Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing
Kinecta Federal Credit Union has the opportunity to purchase Nix Check Cashing as part of their "blue ocean" strategy to reach the financially underserved and increase credit union membership and deposits. But they face financial as well as reputational risk. Check cashing, payday lending and other alternative financial services are maligned in mainstream financial circles. This case asks students to evaluate both organizations, their respective industries, and the proposed $45 million deal and determine whether or not it makes sense for Kinecta to purchase Nix.
Swot Analysis of "Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing" written by Peter Tufano, Andrea Ryan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cashing Nix facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Strategic planning and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices,
wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cashing Nix, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cashing Nix 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cashing Nix
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 Cashing Nix
Strengths Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cashing Nix in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Cashing Nix is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Cashing Nix is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Cashing Nix 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 Cashing Nix is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Cashing Nix has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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.
High brand equity
– Cashing Nix has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cashing Nix to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cashing Nix are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cashing Nix is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cashing Nix is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cashing Nix to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cashing Nix to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Cashing Nix 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 Peter Tufano, Andrea Ryan 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cashing Nix 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cashing Nix in the sector have low bargaining power. Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cashing Nix to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cashing Nix 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cashing Nix 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 - Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cashing Nix is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Cashing Nix needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cashing Nix to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing, it seems that the employees of Cashing Nix 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, Peter Tufano, Andrea Ryan suggests that, Cashing Nix 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cashing Nix is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing HBR case study mentions - Cashing Nix 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cashing Nix products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cashing Nix needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cashing Nix 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. Cashing Nix 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing, in the dynamic environment Cashing Nix has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cashing Nix has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing, 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.
Opportunities Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing | 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing are -
Buying journey improvements
– Cashing Nix can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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.
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. Cashing Nix can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cashing Nix 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.
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 Cashing Nix 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, Cashing Nix 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
– Cashing Nix 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cashing Nix to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Cashing Nix 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. Cashing Nix 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cashing Nix 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, Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing, 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 Cashing Nix 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cashing Nix can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cashing Nix operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cashing Nix 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cashing Nix has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cashing Nix to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing case study. Cashing Nix can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Cashing Nix can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Threats Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing are -
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. Cashing Nix 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cashing Nix 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.
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 Cashing Nix business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cashing Nix is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cashing Nix 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing .
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Cashing Nix needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing, Cashing Nix 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cashing Nix 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.
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 Cashing Nix.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cashing Nix in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Environmental challenges
– Cashing Nix 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. Cashing Nix can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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 Blue Ocean or Stormy Waters? Buying Nix Check Cashing 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 Cashing Nix needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.