National Bank of Greece (0RCR) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for National Bank of Greece (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , National Bank of Greece is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of National Bank of Greece
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that National Bank of Greece can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the National Bank of Greece, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of National Bank of Greece
2. Improving business portfolio management of National Bank of Greece
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 National Bank of Greece
Strengths of National Bank of Greece | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of National Bank of Greece are -
Ability to lead change in Regional Banks
– National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of National Bank of Greece 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.
Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For National Bank of Greece digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. National Bank of Greece 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
– National Bank of Greece 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 United Kingdom 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 Regional Banks industry
– National Bank of Greece has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled National Bank of Greece to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Regional Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped National Bank of Greece to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– National Bank of Greece 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– National Bank of Greece has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – National Bank of Greece staying ahead in the Regional Banks industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– National Bank of Greece has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. National Bank of Greece 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of National Bank of Greece in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. National Bank of Greece has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps National Bank of Greece to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– National Bank of Greece has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled National Bank of Greece to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– National Bank of Greece is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.
Learning organization
- National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at National Bank of Greece emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of National Bank of Greece | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of National Bank of Greece are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United Kingdom, National Bank of Greece needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ less understanding of National Bank of Greece strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of National Bank of Greece 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of National Bank of Greece 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.
Skills based hiring in Regional Banks industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at National Bank of Greece 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Regional Banks industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, National Bank of Greece 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though National Bank of Greece has some of the most successful models in the Regional Banks industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. National Bank of Greece should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, National Bank of Greece has high operating costs in the Regional Banks industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract National Bank of Greece lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Regional Banks industry, National Bank of Greece 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, National Bank of Greece 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of National Bank of Greece, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of National Bank of Greece products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, National Bank of Greece needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
National Bank of Greece Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of National Bank of Greece are -
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. National Bank of Greece 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. National Bank of Greece 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. National Bank of Greece can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– National Bank of Greece 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.
Loyalty marketing
– National Bank of Greece 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.
Buying journey improvements
– National Bank of Greece 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for National Bank of Greece 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, National Bank of Greece 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.
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. National Bank of Greece can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 National Bank of Greece in the Regional Banks industry. Now National Bank of Greece can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects National Bank of Greece can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, National Bank of Greece is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. National Bank of Greece 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of National Bank of Greece are -
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. National Bank of Greece needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– National Bank of Greece 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that National Bank of Greece is facing in Regional Banks sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– National Bank of Greece has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, National Bank of Greece 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.
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. National Bank of Greece can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. National Bank of Greece 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents National Bank of Greece with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, National Bank of Greece 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.
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 National Bank of Greece in the Regional Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 National Bank of Greece.
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 National Bank of Greece business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of National Bank of Greece Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
