SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Indbank Merchant Banking (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Indbank Merchant Banking is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Indbank Merchant Banking
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Indbank Merchant Banking can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Indbank Merchant Banking, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Indbank Merchant Banking
2. Improving business portfolio management of Indbank Merchant Banking
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Investment Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Indbank Merchant Banking
Strengths of Indbank Merchant Banking | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Indbank Merchant Banking are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Investment Services industry
– Indbank Merchant Banking has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Indbank Merchant Banking to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Investment Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Indbank Merchant Banking to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Investment Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Indbank Merchant Banking digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Analytics focus
– Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Investment Services industry. The technology infrastructure of India is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Indbank Merchant Banking has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Investment Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Indbank Merchant Banking have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Indbank Merchant Banking has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Indbank Merchant Banking staying ahead in the Investment Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management in the Investment Services industry
– Indbank Merchant Banking is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Indbank Merchant Banking is one of the most innovative firm in Investment Services sector.
High brand equity
– Indbank Merchant Banking has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Indbank Merchant Banking to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Indbank Merchant Banking is present in almost all the verticals within the Investment Services industry. This has provided Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Organizational Resilience of Indbank Merchant Banking
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Indbank Merchant Banking does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Indbank Merchant Banking in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Indbank Merchant Banking has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Indbank Merchant Banking to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Investment Services
– Indbank Merchant Banking is one of the leading players in the Investment Services industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Investment Services industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Indbank Merchant Banking in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Indbank Merchant Banking | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Indbank Merchant Banking are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Indbank Merchant Banking, in the dynamic environment of Investment Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Indbank Merchant Banking has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Indbank Merchant Banking is one of the leading players in the Investment Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Investment Services industry in last five years.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Indbank Merchant Banking is just above the Investment Services industry average. It 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Indbank Merchant Banking has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Investment Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Indbank Merchant Banking needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Investment Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Indbank Merchant Banking can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Indbank Merchant Banking is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Indbank Merchant Banking has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Investment Services industry over the last five years. Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Indbank Merchant Banking needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Indbank Merchant Banking is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Investment Services industry, but Indbank Merchant Banking needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Indbank Merchant Banking to focus more on services in the Investment Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Indbank Merchant Banking, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Investment Services industry. 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Indbank Merchant Banking products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Indbank Merchant Banking needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Investment Services industry, Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Indbank Merchant Banking Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Indbank Merchant Banking are -
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. Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Investment Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Indbank Merchant Banking 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. Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Indbank Merchant Banking is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Indbank Merchant Banking can utilize new technology in the field of Investment Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Investment Services industry.
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 Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Investment Services industry. This can help Indbank Merchant Banking to build a more holistic ecosystem for Indbank Merchant Banking products in the Investment Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Indbank Merchant Banking can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Investment Services sector. 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Indbank Merchant Banking can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Investment Services industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Indbank Merchant Banking can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Indbank Merchant Banking operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Investment Services sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Indbank Merchant Banking are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking prominent markets.
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 Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Environmental challenges
– Indbank Merchant Banking 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. Indbank Merchant Banking can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Investment Services industry.
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 Indbank Merchant Banking in the Investment Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Indbank Merchant Banking will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Investment Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Indbank Merchant Banking can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Indbank Merchant Banking has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Investment Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Indbank Merchant Banking needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Investment Services 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.
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. Indbank Merchant Banking needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Investment Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Indbank Merchant Banking is facing in Investment Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Indbank Merchant Banking 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Investment Services industry are lowering. It can presents Indbank Merchant Banking with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Investment Services sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Indbank Merchant Banking Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking 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 Indbank Merchant Banking needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.