SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre
Supplement case for UV5683.On July 15, 2010, the U.S. Senate obtained the 60 votes needed to pass the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. On the same day, the SEC reached a $550 million settlement with Goldman Sachs relating to its April 16 lawsuit by dropping its fraud charges. Supporters of both sides claimed the settlement was a victory. This short case is the epilogue to "The SEC vs. Goldman Sachs" (UVA-GEM-0101).
Swot Analysis of "SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre" written by Wei Li, Rick Green includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Settlement Sachs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Settlement Sachs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Settlement Sachs 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Settlement Sachs
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 Settlement Sachs
Strengths SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Settlement Sachs in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Settlement Sachs 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Settlement Sachs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Settlement Sachs 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.
Analytics focus
– Settlement Sachs 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 Wei Li, Rick Green 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Settlement Sachs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Settlement Sachs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Settlement Sachs has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Settlement Sachs 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Settlement Sachs 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Settlement Sachs 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 Settlement Sachs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Settlement Sachs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Settlement Sachs has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Settlement Sachs to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Settlement Sachs is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Settlement Sachs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Settlement Sachs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Settlement Sachs has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Settlement Sachs products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Settlement Sachs 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 Settlement Sachs, firm in the HBR case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 Settlement Sachs 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 Settlement Sachs has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Settlement Sachs 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Settlement Sachs 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 - SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Settlement Sachs is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Settlement Sachs 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre, in the dynamic environment Settlement Sachs has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Settlement Sachs has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre | 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Settlement Sachs 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Settlement Sachs 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Settlement Sachs 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Settlement Sachs 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 Settlement Sachs has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Settlement Sachs to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre case study. Settlement Sachs can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Settlement Sachs to increase its market reach. Settlement Sachs 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. Settlement Sachs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Settlement Sachs can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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.
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 Settlement Sachs in the consumer business. Now Settlement Sachs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Settlement Sachs 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 Global Business segment.
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 Settlement Sachs 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Settlement Sachs can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Settlement Sachs is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Settlement Sachs 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Settlement Sachs 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Settlement Sachs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Settlement Sachs 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.
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 Settlement Sachs in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Settlement Sachs
– 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 Settlement Sachs.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Settlement Sachs 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre .
Regulatory challenges
– Settlement Sachs 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Settlement Sachs 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.
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. Settlement Sachs can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Settlement Sachs 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. Settlement Sachs can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. Settlement Sachs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre, Settlement Sachs may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 SEC versus Goldman Sachs (B): The Settlement-Everybody Wins, Except Fabrice Tourre 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 Settlement Sachs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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