Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A)
This case discusses how the leaders of the Royal Bank of Canada infused the 80,000-employee company with a new emphasis on People Analytics. This supported the bank's business strategies for its wide range of business units. The bank's new People Analytics group, led at the top by the vice president of human resources, collected and analyzed huge volumes of data about the bank's employees, customers, and business unit performance to help the company achieve its strategic goals. Companies across industries had long talked about using data analysis to help them improve employee and organizational performance, but the advent of big data created a step change in the ability to make that happen. With the abundance of data available, and many potential ways to use it, the Royal Bank of Canada, referred to as RBC, was choosing projects that had the greatest potential ROI. The People Strategy and People Analytics teams worked together to add clear business value to business units to help them achieve performance objectives. The case details two of RBC's major People Analytics projects. The first project used data to identify empirically the traits of great managers and subsequently identify who might or might not be a great manager. This enabled RBC to help those managers who could benefit from coaching or other types of interventions. The second project used both internal and customer data to diagnose whether any specific branch, region, or product innovation was not doing as well as it could be-and why not.
Swot Analysis of "Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A)" written by Debra Schifrin, Kathryn Shaw includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Analytics People facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Career planning, Change management, Compensation, Human resource management, Organizational culture, Strategy and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Analytics People, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Analytics People 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: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Analytics People
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Analytics People
Strengths Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Analytics People in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Analytics People 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: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Analytics People has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Analytics People to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) 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
– Analytics People has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Analytics People 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.
Digital Transformation in Communication segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Analytics People digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Analytics People has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Analytics People 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.
Learning organization
- Analytics People 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 Analytics People is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Analytics People is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Analytics People is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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.
Ability to lead change in Communication field
– Analytics People 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 Analytics People in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Analytics People is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Analytics People 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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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.
Weaknesses Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Analytics People has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) 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: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Analytics People is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A), it seems that the employees of Analytics People 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Debra Schifrin, Kathryn Shaw suggests that, Analytics People 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) HBR case study mentions - Analytics People 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A), is just above the industry average. Analytics People 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Analytics People has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Analytics People even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Analytics People is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Analytics People 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Analytics People products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Analytics People needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Analytics People 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.
Opportunities Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) are -
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Analytics People can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Analytics People can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Analytics People can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Analytics People can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Analytics People operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Analytics People 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Analytics People in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Analytics People 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. Analytics People 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Analytics People to increase its market reach. Analytics People 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Analytics People 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 Analytics People to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Analytics People is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Analytics People 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: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Analytics People 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Analytics People can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) 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: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Analytics People can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Analytics People 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.
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.
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 Analytics People in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Analytics People 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Analytics People has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Analytics People needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Analytics People 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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (A) .
Increasing wage structure of Analytics People
– 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 Analytics People.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Analytics People with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Analytics People in the Communication industry. The Communication 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Analytics People 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.
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. Analytics People needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Royal Bank of Canada: Using People Strategy and Analytics to Drive Employee Performance (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 Analytics People needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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