History of Credit Agencies in the United States SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of History of Credit Agencies in the United States
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.Provides a brief background on the history of credit agencies in the United States. Focuses on the mature process of data collection on an American consumer and how credit agencies share the information to determine proper credit risk and worthiness of a consumer. The American system as defined in this note can be contrasted against the lack of developed systems in burgeoning economies and help to better understand the capital markets of society.
Swot Analysis of "History of Credit Agencies in the United States" written by F. Warren McFarlan, Tracy Yuen Manty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Credit Agencies facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in History of Credit Agencies in the United States case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the History of Credit Agencies in the United States casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of History of Credit Agencies in the United States
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in History of Credit Agencies in the United States case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Credit Agencies, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Credit Agencies 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in History of Credit Agencies in the United States case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Credit Agencies
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 Credit Agencies
Strengths History of Credit Agencies in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Credit Agencies in History of Credit Agencies in the United States Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Credit Agencies in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Credit Agencies has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Credit Agencies 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– History of Credit Agencies in the United States firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Credit Agencies to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Credit Agencies to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Credit Agencies
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Credit Agencies does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Credit Agencies digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Credit Agencies 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
– Credit Agencies 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 F. Warren McFarlan, Tracy Yuen Manty 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Credit Agencies 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Credit Agencies is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the History of Credit Agencies in the United States are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Credit Agencies 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 Credit Agencies is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in History of Credit Agencies in the United States Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Credit Agencies has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Credit Agencies to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Credit Agencies 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Credit Agencies 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.
Weaknesses History of Credit Agencies in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of History of Credit Agencies in the United States are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 Credit Agencies 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Credit Agencies has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Credit Agencies even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study History of Credit Agencies in the United States, it seems that the employees of Credit Agencies 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Credit Agencies 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 - History of Credit Agencies in the United States should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Credit Agencies supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - History of Credit Agencies in the United States, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Credit Agencies vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Credit Agencies 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Credit Agencies products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Credit Agencies needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, F. Warren McFarlan, Tracy Yuen Manty suggests that, Credit Agencies 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Credit Agencies is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Credit Agencies 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 Credit Agencies has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities History of Credit Agencies in the United States | 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Credit Agencies is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Credit Agencies has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Credit Agencies to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the History of Credit Agencies in the United States case study. Credit Agencies can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Credit Agencies can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Credit Agencies 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Credit Agencies 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 Credit Agencies to increase its market reach. Credit Agencies 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.
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 Credit Agencies in the consumer business. Now Credit Agencies can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Credit Agencies 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, History of Credit Agencies in the United States, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Credit Agencies 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 Credit Agencies 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 Credit Agencies to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Credit Agencies 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Credit Agencies 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Credit Agencies can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. History of Credit Agencies in the United States suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Manufacturing automation
– Credit Agencies 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.
Threats History of Credit Agencies in the United States External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study History of Credit Agencies in the United States are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Credit Agencies with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Credit Agencies 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
– Credit Agencies 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study History of Credit Agencies in the United States, Credit Agencies 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Credit Agencies 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.
Increasing wage structure of Credit Agencies
– 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 Credit Agencies.
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. Credit Agencies 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Credit Agencies 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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Credit Agencies.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Credit Agencies 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Credit Agencies has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Credit Agencies 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 History of Credit Agencies in the United States 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 Credit Agencies needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.