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State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant


To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.February 2011: O.P. Bhatt reflected contentedly on his five-year term as Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest commercial bank. He had led SBI on a journey of transformation from an old, hierarchical, transaction oriented, government bank to a modern, customer focused, and technologically advanced universal bank. In 2006, when Bhatt assumed leadership, SBI had been losing market share for over two decades to private and foreign banks. Analysts and industry observers had predicted that at the prevailing growth rates ICICI Bank, a private bank launched in 1994, would overtake SBI in terms of deposits in four years. However, by 2010, SBI had more than doubled its profits, deposits and advances; regained market share and won the Asian Banker Achievement award for the strongest bank in the Asia Pacific region.

Authors :: Rajiv Lal, Rachna Tahilyani

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Growth strategy, Innovation, Marketing, Productivity, Strategic planning, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant" written by Rajiv Lal, Rachna Tahilyani includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sbi Bank facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Innovation, Marketing, Productivity, Strategic planning and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sbi Bank, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sbi Bank 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sbi Bank
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 Sbi Bank




Strengths State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Sbi Bank in State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant Harvard Business Review case study are -

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Sbi Bank has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Learning organization

- Sbi Bank 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 Sbi Bank is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Sbi Bank 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Sbi Bank has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sbi Bank digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sbi Bank 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.

Analytics focus

– Sbi Bank is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Rajiv Lal, Rachna Tahilyani can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sbi Bank to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sbi Bank to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Sbi Bank is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Organizational Resilience of Sbi Bank

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sbi Bank does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Sbi Bank 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Sbi Bank in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.






Weaknesses State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant, it seems that the employees of Sbi Bank 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Sbi Bank 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Sbi Bank 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant HBR case study mentions - Sbi Bank 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 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 Sbi Bank supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sbi Bank vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sbi Bank has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rajiv Lal, Rachna Tahilyani suggests that, Sbi Bank 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant, in the dynamic environment Sbi Bank has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sbi Bank has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sbi Bank needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Sbi Bank is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Sbi Bank needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sbi Bank to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.




Opportunities State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant | 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant are -

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Sbi Bank 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Sbi Bank in the consumer business. Now Sbi Bank can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sbi Bank 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, State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sbi Bank can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.

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. Sbi Bank can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Sbi Bank 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Sbi Bank can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sbi Bank to increase its market reach. Sbi Bank will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Loyalty marketing

– Sbi Bank has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sbi Bank can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Buying journey improvements

– Sbi Bank can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Sbi Bank 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.

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. Sbi Bank 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. Sbi Bank 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.




Threats State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Sbi Bank demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Sbi Bank in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Sbi Bank.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Sbi Bank business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sbi Bank with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Regulatory challenges

– Sbi Bank 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.

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. Sbi Bank 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant, Sbi Bank 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 .

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Sbi Bank needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Sbi Bank has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sbi Bank 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.

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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Sbi Bank 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.

Environmental challenges

– Sbi Bank 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. Sbi Bank can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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 State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant 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 Sbi Bank needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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