Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact
In November 2004, as presidential hopeful John Kerry conceded the presidential race to George W. Bush, husband and wife team and Democratic supporters Tom Steyer (MBA '83) and Kat Taylor (JD/MBA '86) found themselves at an impasse in their political endeavors. The lost presidential bid was not only disappointing but left the couple seeking out new avenues to benefit from their time, passion, and energy. For Taylor, the idea of a beneficial bank was not new; in fact, the notion of starting a bank to help underserved communities had been suggested to her almost 20 years earlier when Taylor sought career advice from then-economic advisor to Governor Jerry Brown of California, Michael Kieschnick. At the time, the idea seemed implausible but now, with their newly unleashed resources, the idea of community banking as a leverage point in both communities and the overall financial system seemed almost compulsory. Specifically, they wanted to create a triple bottom-line bank that produced social justice and environmental well-being while also being economically sustainable not just in the community but across the financial system. Still, determining how best to structure the organization in order to ensure the fulfillment of its intended benefits presented a significant challenge to the couple. This case describes the founding vision and organizational structure for a triple bottom-line bank. It covers governance issues, regulatory considerations including Dodd-Frank, a discussion of the bank's business model including competitive strategy and the importance of human capital, and measures of impact.
Swot Analysis of "Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact" written by Maureen McNichols, Jaclyn C. Foroughi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Presidential Taylor facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Presidential Taylor, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Presidential Taylor 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Presidential Taylor
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Presidential Taylor
Strengths Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Presidential Taylor in Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Presidential Taylor in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Presidential Taylor 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Presidential Taylor has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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.
Learning organization
- Presidential Taylor 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 Presidential Taylor is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Presidential Taylor is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Presidential Taylor are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Presidential Taylor 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Presidential Taylor to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Presidential Taylor to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Presidential Taylor 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact - 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 recruit top talent
– Presidential Taylor is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Presidential Taylor 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 Maureen McNichols, Jaclyn C. Foroughi 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.
Weaknesses Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact are -
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 Presidential Taylor supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Presidential Taylor vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Presidential Taylor 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 - Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Presidential Taylor 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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 Presidential Taylor has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact HBR case study mentions - Presidential Taylor 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Presidential Taylor is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Presidential Taylor needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Presidential Taylor to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Presidential Taylor is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Presidential Taylor needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact, in the dynamic environment Presidential Taylor has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Presidential Taylor has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact, is just above the industry average. Presidential Taylor 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact | 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Presidential Taylor has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Presidential Taylor to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact case study. Presidential Taylor can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Presidential Taylor can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Presidential Taylor 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
– Presidential Taylor 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Presidential Taylor to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Presidential Taylor 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 Presidential Taylor to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Presidential Taylor 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Presidential Taylor 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. Presidential Taylor 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Presidential Taylor 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Manufacturing automation
– Presidential Taylor can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Presidential Taylor in the consumer business. Now Presidential Taylor can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Presidential Taylor can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Presidential Taylor 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Presidential Taylor to increase its market reach. Presidential Taylor 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.
Threats Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact are -
Environmental challenges
– Presidential Taylor 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. Presidential Taylor can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Presidential Taylor has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Presidential Taylor needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact, Presidential Taylor may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Presidential Taylor is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Presidential Taylor in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Presidential Taylor needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Presidential Taylor 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Presidential Taylor 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Presidential Taylor 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Presidential Taylor 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 Presidential Taylor
– 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 Presidential Taylor.
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 Presidential Taylor in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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 Beneficial State Bank (A): Organization and Measurement of Social Impact 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 Presidential Taylor needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.