Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Bar Harbor Bankshares (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bar Harbor Bankshares is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bar Harbor Bankshares
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bar Harbor Bankshares can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bar Harbor Bankshares, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bar Harbor Bankshares
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bar Harbor Bankshares
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Regional Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bar Harbor Bankshares
Strengths of Bar Harbor Bankshares | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bar Harbor Bankshares are -
Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bar Harbor Bankshares digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
High brand equity
– Bar Harbor Bankshares has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bar Harbor Bankshares to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Bar Harbor Bankshares is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Regional Banks industry
– Bar Harbor Bankshares is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bar Harbor Bankshares is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Organizational Resilience of Bar Harbor Bankshares
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Bar Harbor Bankshares does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Regional Banks 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.
Learning organization
- Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Bar Harbor Bankshares emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bar Harbor Bankshares in Regional Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses of Bar Harbor Bankshares | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bar Harbor Bankshares are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Bar Harbor Bankshares needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Regional Banks industry, Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bar Harbor Bankshares is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Bar Harbor Bankshares to provide better information regarding Regional Banks products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Bar Harbor Bankshares needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Regional Banks industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Bar Harbor Bankshares can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bar Harbor Bankshares is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on Bar Harbor Bankshares ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Bar Harbor Bankshares still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Regional Banks industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Bar Harbor Bankshares has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bar Harbor Bankshares has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Regional Banks industry over the last five years. Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Skills based hiring in Regional Banks industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bar Harbor Bankshares has some of the most successful models in the Regional Banks industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Bar Harbor Bankshares should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Bar Harbor Bankshares supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Bar Harbor Bankshares is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bar Harbor Bankshares vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bar Harbor Bankshares products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bar Harbor Bankshares needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Bar Harbor Bankshares Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bar Harbor Bankshares are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bar Harbor Bankshares has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Regional Banks sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Bar Harbor Bankshares to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bar Harbor Bankshares to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Bar Harbor Bankshares can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Regional Banks industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bar Harbor Bankshares can develop new processes and procedures in Regional Banks industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
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. Bar Harbor Bankshares can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Bar Harbor Bankshares can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Regional Banks 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Regional Banks industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bar Harbor Bankshares in the Regional Banks industry. Now Bar Harbor Bankshares can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bar Harbor Bankshares in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Regional Banks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bar Harbor Bankshares can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bar Harbor Bankshares has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help Bar Harbor Bankshares to build a more holistic ecosystem for Bar Harbor Bankshares products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Threats Bar Harbor Bankshares External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bar Harbor Bankshares are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares prominent markets.
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. Bar Harbor Bankshares needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Regional Banks industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Regional Banks industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bar Harbor Bankshares can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bar Harbor Bankshares in Regional Banks industry. The Regional Banks 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bar Harbor Bankshares has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bar Harbor Bankshares needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Regional Banks sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Environmental challenges
– Bar Harbor Bankshares 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. Bar Harbor Bankshares can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Regional Banks industry.
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. Bar Harbor Bankshares 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Bar Harbor Bankshares with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bar Harbor Bankshares may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Regional Banks sector.
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 Bar Harbor Bankshares business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bar Harbor Bankshares Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares 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 Bar Harbor Bankshares needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.