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 – wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, 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 -
Diverse revenue streams
– National Bank of Greece is present in almost all the verticals within the Regional Banks industry. This has provided National Bank of Greece a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Organizational Resilience of National Bank of Greece
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing National Bank of Greece does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– National Bank of Greece 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that National Bank of Greece 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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 -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, National Bank of Greece has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Regional Banks industry over the last five years. National Bank of Greece even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Need for greater diversity
– National Bank of Greece 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.
High dependence on National Bank of Greece ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of National Bank of Greece is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Regional Banks industry, but National Bank of Greece needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help National Bank of Greece to focus more on services in the Regional Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of National Bank of Greece has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help National Bank of Greece to build a more holistic ecosystem for National Bank of Greece products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for National Bank of Greece 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 National Bank of Greece to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help National Bank of Greece to increase its market reach. National Bank of Greece will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, National Bank of Greece can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that National Bank of Greece operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Regional Banks sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– National Bank of Greece can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at National Bank of Greece 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 Regional Banks industry.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of National Bank of Greece
– 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 National Bank of Greece.
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.
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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for National Bank of Greece 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on National Bank of Greece demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Regional Banks industry and other sectors.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– National Bank of Greece 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.
Environmental challenges
– National Bank of Greece 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. National Bank of Greece can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Regional Banks industry.
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.
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.