Case Study Description of Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch
Provides an overview of Merrill Lynch's current strategy for retail financial services. Retail Financial Services in 1998 should be given to all students as background material. The class should then be split into groups, with each group receiving one of the following cases: Retail Financial Services in 1998: Charles Schwab, Retail Financial Services in 1998: Fidelity Investments, Retail Financial Services in 1998: First Union, Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch, or Retail Financial Services in 1998: Travelers to prepare in order to understand how each player is attempting to capture value in the converging world of retail financial services.
Swot Analysis of "Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch" written by Stephen P. Bradley, Takia Mahmood includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Retail 1998 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Reorganization and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Retail 1998, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Retail 1998 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Retail 1998
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Retail 1998
Strengths Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Retail 1998 in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Retail 1998 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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.
Learning organization
- Retail 1998 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 Retail 1998 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Retail 1998 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Retail 1998 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Retail 1998 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Retail 1998 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 Retail 1998 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Retail 1998
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Retail 1998 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Retail 1998 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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.
Analytics focus
– Retail 1998 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 Stephen P. Bradley, Takia Mahmood 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 Strategy & Execution industry
– Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Retail 1998 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Retail 1998 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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
– Retail 1998 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Retail 1998 in the sector have low bargaining power. Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Retail 1998 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch are -
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 Retail 1998 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Retail 1998 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Retail 1998 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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 Retail 1998 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Retail 1998 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. Retail 1998 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Retail 1998 is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Retail 1998 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Retail 1998 is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch, is just above the industry average. Retail 1998 needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch HBR case study mentions - Retail 1998 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail 1998 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch | 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Retail 1998 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 Retail 1998 in the consumer business. Now Retail 1998 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Retail 1998 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Retail 1998 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Retail 1998 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Retail 1998 can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
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. Retail 1998 can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Retail 1998 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. Retail 1998 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Retail 1998 in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Retail 1998 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Retail 1998 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch case study. Retail 1998 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Retail 1998 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Retail 1998 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 Retail 1998 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Retail 1998 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Retail 1998 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.
Threats Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch are -
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 Retail 1998 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch, Retail 1998 may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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. Retail 1998 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Retail 1998 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Retail 1998 needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Retail 1998.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Retail 1998 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch .
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 Retail 1998 in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Retail 1998 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.
Environmental challenges
– Retail 1998 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. Retail 1998 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Retail 1998 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Retail 1998
– 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 Retail 1998.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Retail 1998 is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail Financial Services in 1998: Merrill Lynch 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 Retail 1998 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.