Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version
The Royal Bank of Canada uses customer relationship management and customer profitability tools to gain a competitive advantage in Canada's increasingly crowded financial services market. The case presents two pricing and customer management issues: one from the point of view of the vice president of customer relationship marketing and the other from a line manager's perspective.
Swot Analysis of "Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version" written by V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Customer Relationship facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Competition, Competitive strategy, Customers, Government, Pricing and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Customer Relationship, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Customer Relationship 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Customer Relationship
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 Customer Relationship
Strengths Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Customer Relationship in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Customer Relationship 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 Customer Relationship is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Customer Relationship 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Customer Relationship 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
– Customer Relationship has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Customer Relationship 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
– Customer Relationship 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 V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Customer Relationship 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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.
Training and development
– Customer Relationship has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Customer Relationship digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Customer Relationship 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Customer Relationship is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Customer Relationship is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Customer Relationship has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Customer Relationship to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Relationship 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Customer Relationship 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 Customer Relationship products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Customer Relationship needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version, is just above the industry average. Customer Relationship 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Customer Relationship 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Customer Relationship 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, V.G. Narayanan, Lisa Brem suggests that, Customer Relationship 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Customer Relationship 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Customer Relationship is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Customer Relationship is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Customer Relationship needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Customer Relationship to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Customer Relationship 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.
Opportunities Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version | 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Customer Relationship 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, Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Customer Relationship can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Relationship in the consumer business. Now Customer Relationship can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Customer Relationship 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. Customer Relationship can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Customer Relationship 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Customer Relationship 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Customer Relationship 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Customer Relationship has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Customer Relationship to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version case study. Customer Relationship can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Customer Relationship 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. Customer Relationship 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Customer Relationship can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Customer Relationship 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Customer Relationship 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 Customer Relationship to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version are -
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. Customer Relationship 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version, Customer Relationship 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 Customer Relationship 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.
Environmental challenges
– Customer Relationship 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. Customer Relationship can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting 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. Customer Relationship needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Customer Relationship 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 Customer Relationship business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Customer Relationship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Customer Relationship
– 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 Customer Relationship.
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 Customer Relationship in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Customer Relationship can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Customer Relationship is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Customer Relationship 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version 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 Customer Relationship 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 Customer Profitability and Customer Relationship Management at RBC Financial Group (Abridged), Spanish Version