SANTANDER BR UNT (SANB11) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for SANTANDER BR UNT (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , SANTANDER BR UNT is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that SANTANDER BR UNT can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the SANTANDER BR UNT, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of SANTANDER BR UNT
2. Improving business portfolio management of SANTANDER BR UNT
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a Regional Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of SANTANDER BR UNT
Strengths of SANTANDER BR UNT | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of SANTANDER BR UNT are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– SANTANDER BR UNT has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Learning organization
- SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at SANTANDER BR UNT emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Regional Banks industry
– SANTANDER BR UNT has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled SANTANDER BR UNT to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Regional Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped SANTANDER BR UNT to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of SANTANDER BR UNT in Regional Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For SANTANDER BR UNT digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– SANTANDER BR UNT is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.
Training and development
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of SANTANDER BR UNT in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. SANTANDER BR UNT has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps SANTANDER BR UNT to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of SANTANDER BR UNT
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing SANTANDER BR UNT does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– SANTANDER BR UNT is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in Brazil. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Brazil. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– SANTANDER BR UNT is present in almost all the verticals within the Regional Banks industry. This has provided SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Weaknesses of SANTANDER BR UNT | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SANTANDER BR UNT are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, SANTANDER BR UNT 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. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brazil, SANTANDER BR UNT needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, SANTANDER BR UNT has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on SANTANDER BR UNT ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of SANTANDER BR UNT products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, SANTANDER BR UNT needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of SANTANDER BR UNT strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of SANTANDER BR UNT 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
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, SANTANDER BR UNT is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help SANTANDER BR UNT to provide better information regarding Regional Banks products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of SANTANDER BR UNT is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Regional Banks industry, but SANTANDER BR UNT needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help SANTANDER BR UNT to focus more on services in the Regional Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
SANTANDER BR UNT Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of SANTANDER BR UNT are -
Loyalty marketing
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help SANTANDER BR UNT to increase its market reach. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help SANTANDER BR UNT to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
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. SANTANDER BR UNT 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. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of SANTANDER BR UNT has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help SANTANDER BR UNT to build a more holistic ecosystem for SANTANDER BR UNT products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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. SANTANDER BR UNT can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, SANTANDER BR UNT is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Threats SANTANDER BR UNT External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of SANTANDER BR UNT are -
Increasing wage structure of SANTANDER BR UNT
– 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 SANTANDER BR UNT.
Regulatory challenges
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
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. SANTANDER BR UNT needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents SANTANDER BR UNT with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT prominent markets.
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 SANTANDER BR UNT business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– SANTANDER BR UNT has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that SANTANDER BR UNT is facing in Regional Banks sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– SANTANDER BR UNT 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.
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 SANTANDER BR UNT.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SANTANDER BR UNT Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT 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 SANTANDER BR UNT needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.