MIS America Grupo Santander SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MIS America Grupo Santander
In February 2005, JesA?s Cepeda, Director of Grupo Santander's Management Control Area, reviews a Chilean pilot test of a new management information system, MIS America. Grupo Santander, a global financial institution, had grown rapidly through acquisitions in recent years, giving rise to a great need for reliable, timely information to help Santander managers compare performance across globally distributed units and make better strategic and operational decisions. Top executives had an urgent need for both consolidated and precisely disaggregated information.The pilot test in Chile had suffered numerous delays. Cepeda had to decide what to do next regarding MIS America. The original plan had specified that following the Chile pilot, the new system would be rolled out throughout Latin America, but Cepeda was not sure if he was ready to authorize the rollout. This case study highlights the information systems challenges associated with rapid growth via acquisition. The case also examines questions of centralized versus decentralized control in a corporate MIS that addresses different needs in different Latin American countries, while responding to Grupo Santander's own needs at the corporate level. The challenges presented by this large and complex project are applicable to many IT projects in other industries and geographic settings.
Swot Analysis of "MIS America Grupo Santander" written by Josep Bisbe, Josep Lluis Cano Giner includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cepeda Mis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MIS America Grupo Santander case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Performance measurement and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MIS America Grupo Santander casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MIS America Grupo Santander
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MIS America Grupo Santander case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cepeda Mis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cepeda Mis 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 MIS America Grupo Santander can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MIS America Grupo Santander case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cepeda Mis
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 Cepeda Mis
Strengths MIS America Grupo Santander | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cepeda Mis in MIS America Grupo Santander Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Cepeda Mis is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in MIS America Grupo Santander 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cepeda Mis is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cepeda Mis in the sector have low bargaining power. MIS America Grupo Santander has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cepeda Mis to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cepeda Mis has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cepeda Mis 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cepeda Mis 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 MIS America Grupo Santander HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Cepeda Mis 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 Cepeda Mis in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cepeda Mis is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the MIS America Grupo Santander are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the MIS America Grupo Santander 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
– Cepeda Mis has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cepeda Mis to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– MIS America Grupo Santander firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cepeda Mis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cepeda Mis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Cepeda Mis
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cepeda Mis does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cepeda Mis in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses MIS America Grupo Santander | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MIS America Grupo Santander are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cepeda Mis, firm in the HBR case study MIS America Grupo Santander needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As MIS America Grupo Santander HBR case study mentions - Cepeda Mis 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Josep Bisbe, Josep Lluis Cano Giner suggests that, Cepeda Mis is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study MIS America Grupo Santander, it seems that the employees of Cepeda Mis 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cepeda Mis 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the MIS America Grupo Santander 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 Cepeda Mis has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cepeda Mis 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study MIS America Grupo Santander, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MIS America Grupo Santander 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 MIS America Grupo Santander can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cepeda Mis is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Cepeda Mis supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - MIS America Grupo Santander, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cepeda Mis vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cepeda Mis is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Cepeda Mis needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cepeda Mis to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities MIS America Grupo Santander | 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 MIS America Grupo Santander are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cepeda Mis 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cepeda Mis 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cepeda Mis 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cepeda Mis has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cepeda Mis to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MIS America Grupo Santander case study. Cepeda Mis can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cepeda Mis is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. MIS America Grupo Santander 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.
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 Cepeda Mis in the consumer business. Now Cepeda Mis can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cepeda Mis 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 MIS America Grupo Santander - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cepeda Mis to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Cepeda Mis 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. Cepeda Mis 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cepeda Mis 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.
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 Cepeda Mis 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cepeda Mis 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cepeda Mis to increase its market reach. Cepeda Mis 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cepeda Mis can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, MIS America Grupo Santander, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats MIS America Grupo Santander External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MIS America Grupo Santander 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 Cepeda Mis.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cepeda Mis 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 MIS America Grupo Santander .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cepeda Mis 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cepeda Mis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Cepeda Mis needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Cepeda Mis business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Cepeda Mis
– 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 Cepeda Mis.
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. Cepeda Mis 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 Cepeda Mis in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cepeda Mis 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.
Environmental challenges
– Cepeda Mis 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. Cepeda Mis 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
– Cepeda Mis has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cepeda Mis 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MIS America Grupo Santander 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 MIS America Grupo Santander 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 MIS America Grupo Santander 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 MIS America Grupo Santander 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 MIS America Grupo Santander 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 Cepeda Mis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
