Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Citigroup Inc Pj ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Citigroup Inc Pj ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR
Strengths of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR are -
Analytics focus
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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 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.
Organizational Resilience of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Citigroup Inc Pj ADR does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Citigroup Inc Pj ADR digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR in the sector have low bargaining power. Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Training and development
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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.
High brand equity
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Citigroup Inc Pj ADR in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the 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, Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Citigroup Inc Pj ADR should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
High dependence on Citigroup Inc Pj ADR ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Citigroup Inc Pj 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. Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Citigroup Inc Pj ADR needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Citigroup Inc Pj ADR can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Citigroup Inc Pj ADR needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Citigroup Inc Pj ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Citigroup Inc Pj ADR can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Citigroup Inc Pj ADR operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Citigroup Inc Pj 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. Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
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 Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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 industry.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Citigroup Inc Pj ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Citigroup Inc Pj 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, Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Citigroup Inc Pj ADR can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Citigroup Inc Pj ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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. Citigroup Inc Pj ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Citigroup Inc Pj ADR is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
Increasing wage structure of Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR prominent markets.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Citigroup Inc Pj ADR 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 industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Citigroup Inc Pj 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.
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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Citigroup Inc Pj ADR with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Citigroup Inc Pj ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj 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 Citigroup Inc Pj ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.