Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining
Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited (Standard Chartered) was part of an international banking group that focused on the creation of wealth across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. As part of its commitment to corporate social responsibility, Standard Chartered launched a project in 2012 called Silver Lining, a community project that aimed to support elderly Singaporeans in meeting their financial and health care needs. Silver Lining had overcome a number of challenges since its inception, choosing appropriate partners and finding ways to help young volunteers overcome language barriers to work with elderly clients. It had also joined with other organizations to collaborate on offering supports and services to seniors in the community, some of whom were dealing with poor mental health. In early 2017, Standard Chartered had to make some key strategic decisions in order to ensure the continued relevance of Silver Lining and justify the need for continued funding for the project. Thompson S.H. Teo is affiliated with National University of Singapore.
Authors :: Thompson SH Teo, Sok Chin Lim, Jun Xian Lau, Amanda Yun Shan Chua
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: Social enterprise, Social responsibility, Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining" written by Thompson SH Teo, Sok Chin Lim, Jun Xian Lau, Amanda Yun Shan Chua includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lining Chartered facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lining Chartered, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lining Chartered 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lining Chartered
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Lining Chartered
Strengths Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lining Chartered in Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Lining Chartered
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lining Chartered does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lining Chartered to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lining Chartered to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lining Chartered is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Lining Chartered 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 Thompson SH Teo, Sok Chin Lim, Jun Xian Lau, Amanda Yun Shan Chua 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Lining Chartered is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Lining Chartered 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lining Chartered digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lining Chartered 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.
High brand equity
– Lining Chartered has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lining Chartered to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Lining Chartered is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Lining Chartered 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 Lining Chartered is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Lining Chartered 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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.
Weaknesses Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lining Chartered is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Lining Chartered needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lining Chartered to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lining Chartered 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. Lining Chartered 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining HBR case study mentions - Lining Chartered 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lining Chartered, firm in the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Lining Chartered 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Thompson SH Teo, Sok Chin Lim, Jun Xian Lau, Amanda Yun Shan Chua suggests that, Lining Chartered 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lining Chartered 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 - Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining, in the dynamic environment Lining Chartered has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lining Chartered has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Lining Chartered supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lining Chartered vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lining Chartered products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lining Chartered needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining | 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Lining Chartered 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. Lining Chartered 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lining Chartered can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lining Chartered can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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.
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 Lining Chartered 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lining Chartered is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lining Chartered can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lining Chartered 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.
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. Lining Chartered can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lining Chartered can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lining Chartered operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lining Chartered to increase its market reach. Lining Chartered 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.
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 Lining Chartered in the consumer business. Now Lining Chartered 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, Lining Chartered 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, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining, 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 Lining Chartered 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.
Threats Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lining Chartered is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lining Chartered with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lining Chartered 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lining Chartered
– 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 Lining Chartered.
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. Lining Chartered 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.
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. Lining Chartered needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Lining Chartered.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lining Chartered can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lining Chartered in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lining Chartered 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 Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lining Chartered 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Lining Chartered 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lining Chartered 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Standard Chartered Bank Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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 Singapore: Embracing the Silver Lining 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 Lining Chartered needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
