Citibank, N.A., in China SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Citibank, N.A., in China
Citibank was the first U.S. bank to establish operations in China when it opened a branch in Shanghai in 1902. From the early 1940s until 1984, Citibank was absent from China, but since 1984 it had gradually reestablished an active presence. In 1997, Citibank had reached a crossroads. It had to decide how best to participate in the rapid growth of the Chinese economy and the huge inflow of foreign direct investment. Citibank had many competitive advantages on the basis of which it had established a unique strategy that excluded joint ventures. In 1997, a wide variety of new potential services included credit cards, RMB (Chinese currency) banking, and various fee-based services. Government regulations still severely restricted the types of loans foreign banks could make, but it was expected that these regulations might soon be liberalized. How should Citibank, N.A. in China best position itself for the future?
Authors :: David W. Conklin, Larry Li, Adrienne I. Young
Swot Analysis of "Citibank, N.A., in China" written by David W. Conklin, Larry Li, Adrienne I. Young includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Citibank N.a facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Citibank, N.A., in China case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Global strategy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Citibank, N.A., in China casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Citibank, N.A., in China
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Citibank, N.A., in China case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Citibank N.a, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Citibank N.a 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 Citibank, N.A., in China can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Citibank, N.A., in China case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Citibank N.a
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 Citibank N.a
Strengths Citibank, N.A., in China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Citibank N.a in Citibank, N.A., in China Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Citibank N.a 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 Citibank N.a is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Citibank, N.A., in China Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Citibank N.a has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Citibank N.a 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Citibank N.a 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 Citibank, N.A., in China - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Citibank, N.A., in China 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Citibank N.a in the sector have low bargaining power. Citibank, N.A., in China has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Citibank N.a to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Citibank N.a
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Citibank N.a does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Citibank N.a 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 Citibank N.a in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Citibank N.a digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Citibank N.a 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Citibank N.a 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 Citibank, N.A., in China HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Citibank N.a 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Citibank, N.A., in China firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Citibank N.a to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Citibank N.a to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Citibank N.a is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Citibank, N.A., in China Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Citibank, N.A., in China | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Citibank, N.A., in China are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank N.a has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank, N.A., in China can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Citibank N.a is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Citibank N.a is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Citibank N.a needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Citibank N.a to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Citibank N.a 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 - Citibank, N.A., in China should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Citibank N.a products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Citibank N.a needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Citibank N.a, firm in the HBR case study Citibank, N.A., in China needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Citibank N.a 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Citibank N.a 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Citibank, N.A., in China, it seems that the employees of Citibank N.a 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Citibank, N.A., in China, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Citibank, N.A., in China, is just above the industry average. Citibank N.a 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.
Opportunities Citibank, N.A., in China | 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 Citibank, N.A., in China are -
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 Citibank N.a 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Citibank N.a 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Citibank N.a 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 Citibank N.a to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Citibank N.a 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.
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. Citibank N.a can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Citibank N.a can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Citibank N.a 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 Citibank, N.A., in China - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Citibank N.a to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Citibank N.a to increase its market reach. Citibank N.a 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.
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. Citibank N.a can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Citibank N.a in the consumer business. Now Citibank N.a can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Citibank N.a 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Citibank N.a has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Citibank N.a to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Citibank, N.A., in China case study. Citibank N.a can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Citibank N.a is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Citibank, N.A., in China 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.
Threats Citibank, N.A., in China External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Citibank, N.A., in China 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. Citibank N.a can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Citibank N.a business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Citibank N.a needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Citibank N.a in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Citibank N.a 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Citibank N.a 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.
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. Citibank N.a 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Citibank N.a with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Citibank N.a is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Citibank N.a 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
– Citibank N.a 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.
Environmental challenges
– Citibank N.a 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. Citibank N.a can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank, N.A., in China 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 Citibank N.a needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.