Morgan Stanley Bank AG (MSBR34) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Morgan Stanley Bank AG (Brazil)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Morgan Stanley Bank AG is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Morgan Stanley Bank AG
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Morgan Stanley Bank AG can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Morgan Stanley Bank AG, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Morgan Stanley Bank AG
2. Improving business portfolio management of Morgan Stanley Bank AG
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Brazil
4. Making a NA sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Morgan Stanley Bank AG
Strengths of Morgan Stanley Bank AG | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Morgan Stanley Bank AG are -
Ability to lead change in NA
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG is one of the leading players in the NA industry in Brazil. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the NA industry in Brazil but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Morgan Stanley Bank AG in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Morgan Stanley Bank AG
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Morgan Stanley Bank AG does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Morgan Stanley Bank AG emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG is one of the leading players in the NA industry in Brazil. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Brazil. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG has one of the best training and development program in NA 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)
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Morgan Stanley Bank AG staying ahead in the NA industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 NA industry. The technology infrastructure of Brazil 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Morgan Stanley Bank AG in the NA sector have low bargaining power. Morgan Stanley Bank AG has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Morgan Stanley Bank AG to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG is one of the most innovative firm in NA sector.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Morgan Stanley Bank AG in NA industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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.
Digital Transformation in NA industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Morgan Stanley Bank AG digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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.
Weaknesses of Morgan Stanley Bank AG | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Morgan Stanley Bank AG are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Morgan Stanley Bank AG has high operating costs in the NA industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Morgan Stanley Bank AG lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Morgan Stanley Bank AG has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the NA industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the NA industry, Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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.
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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Morgan Stanley Bank AG is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Morgan Stanley Bank AG vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 NA industry using digital technology.
High bargaining power of channel partners in NA industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Brazil, Morgan Stanley Bank AG is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the NA industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Morgan Stanley Bank AG needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the NA industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Morgan Stanley Bank AG can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Morgan Stanley Bank AG is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Morgan Stanley Bank AG products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Morgan Stanley Bank AG needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Morgan Stanley Bank AG is one of the leading players in the NA industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the NA industry in last five years.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Morgan Stanley Bank AG is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Morgan Stanley Bank AG to provide better information regarding NA products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Morgan Stanley Bank AG, in the dynamic environment of NA industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Morgan Stanley Bank AG has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Morgan Stanley Bank AG Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Morgan Stanley Bank AG are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Morgan Stanley Bank AG is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Morgan Stanley Bank AG can utilize new technology in the field of NA industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in NA industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Morgan Stanley Bank AG in the NA industry. Now Morgan Stanley Bank AG can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in NA industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Morgan Stanley Bank AG can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in NA 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Morgan Stanley Bank AG can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Morgan Stanley Bank AG to increase its market reach. Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Morgan Stanley Bank AG in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the NA industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the NA industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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. Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Morgan Stanley Bank AG can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Morgan Stanley Bank AG operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in NA sector.
Threats Morgan Stanley Bank AG External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Morgan Stanley Bank AG are -
Environmental challenges
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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. Morgan Stanley Bank AG can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the NA industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to NA industry are lowering. It can presents Morgan Stanley Bank AG with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the NA sector.
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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG in the NA sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Morgan Stanley Bank AG is facing in NA sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 NA industry and other sectors.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Morgan Stanley Bank AG in NA industry. The NA 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.
Increasing wage structure of Morgan Stanley Bank AG
– 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Morgan Stanley Bank AG may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of NA sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 NA industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Morgan Stanley Bank AG has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the NA industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Morgan Stanley Bank AG needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the NA 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Morgan Stanley Bank AG Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG 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 Morgan Stanley Bank AG needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
