Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure
Following a turbulent 2014 for Standard Chartered Bank, the bank's largest shareholder, Temasek Holdings, began showing indications that it was seriously considering offloading at least a portion of its massive shareholdings in Standard Chartered Bank. This case seeks to provide a fair valuation of Standard Chartered Bank's intrinsic value, as well as rationalize the most appropriate way for Standard Chartered Bank to raise funds to satisfy the higher capital requirements under Basel III regulatory rules. Assuming that Standard Chartered Bank decided to hold on to its significant bank investments and to raise funds to satisfy the higher capital requirements, what could be some possible financing alternatives? Would it help to attract more bank deposits, raise debt, or go for a seasoned offering? What would be the impact of these financing alternatives? Finally, what would be a suitable recommendation on how to raise the funds if one took the valuation results into consideration? Ruth S. K. Tan is affiliated with NUS Business School. Zsuzsa R. Huszar is affiliated with NUS Business School. Weina Zhang is affiliated with NUS Business School.
Authors :: Ruth S.K. Tan, Zsuzsa R. Huszar, Weina Zhang
Swot Analysis of "Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure" written by Ruth S.K. Tan, Zsuzsa R. Huszar, Weina Zhang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chartered Standard facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chartered Standard, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chartered Standard 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chartered Standard
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 Chartered Standard
Strengths Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chartered Standard in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Chartered Standard is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Chartered Standard is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Chartered Standard has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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
- Chartered Standard 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 Chartered Standard is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Chartered Standard 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Chartered Standard is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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.
High brand equity
– Chartered Standard has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chartered Standard to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Chartered Standard 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 Ruth S.K. Tan, Zsuzsa R. Huszar, Weina Zhang 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Chartered Standard has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Chartered Standard 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Chartered Standard 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 Chartered Standard in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Chartered Standard in the sector have low bargaining power. Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Chartered Standard to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Chartered Standard 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Chartered Standard, firm in the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure, it seems that the employees of Chartered Standard 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure, is just above the industry average. Chartered Standard 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Chartered Standard 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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 Chartered Standard 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 Chartered Standard supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Chartered Standard vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Chartered Standard has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of Chartered Standard products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Chartered Standard needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure HBR case study mentions - Chartered Standard 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.
Opportunities Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure | 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Chartered Standard 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Chartered Standard 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Chartered Standard 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. Chartered Standard 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Chartered Standard can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Chartered Standard to increase its market reach. Chartered Standard 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Chartered Standard has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Chartered Standard to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure case study. Chartered Standard 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 Chartered Standard 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Chartered Standard 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, Chartered Standard 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Chartered Standard 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.
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 Chartered Standard in the consumer business. Now Chartered Standard can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chartered Standard 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 Chartered Standard to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chartered Standard 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Threats Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure are -
Environmental challenges
– Chartered Standard 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. Chartered Standard can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Chartered Standard 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.
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. Chartered Standard 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.
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.
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. Chartered Standard can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Chartered Standard in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure, Chartered Standard may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Chartered Standard is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Chartered Standard needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Chartered Standard 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
– Chartered Standard 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.
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 Chartered Standard business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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 Standard Chartered Bank: Valuation and Capital Structure 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 Chartered Standard needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.