ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report
The (D) case describes aspects of the Jan 2011 report by the Goldman Sach's Business Standards Committee on how the firm might strengthen its practices with respect to clients and other stakeholders.
Swot Analysis of "ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report" written by Clayton Rose includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sach's Standards facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Ethics, International business, Recession and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sach's Standards, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sach's Standards 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sach's Standards
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 Sach's Standards
Strengths ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sach's Standards in ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Sach's Standards is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sach's Standards 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Sach's Standards has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sach's Standards to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Sach's Standards 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 Clayton Rose 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sach's Standards in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sach's Standards 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sach's Standards is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sach's Standards is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sach's Standards has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sach's Standards 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Sach's Standards is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sach's Standards digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sach's Standards 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sach's Standards has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report, in the dynamic environment Sach's Standards has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sach's Standards has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sach's Standards, firm in the HBR case study ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 Sach's Standards has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sach's Standards 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. Sach's Standards 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sach's Standards is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Sach's Standards needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sach's Standards to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sach's Standards products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sach's Standards 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, Clayton Rose suggests that, Sach's Standards 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sach's Standards is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 Sach's Standards 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report | 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report are -
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 Sach's Standards in the consumer business. Now Sach's Standards can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Sach's Standards can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sach's Standards 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sach's Standards is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sach's Standards 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 Sach's Standards to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sach's Standards can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
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. Sach's Standards can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sach's Standards 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sach's Standards 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sach's Standards to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Sach's Standards 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sach's Standards has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sach's Standards to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report case study. Sach's Standards can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sach's Standards 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.
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. Sach's Standards can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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. Sach's Standards 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 Sach's Standards business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Sach's Standards
– 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 Sach's Standards.
Environmental challenges
– Sach's Standards 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. Sach's Standards can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sach's Standards 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sach's Standards 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Sach's Standards 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.
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 Sach's Standards in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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
– Sach's Standards 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report, Sach's Standards 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sach's Standards 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sach's Standards is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 ISS A/S (D): Goldman's 2011 Business Standards Report 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 Sach's Standards needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.