PKO Bank Polski (0FMO) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for PKO Bank Polski (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , PKO Bank Polski is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that PKO Bank Polski can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the PKO Bank Polski, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of PKO Bank Polski
2. Improving business portfolio management of PKO Bank Polski
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Regional Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of PKO Bank Polski
Strengths of PKO Bank Polski | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of PKO Bank Polski are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that PKO Bank Polski 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.
Innovation driven organization
– PKO Bank Polski is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of PKO Bank Polski in Regional Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the PKO Bank Polski 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of PKO Bank Polski comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Regional Banks 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 Regional Banks
– PKO Bank Polski is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Regional Banks industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled PKO Bank Polski in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Regional Banks industry
– PKO Bank Polski has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled PKO Bank Polski to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Regional Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped PKO Bank Polski to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– PKO Bank Polski has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. PKO Bank Polski 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.
Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For PKO Bank Polski digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. PKO Bank Polski 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.
High brand equity
– PKO Bank Polski has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled PKO Bank Polski to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– PKO Bank Polski is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in United Kingdom. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United Kingdom. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management in the Regional Banks industry
– PKO Bank Polski is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses of PKO Bank Polski | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PKO Bank Polski are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of PKO Bank Polski supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, PKO Bank Polski is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left PKO Bank Polski vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, PKO Bank Polski is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help PKO Bank Polski to provide better information regarding Regional Banks products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– PKO Bank Polski 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of PKO Bank Polski 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of PKO Bank Polski is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Regional Banks industry, but PKO Bank Polski needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help PKO Bank Polski to focus more on services in the Regional Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Regional Banks industry, PKO Bank Polski 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As PKO Bank Polski is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Regional Banks industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Regional Banks industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, PKO Bank Polski 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 Regional Banks industry.
High dependence on PKO Bank Polski ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of PKO Bank Polski still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Regional Banks industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though PKO Bank Polski has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of PKO Bank Polski, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as PKO Bank Polski is planning to shift buying processes online.
PKO Bank Polski Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of PKO Bank Polski are -
Manufacturing automation
– PKO Bank Polski can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Regional 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.
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. PKO Bank Polski can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Regional Banks industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. PKO Bank Polski can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Regional Banks industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. PKO Bank Polski 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. PKO Bank Polski 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– PKO Bank Polski 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of PKO Bank Polski has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help PKO Bank Polski to build a more holistic ecosystem for PKO Bank Polski products in the Regional Banks 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, PKO Bank Polski 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for PKO Bank Polski 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, PKO Bank Polski can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that PKO Bank Polski operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Regional Banks sector.
Threats PKO Bank Polski External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of PKO Bank Polski are -
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 PKO Bank Polski business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– PKO Bank Polski 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– PKO Bank Polski 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, PKO Bank Polski 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– PKO Bank Polski has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, PKO Bank Polski 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of PKO Bank Polski
– 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 PKO Bank Polski.
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. PKO Bank Polski 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. PKO Bank Polski can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– PKO Bank Polski 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. PKO Bank Polski can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Regional Banks 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 PKO Bank Polski in the Regional Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for PKO Bank Polski 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of PKO Bank Polski Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski 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 PKO Bank Polski needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
