Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector

In this article, we present an overview of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the financial sector. We focus on how socially responsible investment and shareholder activism have been integral parts of corporate social responsibility in the financial sector. We examine how the financial sector and its firms are evaluated and rated via a sustainability index, the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, and show that even leading financial institutions do not employ proactive practices regarding socially responsible investment and shareholder activism. Finally, we provide examples of two companies, UBS AG and the Co-operative Banking Group, that do utilize proactive practices.

Authors :: Chang Hoon Oh, Jae-Heum Park, Pervez N. Ghauri

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Financial markets, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector" written by Chang Hoon Oh, Jae-Heum Park, Pervez N. Ghauri includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Activism Socially facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Social responsibility and Finance & Accounting.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Activism Socially, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Activism Socially 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Activism Socially
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 Activism Socially

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Strengths Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Activism Socially in Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector Harvard Business Review case study are -

Training and development

– Activism Socially has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Activism Socially digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Activism Socially 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Activism Socially 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Activism Socially in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry

– Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Activism Socially to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Activism Socially to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Activism Socially 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field

– Activism Socially is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Activism Socially in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Innovation driven organization

– Activism Socially is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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

– Activism Socially is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Strong track record of project management

– Activism Socially is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High brand equity

– Activism Socially has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Activism Socially to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Activism Socially 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.

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Weaknesses Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector are -

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector, is just above the industry average. Activism Socially 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Activism Socially is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Activism Socially is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Activism Socially needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Activism Socially to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Activism Socially 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. Activism Socially 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 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 Activism Socially supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Activism Socially vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Activism Socially is planning to shift buying processes online.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Activism Socially 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector, 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Activism Socially products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Activism Socially needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Activism Socially has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Activism Socially 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 - Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

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Opportunities Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector | 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Activism Socially 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, Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Manufacturing automation

– Activism Socially 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 Activism Socially 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 Activism Socially to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Activism Socially 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Activism Socially 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Activism Socially 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Activism Socially to increase its market reach. Activism Socially 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Activism Socially can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Activism Socially 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Activism Socially 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Activism Socially 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Activism Socially 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Activism Socially to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Activism Socially in the consumer business. Now Activism Socially can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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Threats Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector are -

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 Activism Socially business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing wage structure of Activism Socially

– 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 Activism Socially.

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. Activism Socially needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Activism Socially 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector .

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Activism Socially has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Activism Socially needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Activism Socially 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 Activism Socially is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Activism Socially can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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.

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.

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 Activism Socially.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector, Activism Socially 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 .

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. Activism Socially 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Doing Right, Investing Right: Socially Responsible Investing and Shareholder Activism in the Financial Sector 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 Activism Socially needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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