Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B)
In 1997, amidst Japan's ongoing financial problems, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto sought to restructure the financial sector to make it more transparent and globally competitive. He hoped that this effort, dubbed the "Big Bang" after the British financial restructuring of a decade earlier, would prove as successful. But the financial problems, which seemed to have abated, looked as if they might be worsening. Thus, Hashimoto had to weigh priorities. Should he focus on long-term restructuring, immediate financial rescue, or both? Might an over-emphasis on long-term restructuring increase the chances that major banks could collapse? And what were the best economic and political strategies in these arenas? As a major developed economy, Japan offers an analog to the problems that faced the United States in its 2008-09 financial crisis.
Authors :: Thierry Porte, Rawi Abdelal, Laura Alfaro, Jonathan Schlefer
Swot Analysis of "Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B)" written by Thierry Porte, Rawi Abdelal, Laura Alfaro, Jonathan Schlefer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hashimoto Restructuring facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Recession and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hashimoto Restructuring, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hashimoto Restructuring
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 Hashimoto Restructuring
Strengths Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hashimoto Restructuring in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hashimoto Restructuring in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Hashimoto Restructuring in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hashimoto Restructuring has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Hashimoto Restructuring is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Hashimoto Restructuring is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Hashimoto Restructuring
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hashimoto Restructuring does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Hashimoto Restructuring has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hashimoto Restructuring to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Hashimoto Restructuring has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hashimoto Restructuring is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hashimoto Restructuring is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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.
Weaknesses Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B), it seems that the employees of Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hashimoto Restructuring products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hashimoto Restructuring needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B), is just above the industry average. Hashimoto Restructuring 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B), in the dynamic environment Hashimoto Restructuring has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hashimoto Restructuring has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B), 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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 Hashimoto Restructuring has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hashimoto Restructuring is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Hashimoto Restructuring needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hashimoto Restructuring to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) | 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) are -
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 Hashimoto Restructuring in the consumer business. Now Hashimoto Restructuring can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Hashimoto Restructuring can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hashimoto Restructuring 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, Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Hashimoto Restructuring to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hashimoto Restructuring can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hashimoto Restructuring can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hashimoto Restructuring operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Hashimoto Restructuring 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. Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hashimoto Restructuring to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hashimoto Restructuring has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hashimoto Restructuring to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) case study. Hashimoto Restructuring can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hashimoto Restructuring to increase its market reach. Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Threats Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) are -
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. Hashimoto Restructuring needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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. Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hashimoto Restructuring has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
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 Hashimoto Restructuring business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hashimoto Restructuring is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hashimoto Restructuring 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.
Environmental challenges
– Hashimoto Restructuring 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. Hashimoto Restructuring can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hashimoto Restructuring 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) .
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. Hashimoto Restructuring can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Hashimoto Restructuring
– 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 Hashimoto Restructuring.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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 Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B) 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 Hashimoto Restructuring needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.