IBKS No.5 Special Purpose (254120) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Financial Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for IBKS No.5 Special Purpose (South Korea)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the IBKS No.5 Special Purpose, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose
2. Improving business portfolio management of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in South Korea
4. Making a Misc. Financial Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose
Strengths of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose are -
Learning organization
- IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at IBKS No.5 Special Purpose emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Financial Services industry. This has provided IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Financial Services 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 Misc. Financial Services
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services industry in South Korea. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Misc. Financial Services industry in South Korea but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled IBKS No.5 Special Purpose in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Financial Services industry
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose in Misc. Financial Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 Misc. Financial Services industry. The technology infrastructure of South Korea 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.
Innovation driven organization
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Weaknesses of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose are -
Lack of clear differentiation of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Financial Services industry, but IBKS No.5 Special Purpose needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to focus more on services in the Misc. Financial Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left IBKS No.5 Special Purpose vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Misc. Financial Services industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Financial Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Employees’ less understanding of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Financial Services industry over the last five years. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Misc. Financial Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on IBKS No.5 Special Purpose ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Misc. Financial Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
IBKS No.5 Special Purpose Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose are -
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. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to increase its market reach. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that IBKS No.5 Special Purpose operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can utilize new technology in the field of Misc. Financial Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Financial Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Financial Services industry. This can help IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to build a more holistic ecosystem for IBKS No.5 Special Purpose products in the Misc. Financial Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 Misc. Financial Services industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for IBKS No.5 Special Purpose in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Financial Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats IBKS No.5 Special Purpose External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose are -
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.
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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose prominent markets.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Financial Services industry are lowering. It can presents IBKS No.5 Special Purpose with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Financial Services sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Misc. Financial Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. IBKS No.5 Special Purpose can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose in the Misc. Financial Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Financial Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, IBKS No.5 Special Purpose may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Financial Services sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that IBKS No.5 Special Purpose is facing in Misc. Financial Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose
– 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose.
Regulatory challenges
– IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 Misc. Financial Services industry regulations.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBKS No.5 Special Purpose Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose 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 IBKS No.5 Special Purpose needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.