The case describes the new product development process for WingspanBank.com, an Internet-only financial services "infomediary" created by a team from Bank One's First USA division. The creation of the bank is described from concept development to prelaunch decision making. Rich detail is provided for analysis about the processes and managerial decisions that allowed the bank to be created in roughly 120 days through a team of 30 vendors. In addition, the concept of an "infomediary" is introduced. The case's decision point requires students to make tradeoffs between speed (the desire to achieve first-mover advantage in online banking) and reliability and completeness of concept.
Swot Analysis of "WingspanBank.com (A)" written by Sandra J. Sucher, Daniel Galvin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wingspanbank.com Infomediary facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in WingspanBank.com (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the WingspanBank.com (A) casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of WingspanBank.com (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in WingspanBank.com (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wingspanbank.com Infomediary, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 WingspanBank.com (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in WingspanBank.com (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary
Strengths WingspanBank.com (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary in WingspanBank.com (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in WingspanBank.com (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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 WingspanBank.com (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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– WingspanBank.com (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Organizational Resilience of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wingspanbank.com Infomediary does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary in the sector have low bargaining power. WingspanBank.com (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the WingspanBank.com (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.
Innovation driven organization
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in WingspanBank.com (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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
- Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in WingspanBank.com (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses WingspanBank.com (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of WingspanBank.com (A) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study WingspanBank.com (A) 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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 's lucrative customers.
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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - WingspanBank.com (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wingspanbank.com Infomediary vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study WingspanBank.com (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wingspanbank.com Infomediary needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary, firm in the HBR case study WingspanBank.com (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As WingspanBank.com (A) HBR case study mentions - Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study WingspanBank.com (A), it seems that the employees of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 - WingspanBank.com (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the WingspanBank.com (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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities WingspanBank.com (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 WingspanBank.com (A) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. WingspanBank.com (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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wingspanbank.com Infomediary has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the WingspanBank.com (A) case study. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 WingspanBank.com (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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, WingspanBank.com (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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wingspanbank.com Infomediary to increase its market reach. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wingspanbank.com Infomediary in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats WingspanBank.com (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study WingspanBank.com (A) 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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wingspanbank.com Infomediary is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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.
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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Wingspanbank.com Infomediary will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wingspanbank.com Infomediary with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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.
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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wingspanbank.com Infomediary 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 WingspanBank.com (A) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of WingspanBank.com (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 WingspanBank.com (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 WingspanBank.com (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 WingspanBank.com (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 WingspanBank.com (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 Wingspanbank.com Infomediary needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.