Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition
Founded in 1996, China Minsheng Banking Corporation Limited ("Minsheng") was the first private commercial bank in China. By 2006, Minsheng had acquired almost US$130 billion in total assets and established almost 330 banking offices across the nation. The Banker magazine consistently praised Minsheng's development, ranking it number 310 in its top 1,000 business banks in the world in 2004, number 287 in 2005, and number 247 in 2006. In early March 2008, Minsheng obtained the green light from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to buy a 4.9% stake in US-based banking holding company, UCBH Holdings, Inc. ("UCBH") for US$95.7 million. The deal would eventually take Minsheng's stake in UCBH to 9.9%, totalling around US$200 million. The acquisition not only distinguished Minsheng as the first Chinese mainland institution to invest in a US bank, but was also viewed as a milestone for Chinese banks entering the US and international markets. On the flip side, UCBH would soon use this opportunity to make its own moves into China, leveraging its affiliation with Minsheng to totalingacquire other Chinese banks. This case examines the process of international expansion through acquisitions in the banking industry and the positioning of a growing bank in the global market, covering issues such as value creation, impact of government regulation and international barriers, the Chinese banking industry and its development, and the associated risks.
Swot Analysis of "Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition" written by Ricky Lai, Gerald Yong Gao, Jiangyong Lu, Hung Gay Fung includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Minsheng Ucbh facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, International business, Mergers & acquisitions, Risk management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Minsheng Ucbh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Minsheng Ucbh 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Minsheng Ucbh
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 Minsheng Ucbh
Strengths Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Minsheng Ucbh in Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Minsheng Ucbh is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Minsheng Ucbh digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Minsheng Ucbh has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Analytics focus
– Minsheng Ucbh 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 Ricky Lai, Gerald Yong Gao, Jiangyong Lu, Hung Gay Fung 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Minsheng Ucbh is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Minsheng Ucbh 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
– Minsheng Ucbh is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Minsheng Ucbh in the sector have low bargaining power. Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Minsheng Ucbh to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Minsheng Ucbh is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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.
Organizational Resilience of Minsheng Ucbh
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Minsheng Ucbh does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Minsheng Ucbh is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Minsheng Ucbh needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Minsheng Ucbh to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition, it seems that the employees of Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Minsheng Ucbh 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Minsheng Ucbh supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Minsheng Ucbh vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition, is just above the industry average. Minsheng Ucbh 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, Ricky Lai, Gerald Yong Gao, Jiangyong Lu, Hung Gay Fung suggests that, Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition, in the dynamic environment Minsheng Ucbh has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Minsheng Ucbh has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Minsheng Ucbh 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 Minsheng Ucbh has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Opportunities Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition | 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition are -
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. Minsheng Ucbh 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. Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Minsheng Ucbh 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Minsheng Ucbh to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Minsheng Ucbh can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Minsheng Ucbh to increase its market reach. Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Minsheng Ucbh has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Minsheng Ucbh has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Minsheng Ucbh to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition case study. Minsheng Ucbh 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, Minsheng Ucbh is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Minsheng Ucbh can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Minsheng Ucbh 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition .
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 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. Minsheng Ucbh needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Minsheng Ucbh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Minsheng Ucbh has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition, Minsheng Ucbh 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 .
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. Minsheng Ucbh 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.
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. Minsheng Ucbh can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Minsheng Ucbh 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.
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 Minsheng Ucbh business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Minsheng Ucbh 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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 Minsheng Bank: Penetrating The US Market Through Acquisition 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 Minsheng Ucbh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.