Swot Analysis of "Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C)" written by Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, Wesley Yin, Marc Shotland includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Microsavings Philippines facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development, Project management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Microsavings Philippines, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Microsavings Philippines 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Microsavings Philippines
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Microsavings Philippines
Strengths Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Microsavings Philippines in Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Microsavings Philippines
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Microsavings Philippines does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Microsavings Philippines 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Microsavings Philippines to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Microsavings Philippines to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Microsavings Philippines is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Microsavings Philippines has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Microsavings Philippines to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Microsavings Philippines 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Microsavings Philippines is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Microsavings Philippines 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Microsavings Philippines is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Microsavings Philippines is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Microsavings Philippines in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Microsavings Philippines 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 Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, Wesley Yin, Marc Shotland 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) HBR case study mentions - Microsavings Philippines 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Microsavings Philippines 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Microsavings Philippines 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Microsavings Philippines products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Microsavings Philippines needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Microsavings Philippines 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C), is just above the industry average. Microsavings Philippines 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, Wesley Yin, Marc Shotland suggests that, Microsavings Philippines is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Microsavings Philippines is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Microsavings Philippines 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. Microsavings Philippines 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Microsavings Philippines 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Microsavings Philippines, firm in the HBR case study Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) | 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Microsavings Philippines 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Microsavings Philippines is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Microsavings Philippines can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Microsavings Philippines can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Microsavings Philippines can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Microsavings Philippines can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Microsavings Philippines operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Microsavings Philippines 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 Microsavings Philippines to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Microsavings Philippines in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Microsavings Philippines 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, Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Microsavings Philippines can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Microsavings Philippines to increase its market reach. Microsavings Philippines 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Microsavings Philippines 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Microsavings Philippines 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Microsavings Philippines to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Microsavings Philippines can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Microsavings Philippines needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Microsavings Philippines has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Microsavings Philippines needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Microsavings Philippines with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Microsavings Philippines 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Microsavings Philippines is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Microsavings Philippines
– 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 Microsavings Philippines.
Environmental challenges
– Microsavings Philippines 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. Microsavings Philippines can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Microsavings Philippines business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Microsavings Philippines 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Microsavings Philippines in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Microsavings Philippines 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 Microsavings Philippines 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (C) 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 Microsavings Philippines needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
