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Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement


Supplements the case. Designed as an in-class handout.

Authors :: F. Warren McFarlan, Christina L. Ruth

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement" written by F. Warren McFarlan, Christina L. Ruth includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Merrill Lynch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement


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




Strengths Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Merrill Lynch in Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement Harvard Business Review case study are -

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

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

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Merrill Lynch is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Merrill Lynch 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

- Merrill Lynch 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 Merrill Lynch is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Merrill Lynch 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Merrill Lynch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Merrill Lynch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Merrill Lynch is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Merrill Lynch 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Merrill Lynch has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Merrill Lynch has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Merrill Lynch 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Merrill Lynch is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Merrill Lynch in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement are -

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Merrill Lynch 's lucrative customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Merrill Lynch has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Merrill Lynch is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

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 Merrill Lynch supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Merrill Lynch vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, F. Warren McFarlan, Christina L. Ruth suggests that, Merrill Lynch 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Merrill Lynch products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Merrill Lynch needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement, in the dynamic environment Merrill Lynch has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Merrill Lynch has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Need for greater diversity

– Merrill Lynch 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement, 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 Merrill Lynch 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.




Opportunities Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement | 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Merrill Lynch has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Merrill Lynch to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement case study. Merrill Lynch can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Merrill Lynch 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, Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Merrill Lynch to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Merrill Lynch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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 Merrill Lynch 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.

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 Merrill Lynch in the consumer business. Now Merrill Lynch can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Merrill Lynch 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Merrill Lynch 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Merrill Lynch 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Merrill Lynch to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Merrill Lynch 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Merrill Lynch is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Merrill Lynch to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

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. Merrill Lynch 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. Merrill Lynch 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Merrill Lynch 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.




Threats Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Merrill Lynch 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Merrill Lynch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Merrill Lynch 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Merrill Lynch 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement .

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. Merrill Lynch 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.

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. Merrill Lynch can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Merrill Lynch 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.

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.

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 Merrill Lynch in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Merrill Lynch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Merrill Lynch high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Merrill Lynch is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Merrill Lynch 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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 Merrill Lynch: Integrated Choice, Supplement 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 Merrill Lynch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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