Agricultural Bank of China PK (ACGBY) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Agricultural Bank of China PK (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Agricultural Bank of China PK is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Agricultural Bank of China PK
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Agricultural Bank of China PK can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agricultural Bank of China PK, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Agricultural Bank of China PK
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agricultural Bank of China PK
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Agricultural Bank of China PK
Strengths of Agricultural Bank of China PK | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agricultural Bank of China PK are -
Learning organization
- Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Agricultural Bank of China PK emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Agricultural Bank of China PK 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
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has one of the best training and development program in 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.
Analytics focus
– Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 industry. The technology infrastructure of United States 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Agricultural Bank of China PK is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Agricultural Bank of China PK digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Agricultural Bank of China PK to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Agricultural Bank of China PK to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Agricultural Bank of China PK is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Agricultural Bank of China PK to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Agricultural Bank of China PK 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
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Agricultural Bank of China PK have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Agricultural Bank of China PK are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Agricultural Bank of China PK | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Agricultural Bank of China PK are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Agricultural Bank of China PK supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Agricultural Bank of China PK is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Agricultural Bank of China PK vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Agricultural Bank of China PK, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Agricultural Bank of China PK has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on Agricultural Bank of China PK ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Agricultural Bank of China PK still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Agricultural Bank of China PK has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Agricultural Bank of China PK is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Agricultural Bank of China PK needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Agricultural Bank of China PK to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Agricultural Bank of China PK products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Agricultural Bank of China PK needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Agricultural Bank of China PK has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Agricultural Bank of China PK lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Agricultural Bank of China PK is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Agricultural Bank of China PK needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Agricultural Bank of China PK Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Agricultural Bank of China PK are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Agricultural Bank of China PK has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Agricultural Bank of China PK to build a more holistic ecosystem for Agricultural Bank of China PK products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Agricultural Bank of China PK 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. Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Agricultural Bank of China PK to increase its market reach. Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Agricultural Bank of China PK can improve the customer journey of consumers in the 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Agricultural Bank of China PK is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Agricultural Bank of China PK can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Agricultural Bank of China PK to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Agricultural Bank of China PK can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Agricultural Bank of China PK can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Agricultural Bank of China PK in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Agricultural Bank of China PK to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Agricultural Bank of China PK to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Agricultural Bank of China PK can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agricultural Bank of China PK operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Threats Agricultural Bank of China PK External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Agricultural Bank of China PK are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Agricultural Bank of China PK has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Agricultural Bank of China PK needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
Increasing wage structure of Agricultural Bank of China PK
– 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Agricultural Bank of China PK is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Agricultural Bank of China PK 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. Agricultural Bank of China PK can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Agricultural Bank of China PK with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Agricultural Bank of China PK in industry. The 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.
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 Agricultural Bank of China PK.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 industry and other sectors.
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. Agricultural Bank of China PK 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Agricultural Bank of China PK Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK 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 Agricultural Bank of China PK needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.