cards 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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 Citibank Cards.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Citibank Cards 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 field.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Citibank Cards in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Citibank Cards has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Citibank Cards needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
Increasing wage structure of Citibank Cards
– 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 Citibank Cards.
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.
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. Citibank Cards 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth 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 the case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth 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 the Harvard case study Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth 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 Citibank India Credit Cards: Strategy for Profitable Growth is 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 Citibank Cards needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
