Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector
The case explains how Compte-Nickel found a blue ocean in the crowded French retail banking sector by identifying noncustomers and developing a strategy to attract them. Traditional banks focused on developing financial technology to make their offerings more appealing, whereas Compte-Nickel created a blue ocean by looking at the noncustomers the other banks ignored: low income earners and people facing financial exclusion.
Authors :: W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, Melanie Pipino
Swot Analysis of "Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector" written by W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, Melanie Pipino includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Compte Nickel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Financial management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Compte Nickel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Compte Nickel 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Compte Nickel
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 Compte Nickel
Strengths Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Compte Nickel in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Compte Nickel has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Compte Nickel 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Compte Nickel in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Compte Nickel is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Compte Nickel 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Compte Nickel is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Compte Nickel 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 Compte Nickel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Compte Nickel in the sector have low bargaining power. Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Compte Nickel to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Compte Nickel has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Compte Nickel 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Compte Nickel 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 Compte Nickel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Compte Nickel has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Compte Nickel to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Compte Nickel is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector, in the dynamic environment Compte Nickel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Compte Nickel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Compte Nickel 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Compte Nickel 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 - Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector, 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.
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 Compte Nickel supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Compte Nickel vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Compte Nickel is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Compte Nickel 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Compte Nickel 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte Nickel has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Compte Nickel is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Compte Nickel needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Compte Nickel to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Compte Nickel 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector | 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Compte Nickel 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, Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Compte Nickel 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Compte Nickel can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Compte Nickel 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Compte Nickel can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Compte Nickel 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. Compte Nickel 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Compte Nickel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Compte Nickel 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Compte Nickel can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Compte Nickel 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 Compte Nickel to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Compte Nickel 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Compte Nickel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Compte Nickel 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Compte Nickel can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Compte Nickel 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Compte Nickel with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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. Compte Nickel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Compte Nickel in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Compte Nickel business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Compte Nickel 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Compte Nickel 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector, Compte Nickel 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Compte Nickel has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Compte Nickel 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.
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. Compte Nickel can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Compte Nickel.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Compte Nickel 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte-Nickel: Creating New Demand in the Retail Banking Sector 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 Compte Nickel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
