Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis
Glitnir Bank is an Icelandic company following an aggressive growth strategy that relies heavily on foreign debt. Access to such debt is suddenly curtailed when there is a downturn in market sentiment regarding the Icelandic economy as a whole. Students will reflect on the essential elements of a communications strategy, including the role of the media and analysts. Class discussion will focus on creating infrastructure that will increase the bank's ability to communicate effectively in an environment of macroeconomic uncertainty.
Authors :: Michael D. Kimbrough, Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Dessain, Ane Damgaard Jensen
Swot Analysis of "Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis" written by Michael D. Kimbrough, Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Dessain, Ane Damgaard Jensen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Glitnir Icelandic facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Corporate communications, Economics, Economy, International business, Marketing and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Glitnir Icelandic, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Glitnir Icelandic 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Glitnir Icelandic
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Glitnir Icelandic
Strengths Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Glitnir Icelandic in Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Glitnir Icelandic has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Glitnir Icelandic in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Glitnir Icelandic has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Glitnir Icelandic to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Glitnir Icelandic 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Glitnir Icelandic 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Glitnir Icelandic is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Glitnir Icelandic to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Glitnir Icelandic to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Glitnir Icelandic is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Glitnir Icelandic is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Glitnir Icelandic digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Weaknesses Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis HBR case study mentions - Glitnir Icelandic takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Glitnir Icelandic, firm in the HBR case study Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Glitnir Icelandic is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Glitnir Icelandic needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Glitnir Icelandic to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis, it seems that the employees of Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Glitnir Icelandic 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. Glitnir Icelandic 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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 Glitnir Icelandic 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis, is just above the industry average. Glitnir Icelandic needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis | 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis are -
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Glitnir Icelandic can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Glitnir Icelandic operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Glitnir Icelandic in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting 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 Glitnir Icelandic 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 Glitnir Icelandic to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Glitnir Icelandic 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. Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Glitnir Icelandic to increase its market reach. Glitnir Icelandic 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. Glitnir Icelandic can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Glitnir Icelandic can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Glitnir Icelandic can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Glitnir Icelandic 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Glitnir Icelandic can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Glitnir Icelandic has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Glitnir Icelandic to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis case study. Glitnir Icelandic can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Threats Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis are -
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 Glitnir Icelandic in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Glitnir Icelandic 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.
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 Glitnir Icelandic 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
– Glitnir Icelandic high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Regulatory challenges
– Glitnir Icelandic 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Glitnir Icelandic can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Glitnir Icelandic needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Glitnir Icelandic with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Glitnir Icelandic is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Glitnir Icelandic 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis, Glitnir Icelandic may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Glitnir Icelandic in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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 Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis 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 Glitnir Icelandic needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Navigating Turbulent Waters: Glitnir Bank's Communication Challenge During a Macroeconomic Crisis
