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Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review


Microcredit made a dramatic entry into the banking lexicon when Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus ushered in a new era of social banking with his Grameen Bank. BASIX, the Indian replicator of the Nobel laureate's ideology, (albeit with a different methodology of livelihood promotion), had established itself as an effective microfinance institution (MFI) in India. It had successfully convinced the government of the need for, and feasibility of, setting up financial institutions such as "local banks" in rural areas to mobilize rural savings and provide meaningful livelihoods for the poor, especially women. KBSLAB, a local bank established by BASIX, had performed very well initially, but had reached a critical juncture in its journey in 2011. The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) guidelines were similar for the commercial banks and the Local Area Banks in many aspects like the statutory liquidity ratio and the cash reserve ratio requirements. But the geographical restrictions on the local area banks were making it difficult to expand and meet the compliance and monitoring mechanisms. The case looks at the journey of this unique microfinance banking institution over a decade of its existence and contemplates its future. It raises questions about what actually plagues local area banks in general and KBS in particular, the justifiability of the RBI guidelines and the viability of microcredit banks in the future.

Authors :: Puran Singh, Nupur Pavan Bang, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, Rajesh Chakrabarti

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review" written by Puran Singh, Nupur Pavan Bang, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, Rajesh Chakrabarti includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Banks Local facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Banks Local, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Banks Local 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Banks Local
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 Banks Local




Strengths Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Banks Local in Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review Harvard Business Review case study are -

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Banks Local 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Banks Local 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Banks Local 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.

Organizational Resilience of Banks Local

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Banks Local does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Banks Local in the sector have low bargaining power. Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Banks Local to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Banks Local has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Banks Local 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.

Learning organization

- Banks Local 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 Banks Local is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Banks Local is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High brand equity

– Banks Local has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Banks Local to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Diverse revenue streams

– Banks Local is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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.

Analytics focus

– Banks Local 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 Puran Singh, Nupur Pavan Bang, Kaushik Bhattacharjee, Rajesh Chakrabarti 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.






Weaknesses Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review are -

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Banks Local 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review HBR case study mentions - Banks Local 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review, 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Banks Local 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Banks Local 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Banks Local is planning to shift buying processes online.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Banks Local has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review, is just above the industry average. Banks Local 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review, in the dynamic environment Banks Local has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Banks Local has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Banks Local is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

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 Banks Local supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Banks Local vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.




Opportunities Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review | 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review are -

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Banks Local 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. Banks Local can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Manufacturing automation

– Banks Local 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Banks Local can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Banks Local operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Banks Local has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Banks Local to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review case study. Banks Local can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Banks Local 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Banks Local 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Banks Local is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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.

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 Banks Local in the consumer business. Now Banks Local can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Banks Local can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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.

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. Banks Local 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. Banks Local 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Banks Local 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Banks Local to increase its market reach. Banks Local 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.




Threats Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review are -

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 Banks Local business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 Banks Local.

Environmental challenges

– Banks Local 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. Banks Local can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.

Regulatory challenges

– Banks Local 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Banks Local 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review .

Increasing wage structure of Banks Local

– 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 Banks Local.

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. Banks Local 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 Banks Local is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Banks Local in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Banks Local 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.

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 dependence on third party suppliers

– Banks Local 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Banks Local 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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 Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB): A Decade Review 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 Banks Local needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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