Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets
As the world population exceeded 7 billion by the end of 2011, various agencies working to alleviate poverty had come to a general consensus that pure charity was not a sustainable solution. In the absence of venture capital and angel investors in developing markets, Microfinance (MF) was one of the most promising tools in the fight against poverty. MF institutions tended to focus on micro-lending, providing small loans to micro-entrepreneurs from which interest could be earned. This case details the issues and challenges that Microfinance institutions faced a decade into the new millennium. The rise of mobile technology is a key theme as it promised innovative solutions. The case discusses various mobile financial services, including Safaricom's M-Pesa and M-Kesho offerings, and focuses on Experian's MicroAnalytics (EMA) unit, created to serve the financial services sector in developing countries. EMA developed an innovative system to enable financial service providers (clients) to serve their customers via a distributed, branchless, "mobile only" model. After a successful pilot study in the Philippines, EMA created a mobile banking platform that offered the potential of extending mobile money to other financial services as well as new customer and geographic segments.
Swot Analysis of "Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets" written by Hau Lee, Christopher S. Tang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ema Mobile facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Entrepreneurial finance, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ema Mobile, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ema Mobile 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ema Mobile
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 Ema Mobile
Strengths Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ema Mobile in Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ema Mobile 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Ema Mobile has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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
- Ema Mobile 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 Ema Mobile is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ema Mobile in the sector have low bargaining power. Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ema Mobile to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ema Mobile digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ema Mobile 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ema Mobile
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ema Mobile does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ema Mobile 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 Ema Mobile in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ema Mobile has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ema Mobile 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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.
High brand equity
– Ema Mobile has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ema Mobile to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ema Mobile 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets HBR case study mentions - Ema Mobile 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ema Mobile 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. Ema Mobile 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ema Mobile 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ema Mobile 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets, it seems that the employees of Ema Mobile don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ema Mobile is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ema Mobile is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ema Mobile, firm in the HBR case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Ema Mobile 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets, is just above the industry average. Ema Mobile 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Ema Mobile has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets | 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ema Mobile to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ema Mobile is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ema Mobile can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ema Mobile 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ema Mobile 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.
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. Ema Mobile 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. Ema Mobile 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ema Mobile to increase its market reach. Ema Mobile 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ema Mobile 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ema Mobile 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
– Ema Mobile 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ema Mobile 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.
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. Ema Mobile can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ema Mobile 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 Ema Mobile to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ema Mobile 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ema Mobile 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. Ema Mobile can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Ema Mobile
– 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 Ema Mobile.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ema Mobile 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.
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 Ema Mobile in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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 Ema Mobile.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ema Mobile 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ema Mobile 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. Ema Mobile can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets, Ema Mobile 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 .
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 Ema Mobile business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ema Mobile 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Experian MicroAnalytics: Accelerating the Development of Mobile Financial Services in Developing Markets 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 Ema Mobile needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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