Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A)
Citigroup has discovered that Daniel Dantas, hired five years earlier to manage Citigroup's $750 million private equity investment in a Brazilian telecommunications industry joint venture, has allegedly mismanaged more than $300 million in assets and contracts. Dantas's misconduct relates to his management of Citigroup's CVC Fund and II-FIA, a legal entity representing a group of large Brazilian pension funds. Together with Dantas's Grupo Opportunity, CVC and II-FIA own Brasil Telecom, the third largest telecommunications company in the country. The partnership's pyramidal ownership structure makes his actions difficult to track. Citigroup must quickly determine how to disrupt Dantas's intricately woven web of control without allowing him to extract further value from the partnership. This case provides concrete examples of the expropriation risks joint venture partners face when unfamiliar with pyramidal group ownership structures.
Swot Analysis of "Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A)" written by Susan Perkins, Sachin Waikar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dantas's Citigroup's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, International business, Strategy and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dantas's Citigroup's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dantas's Citigroup's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Dantas's Citigroup's
Strengths Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dantas's Citigroup's in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dantas's Citigroup's in the sector have low bargaining power. Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dantas's Citigroup's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dantas's Citigroup's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dantas's Citigroup's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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
– Dantas's Citigroup's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dantas's Citigroup's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dantas's Citigroup's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Susan Perkins, Sachin Waikar 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dantas's Citigroup's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dantas's Citigroup's 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)
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Dantas's Citigroup's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Dantas's Citigroup's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dantas's Citigroup's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dantas's Citigroup's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Dantas's Citigroup's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A), is just above the industry average. Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dantas's Citigroup's 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 - Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dantas's Citigroup's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dantas's Citigroup's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dantas's Citigroup's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Dantas's Citigroup's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Dantas's Citigroup's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dantas's Citigroup's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dantas's Citigroup's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Dantas's Citigroup's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dantas's Citigroup's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dantas's Citigroup's, firm in the HBR case study Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) | 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Dantas's Citigroup's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dantas's Citigroup's 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, Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dantas's Citigroup's to increase its market reach. Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dantas's Citigroup's can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dantas's Citigroup's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dantas's Citigroup's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dantas's Citigroup's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dantas's Citigroup's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dantas's Citigroup's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dantas's Citigroup's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dantas's Citigroup's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) case study. Dantas's Citigroup's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Dantas's Citigroup's in the consumer business. Now Dantas's Citigroup's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) .
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 Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Dantas's Citigroup's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Dantas's Citigroup's.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Dantas's Citigroup's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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.
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. Dantas's Citigroup's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Dantas's Citigroup's 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Dantas's Citigroup's
– 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 Dantas's Citigroup's.
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 Dantas's Citigroup's in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Citigroup's Shareholder Tango in Brazil (A) 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 Dantas's Citigroup's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
