Bancorp of New Jersey (BKJ) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Bancorp of New Jersey (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bancorp of New Jersey is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bancorp of New Jersey
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bancorp of New Jersey can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bancorp of New Jersey, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bancorp of New Jersey
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bancorp of New Jersey
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 Bancorp of New Jersey
Strengths of Bancorp of New Jersey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bancorp of New Jersey are -
High brand equity
– Bancorp of New Jersey has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bancorp of New Jersey to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bancorp of New Jersey is present in almost all the verticals within the Regional Banks industry. This has provided Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Regional Banks industry
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Regional Banks industry
– Bancorp of New Jersey has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bancorp of New Jersey to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Regional Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bancorp of New Jersey to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bancorp of New Jersey has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Regional Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Bancorp of New Jersey have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Bancorp of New Jersey emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Bancorp of New Jersey is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.
Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bancorp of New Jersey digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bancorp of New Jersey 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bancorp of New Jersey in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Bancorp of New Jersey has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bancorp of New Jersey to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Weaknesses of Bancorp of New Jersey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bancorp of New Jersey are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Bancorp of New Jersey needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Bancorp of New Jersey supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Bancorp of New Jersey is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bancorp of New Jersey vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ less understanding of Bancorp of New Jersey strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bancorp of New Jersey is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Regional Banks industry in last five years.
Need for greater diversity
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Regional Banks industry, Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bancorp of New Jersey needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Regional Banks industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bancorp of New Jersey is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Regional Banks industry, but Bancorp of New Jersey needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bancorp of New Jersey to focus more on services in the Regional Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bancorp of New Jersey 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. Bancorp of New Jersey should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Bancorp of New Jersey, in the dynamic environment of Regional Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bancorp of New Jersey has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Bancorp of New Jersey Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bancorp of New Jersey are -
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 Bancorp of New Jersey in the Regional Banks industry. Now Bancorp of New Jersey can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Regional Banks industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bancorp of New Jersey can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bancorp of New Jersey can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Regional Banks industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bancorp of New Jersey has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help Bancorp of New Jersey to build a more holistic ecosystem for Bancorp of New Jersey products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bancorp of New Jersey to increase its market reach. Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Threats Bancorp of New Jersey External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bancorp of New Jersey are -
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. Bancorp of New Jersey needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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. Bancorp of New Jersey can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Regional Banks industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Regional Banks industry.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Bancorp of New Jersey
– 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 Bancorp of New Jersey.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bancorp of New Jersey has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
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. Bancorp of New Jersey can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Bancorp of New Jersey business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bancorp of New Jersey 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bancorp of New Jersey Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey 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 Bancorp of New Jersey needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.