Swot Analysis of "Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version" written by David E. Bell, Ray A. Goldberg, Mary Shelman, Aldo Sesia includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rabobank Agriculture facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rabobank Agriculture, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rabobank Agriculture
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 Rabobank Agriculture
Strengths Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rabobank Agriculture in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Rabobank Agriculture is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Rabobank Agriculture has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Rabobank Agriculture in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rabobank Agriculture is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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
– Rabobank Agriculture has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Learning organization
- Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank Agriculture is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Rabobank Agriculture has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rabobank Agriculture to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Rabobank Agriculture, firm in the HBR case study Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version, it seems that the employees of Rabobank Agriculture 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David E. Bell, Ray A. Goldberg, Mary Shelman, Aldo Sesia suggests that, Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version HBR case study mentions - Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank Agriculture supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Rabobank Agriculture vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Rabobank Agriculture 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. Rabobank Agriculture 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rabobank Agriculture 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 - Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rabobank Agriculture is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version | 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version are -
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. Rabobank Agriculture can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Rabobank Agriculture can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rabobank Agriculture can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rabobank Agriculture has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rabobank Agriculture to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version case study. Rabobank Agriculture can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Rabobank Agriculture 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. Rabobank Agriculture 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.
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 Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Rabobank Agriculture 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, Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rabobank Agriculture 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.
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. Rabobank Agriculture can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rabobank Agriculture to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rabobank Agriculture can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rabobank Agriculture operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Threats Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version are -
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 Rabobank Agriculture 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 Rabobank Agriculture business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Rabobank Agriculture 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. Rabobank Agriculture can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Rabobank Agriculture 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Rabobank Agriculture is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rabobank Agriculture with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rabobank Agriculture 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.
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 Rabobank Agriculture.
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. Rabobank Agriculture needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version, Rabobank Agriculture 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 .
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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 Rabobank: The Global Food and Agriculture Bank, Chinese Version 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 Rabobank Agriculture needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.