ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?
In a testament to the power of social media and the effect it can have on a business, the chief executive officer of a bank adopts the habit of taking to Twitter on a daily basis to promote his company's services. But when the bank's most recent ad campaign ignites a furor among TV audiences, Twitter quickly becomes a vehicle for crucifying the bank rather than promoting it. Within a week of the ad's air date, the bank is inundated with angry tweets, Facebook messages and media criticism. It becomes clear that the bank has made a mistake and will have to act quickly to decide on an appropriate response.
Swot Analysis of "ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?" written by Gerard Seijts, Andy Holloway includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bank Twitter facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bank Twitter, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bank Twitter 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bank Twitter
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 Bank Twitter
Strengths ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bank Twitter in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Bank Twitter
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bank Twitter does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bank Twitter to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bank Twitter to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Bank Twitter is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Bank Twitter 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 Bank Twitter is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bank Twitter digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bank Twitter 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bank Twitter in the sector have low bargaining power. ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bank Twitter to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Bank Twitter 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 Bank Twitter in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bank Twitter in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Bank Twitter has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bank Twitter has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bank Twitter 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bank Twitter is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?, in the dynamic environment Bank Twitter has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bank Twitter has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?, it seems that the employees of Bank Twitter 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bank Twitter, firm in the HBR case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?, is just above the industry average. Bank Twitter 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bank Twitter 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? HBR case study mentions - Bank Twitter 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bank Twitter is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bank Twitter 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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 Bank Twitter 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bank Twitter products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bank Twitter needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? | 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? are -
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 Bank Twitter in the consumer business. Now Bank Twitter can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bank Twitter has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bank Twitter to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? case study. Bank Twitter 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, Bank Twitter is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bank Twitter 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bank Twitter to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bank Twitter 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bank Twitter can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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.
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 Bank Twitter 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bank Twitter 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bank Twitter 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.
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. Bank Twitter can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Bank Twitter can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bank Twitter can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bank Twitter to increase its market reach. Bank Twitter will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Threats ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bank Twitter 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.
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 Bank Twitter business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Bank Twitter in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bank Twitter 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bank Twitter has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bank Twitter 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.
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. Bank Twitter can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bank Twitter with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering?, Bank Twitter 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. Bank Twitter needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bank Twitter 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bank Twitter is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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 ING Direct Canada: Are You Suffering? 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 Bank Twitter needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.