Resona Holdings, Inc. (8308) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Resona Holdings, Inc. (Japan)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Resona Holdings, Inc. is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Resona Holdings, Inc.

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Resona Holdings, Inc. can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Resona Holdings, Inc., and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Resona Holdings, Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Resona Holdings, Inc.
2. Improving business portfolio management of Resona Holdings, Inc.
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Money Center Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Resona Holdings, Inc.

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Strengths of Resona Holdings, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Resona Holdings, Inc. are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Resona Holdings, Inc. in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Resona Holdings, Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Resona Holdings, Inc. to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Resona Holdings, Inc. has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Money Center Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Resona Holdings, Inc. have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Training and development

– Resona Holdings, Inc. has one of the best training and development program in Financial industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Resona Holdings, Inc. is one of the leading players in the Money Center Banks industry in Japan. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Japan. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

High brand equity

– Resona Holdings, Inc. has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Resona Holdings, Inc. to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Strong track record of project management in the Money Center Banks industry

– Resona Holdings, Inc. is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Analytics focus

– Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Money Center Banks industry. The technology infrastructure of Japan 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Money Center Banks industry

– Resona Holdings, Inc. has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Resona Holdings, Inc. to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Money Center Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Resona Holdings, Inc. to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of Resona Holdings, Inc.

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Resona Holdings, Inc. does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Innovation driven organization

– Resona Holdings, Inc. is one of the most innovative firm in Money Center Banks sector.

Ability to lead change in Money Center Banks

– Resona Holdings, Inc. is one of the leading players in the Money Center Banks industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Money Center Banks industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Resona Holdings, Inc. in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

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Weaknesses of Resona Holdings, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Resona Holdings, Inc. are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Resona Holdings, Inc., in the dynamic environment of Money Center Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Resona Holdings, Inc. has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Resona Holdings, Inc. has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Money Center Banks industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Japan, Resona Holdings, Inc. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Skills based hiring in Money Center Banks industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Resona Holdings, Inc. is one of the leading players in the Money Center Banks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Money Center Banks 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, Resona Holdings, Inc. is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Resona Holdings, Inc. to provide better information regarding Money Center Banks products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Resona Holdings, Inc. needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Money Center Banks industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Resona Holdings, Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Resona Holdings, Inc. is planning to shift buying processes online.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Money Center Banks industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Money Center Banks industry.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Resona Holdings, Inc. has some of the most successful models in the Money Center Banks industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Resona Holdings, Inc. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the Money Center Banks industry, Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

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Resona Holdings, Inc. Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Resona Holdings, Inc. are -

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Resona Holdings, Inc. can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Money Center Banks 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Resona Holdings, Inc. can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Money Center Banks 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Resona Holdings, Inc. to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Money Center Banks industry.

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. Resona Holdings, Inc. can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Money Center Banks industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Resona Holdings, Inc. 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. Resona Holdings, Inc. 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

– Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Resona Holdings, Inc. has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Money Center Banks sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Resona Holdings, Inc. to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Resona Holdings, Inc. to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Resona Holdings, Inc. can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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 Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Money Center Banks industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Resona Holdings, Inc. can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

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Threats Resona Holdings, Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Resona Holdings, Inc. are -

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Resona Holdings, Inc. is facing in Money Center Banks sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Resona Holdings, Inc. has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Money Center Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Resona Holdings, Inc. needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Money Center Banks sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Regulatory challenges

– Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Money Center Banks industry regulations.

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. Resona Holdings, Inc. needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Money Center Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Resona Holdings, Inc..

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 Resona Holdings, Inc. in the Money Center Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Increasing wage structure of Resona Holdings, Inc.

– 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 Resona Holdings, Inc..

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Money Center Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Resona Holdings, Inc. with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Money Center Banks sector.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Resona Holdings, Inc. in Money Center Banks industry. The Money Center Banks 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Resona Holdings, Inc. 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.

Environmental challenges

– Resona Holdings, Inc. 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. Resona Holdings, Inc. can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Money Center Banks industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Resona Holdings, Inc. Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Resona Holdings, Inc. 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 Resona Holdings, Inc. needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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