The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva
Mike Silva, the NY Fed's senior supervisory officer for Goldman Sachs, is having trouble with Carmen Segarra, a recently hired bank examiner who reports to Silva. The two disagree about whether Goldman Sachs has a viable overall conflict-of-interest policy; Silva says "yes," and Segarra says "no." Segarra's communication style-aggressive and frank-has irritated both Silva and others in their department, although an independent report had been critical of the NY Fed for being too cozy with the banking institutions it regulated. The tension between Silva and Segarra has reached a breaking point, and Silva must decide how to handle Segarra and whether to fire her. A teaching note accompanies this case and details how it is taught in Darden's ethics and leading organizations courses.
Swot Analysis of "The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva" written by Morela Hernandez, Bidhan Parmar, Jenny Mead includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Silva Segarra facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Corporate governance, Ethics, Financial management, Human resource management, Leadership, Leading teams, Operations management, Performance measurement, Regulation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Silva Segarra, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Silva Segarra 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Silva Segarra
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 Silva Segarra
Strengths The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Silva Segarra in The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Silva Segarra 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 Morela Hernandez, Bidhan Parmar, Jenny Mead 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Silva Segarra in the sector have low bargaining power. The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Silva Segarra to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Silva Segarra 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 Silva Segarra is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Silva Segarra 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Silva Segarra 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Silva Segarra 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
– Silva Segarra is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Silva Segarra 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Silva Segarra in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Silva Segarra digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Silva Segarra 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Silva Segarra 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 Silva Segarra in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Silva Segarra products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Silva Segarra needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Silva Segarra supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Silva Segarra vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Silva Segarra is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Silva Segarra needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Silva Segarra to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva, 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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 Silva Segarra has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Silva Segarra, firm in the HBR case study The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Silva Segarra is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Silva Segarra 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 - The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Silva Segarra 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Silva Segarra has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva, in the dynamic environment Silva Segarra has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Silva Segarra has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva | 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva are -
Manufacturing automation
– Silva Segarra 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Silva Segarra 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Silva Segarra to increase its market reach. Silva Segarra 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Silva Segarra can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Silva Segarra 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. Silva Segarra 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Silva Segarra can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Silva Segarra 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Silva Segarra in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Silva Segarra 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 Silva Segarra 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 Silva Segarra 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Silva Segarra 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Silva Segarra 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Silva Segarra 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.
Threats The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva are -
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 Silva Segarra.
Regulatory challenges
– Silva Segarra 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, Silva Segarra 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Silva Segarra is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Silva Segarra
– 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 Silva Segarra.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva, Silva Segarra 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 .
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. Silva Segarra needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Silva Segarra 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Silva Segarra can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Silva Segarra in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Silva Segarra 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. Silva Segarra can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Silva Segarra 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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 The Federal Reserve and Goldman Sachs: Mike Silva 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 Silva Segarra needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
