SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE?
Superior Savings Bank was a small community bank that had been operating in Superior, Wisconsin, since 1924. Its corporate office was located downtown and two nearby branches were opened-one in a prominent grocery store, SuperOne Foods, and one in a big-box supercenter, Walmart. The Board of Directors and top management were content with the bank's size and performance. However, in 2012, another growth opportunity presented itself, and a decision had to be made whether to maintain the status quo or add a third branch. The bank had the option of offering services in a soon-to-be-constructed SuperOne Foods in the east part of town (3 miles from the corporate office). The bank's President and CEO, David H. Stack, needed to determine whether to expand or keep the bank's operations at its current level.
Swot Analysis of "SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE?" written by Ahmed Maamoun includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bank's Superone facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bank's Superone, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bank's Superone 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bank's Superone
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 Bank's Superone
Strengths SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bank's Superone in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bank's Superone in the sector have low bargaining power. SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bank's Superone to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bank's Superone digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bank's Superone 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Bank's Superone 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 Bank's Superone in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Bank's Superone is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bank's Superone 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bank's Superone is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Bank's Superone has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bank's Superone to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bank's Superone is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? 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.
Organizational Resilience of Bank's Superone
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bank's Superone does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Bank's Superone 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 Bank's Superone is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bank's Superone to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bank's Superone to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Bank's Superone is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Bank's Superone products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bank's Superone needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bank's Superone, firm in the HBR case study SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bank's Superone is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Bank's Superone has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bank's Superone 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 - SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE?, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? HBR case study mentions - Bank's Superone 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Bank's Superone 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE?, in the dynamic environment Bank's Superone has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bank's Superone has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bank's Superone 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. Bank's Superone 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bank's Superone 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.
Opportunities SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? | 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bank's Superone can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bank's Superone can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bank's Superone operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bank's Superone 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bank's Superone 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bank's Superone to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bank's Superone has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bank's Superone to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? case study. Bank's Superone can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bank's Superone to increase its market reach. Bank's Superone 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bank's Superone 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.
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. Bank's Superone can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Bank's Superone 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.
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. Bank's Superone 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. Bank's Superone 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bank's Superone 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bank's Superone 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.
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 Bank's Superone in the consumer business. Now Bank's Superone can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? are -
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. Bank's Superone can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bank's Superone has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bank's Superone 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bank's Superone 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.
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 Bank's Superone 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 Bank's Superone with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bank's Superone is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bank's Superone 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.
Environmental challenges
– Bank's Superone 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. Bank's Superone can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Bank's Superone 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bank's Superone 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? .
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 Bank's Superone.
Increasing wage structure of Bank's Superone
– 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 Bank's Superone.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? 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 SUPERIOR SAVINGS BANK'S NEW LOCATION DECISION: IS LESS MORE? 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 Bank's Superone needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.