Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc (8418) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Regional Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc
Strengths of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc are -
Innovation driven organization
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is one of the leading players in the Regional 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in Regional Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management in the Regional Banks industry
– Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
Training and development
– Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Regional Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Regional 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.
Ability to lead change in Regional Banks
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Regional Banks industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Regional Banks industry, but Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to focus more on services in the Regional Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc, in the dynamic environment of Regional Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc 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 Regional Banks industry using digital technology.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Regional Banks 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is just above the Regional Banks 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Regional Banks industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to provide better information regarding Regional Banks products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Japan, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc are -
Buying journey improvements
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Regional 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can utilize new technology in the field of Regional Banks industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
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. Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Regional Banks sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can develop new processes and procedures in Regional Banks industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Regional Banks industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in the Regional Banks industry. Now Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Regional Banks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc are -
Regulatory challenges
– Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Regional Banks industry regulations.
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 Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc.
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 Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in the Regional Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Regional Banks 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. Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks 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.
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. Yamaguchi Financial Group 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Regional Banks industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc 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 Regional Banks industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc in Regional Banks industry. The Regional 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Regional 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.
Increasing wage structure of Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group 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 Yamaguchi Financial Group Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.