Swot Analysis of "Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D)" written by Harold F. Hogan Jr. includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Guaranty Nigeria facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Ethics, Organizational structure, Regulation, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity 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, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Guaranty Nigeria, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Guaranty Nigeria 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Guaranty Nigeria
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 Guaranty Nigeria
Strengths Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Guaranty Nigeria in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Guaranty Nigeria to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Guaranty Nigeria to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Guaranty Nigeria is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Guaranty Nigeria in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Guaranty Nigeria
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Guaranty Nigeria does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Guaranty Nigeria 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 Guaranty Nigeria is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Guaranty Nigeria is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Guaranty Nigeria 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 Harold F. Hogan Jr. 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Guaranty Nigeria has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Guaranty Nigeria digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Guaranty Nigeria is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) are -
Need for greater diversity
– Guaranty Nigeria has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Nigeria has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Guaranty Nigeria 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 - Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Guaranty Nigeria has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Guaranty Nigeria, firm in the HBR case study Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Nigeria 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Guaranty Nigeria is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Guaranty Nigeria needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Guaranty Nigeria to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Guaranty Nigeria products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Guaranty Nigeria needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) HBR case study mentions - Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Opportunities Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) | 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Guaranty Nigeria can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Guaranty Nigeria can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Guaranty Nigeria 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
– Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Guaranty Nigeria 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Guaranty Nigeria to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Guaranty Nigeria 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.
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. Guaranty Nigeria 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. Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Guaranty Nigeria can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Guaranty Nigeria can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Guaranty Nigeria has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Guaranty Nigeria to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) case study. Guaranty Nigeria can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Guaranty Nigeria to increase its market reach. Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Guaranty Nigeria 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 Guaranty Nigeria to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) are -
Increasing wage structure of Guaranty Nigeria
– 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 Guaranty Nigeria.
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. Guaranty Nigeria 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. Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Guaranty Nigeria is facing in Leadership & Managing People 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 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. Guaranty Nigeria can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Guaranty Nigeria can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
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 Guaranty Nigeria in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Guaranty Nigeria 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. Guaranty Nigeria can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Guaranty Nigeria 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Guaranty Nigeria has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Guaranty Nigeria 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Guaranty Nigeria 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Trust Bank PLC Nigeria (D) 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 Guaranty Nigeria needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.