Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand
After a 15-year absence, the Royal Bank of Canada returned to Thailand in 1997. During a period of high economic instability, the bank must weigh the merits of Thailand versus other markets within Asia-Pacific. This case provides details on subsidiary start-up costs (including staff, capital expenses) and requires decisions on organization/human resources issues as well as the best strategic approach to the market.
Authors :: Paul W. Beamish, Bernice Scholten, Leslie Stephenson
Swot Analysis of "Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand" written by Paul W. Beamish, Bernice Scholten, Leslie Stephenson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Thailand Royal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Thailand Royal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Thailand Royal 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Thailand Royal
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 Thailand Royal
Strengths Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Thailand Royal in Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Thailand Royal in the sector have low bargaining power. Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Thailand Royal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Thailand Royal in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Thailand Royal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Thailand Royal 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Thailand Royal 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Thailand Royal is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Thailand Royal has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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.
Analytics focus
– Thailand Royal 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 Paul W. Beamish, Bernice Scholten, Leslie Stephenson 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Thailand Royal 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Thailand Royal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Thailand Royal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Thailand Royal
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Thailand Royal does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand, in the dynamic environment Thailand Royal has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Thailand Royal has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Thailand Royal 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Thailand Royal 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Thailand Royal is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Thailand Royal 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Thailand Royal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Thailand Royal 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Paul W. Beamish, Bernice Scholten, Leslie Stephenson suggests that, Thailand Royal is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Thailand Royal products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Thailand Royal needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Thailand Royal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Thailand Royal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand | 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Thailand Royal can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Thailand Royal in the consumer business. Now Thailand Royal can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Thailand Royal 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, Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand, 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
– Thailand Royal 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Thailand Royal can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Thailand Royal 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Thailand Royal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Thailand Royal 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Thailand Royal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Thailand Royal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand case study. Thailand Royal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Thailand Royal can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
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 Thailand Royal to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Thailand Royal 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 Thailand Royal to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Thailand Royal 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Thailand Royal to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand are -
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. Thailand Royal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Thailand Royal 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand, Thailand Royal may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Thailand Royal with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Thailand Royal
– 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 Thailand Royal.
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. Thailand Royal can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Thailand Royal 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Thailand Royal is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Thailand Royal 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Thailand Royal has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Thailand Royal needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Thailand Royal 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
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 Thailand Royal business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Royal Bank of Canada in Thailand 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 Thailand Royal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.