BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust (BBN) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Financial Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust
2. Improving business portfolio management of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Misc. Financial Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust
Strengths of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Financial Services industry
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Organizational Resilience of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Financial Services industry. This has provided BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Innovation driven organization
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust in Misc. Financial Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust staying ahead in the Misc. Financial Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Weaknesses of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Misc. Financial Services 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 Misc. Financial Services industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Financial Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Misc. Financial Services industry, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Financial Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has high operating costs in the Misc. Financial Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 United States, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust, in the dynamic environment of Misc. Financial Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has some of the most successful models in the Misc. Financial Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Financial Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust in the Misc. Financial Services industry. Now BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can develop new processes and procedures in Misc. Financial Services 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Manufacturing automation
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Financial Services 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Buying journey improvements
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Financial Services industry. This can help BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust to build a more holistic ecosystem for BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust products in the Misc. Financial Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Loyalty marketing
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Threats BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust are -
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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust.
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. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust in Misc. Financial Services industry. The Misc. Financial Services 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 Misc. Financial Services industry.
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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust in the Misc. Financial Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Financial Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Financial Services industry are lowering. It can presents BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust 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 BlackRock Taxable Muni Bond Trust needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
