Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR (BCS_pd) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR
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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR
Strengths of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR are -
Innovation driven organization
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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.
Learning organization
- Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is one of the leading players in the 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.
High brand equity
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Organizational Resilience of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ less understanding of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 dependence on Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is just above the 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
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. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to increase its market reach. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Threats Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of sector.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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.
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. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR
– 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR.
Environmental challenges
– Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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. Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR 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 Barclays Bank PLC Pd ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.