The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights
Banking is an international business; both information and capital flow relatively unimpeded across international borders. Banking institutions' information stores have increased dramatically with the spread of computers, and these institutions protect data inside their firewalls from outside eyes, and from disaster, through establishing multiple secure data repositories. However, access to banks' databases is increasingly sought by governments and governance institutions, and restrictions are tightening on moving data across borders. Probably the most prominent example of both trends involves European Union-domiciled cross-border banking business. A key legal reason for resulting issues hinges on differing views of privacy rights: the European Union enshrines privacy as a human right, while the United States empowers rights of free speech over privacy. These differing approaches to privacy rights have caused a cross-Atlantic conflict for global banks. Caught between competing, conflicting regulations, banks' capacity to move information and to comply with governments' demands for it have become restricted. This restriction is happening as governments seek increased access to banks' information for purposes of financial information statecraft--the notion that countries can influence other governments' policies and actions through data.
Swot Analysis of "The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights" written by Travis W. Selmier II, Michelle Frasher includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Privacy Governments facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Regulation and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Privacy Governments, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Privacy Governments
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 Privacy Governments
Strengths The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Privacy Governments in The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Privacy Governments has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Privacy Governments 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Privacy Governments to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Privacy Governments to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Privacy Governments
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Privacy Governments does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Privacy Governments digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Privacy Governments 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Privacy Governments in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Privacy Governments 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 Travis W. Selmier II, Michelle Frasher can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High brand equity
– Privacy Governments has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Privacy Governments to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Privacy Governments is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Privacy Governments is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Privacy Governments 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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.
Weaknesses The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Privacy Governments is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights, is just above the industry average. Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights, in the dynamic environment Privacy Governments has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Privacy Governments has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Privacy Governments, firm in the HBR case study The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 Privacy Governments has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Privacy Governments 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. Privacy Governments 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Privacy Governments is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Privacy Governments needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights, it seems that the employees of Privacy Governments 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 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 Privacy Governments supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Privacy Governments vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Privacy Governments 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Privacy Governments 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.
Opportunities The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights | 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Privacy Governments has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Privacy Governments to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights case study. Privacy Governments can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Privacy Governments in the consumer business. Now Privacy Governments can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Privacy Governments 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 Privacy Governments 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Privacy Governments to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Privacy Governments can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Privacy Governments 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Privacy Governments can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Privacy Governments 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Privacy Governments 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.
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. Privacy Governments 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. Privacy Governments 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 Privacy Governments to increase its market reach. Privacy Governments 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 Privacy Governments 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 Privacy Governments to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights are -
Regulatory challenges
– Privacy Governments 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.
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 Privacy Governments.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Privacy Governments 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Privacy Governments 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 Privacy Governments 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.
Increasing wage structure of Privacy Governments
– 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 Privacy Governments.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights, Privacy Governments 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 .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Privacy Governments can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Privacy Governments business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Privacy Governments has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Privacy Governments needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Privacy Governments 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Privacy Governments 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 The Cross-Atlantic Tussle over Financial Data and Privacy Rights 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 Privacy Governments needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
