First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu (FAM) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Financial Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu
2. Improving business portfolio management of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Misc. Financial Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu
Strengths of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu are -
Digital Transformation in Misc. Financial Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Misc. Financial Services
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Misc. Financial Services industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Financial Services industry. This has provided First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu in Misc. Financial Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Misc. Financial Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Learning organization
- First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 Misc. Financial Services 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.
Weaknesses of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to provide better information regarding Misc. Financial Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is just above the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Financial Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Misc. Financial Services industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has some of the most successful models in the Misc. Financial Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Misc. Financial Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Misc. Financial Services industry over the last five years. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Financial Services industry, but First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to focus more on services in the Misc. Financial Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Financial Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can utilize new technology in the field of Misc. Financial Services industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 Misc. Financial Services industry.
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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Financial Services industry. This can help First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to build a more holistic ecosystem for First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu products in the Misc. Financial Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Misc. Financial Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu to increase its market reach. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can develop new processes and procedures in Misc. Financial Services 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Financial Services 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Misc. Financial Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu in the Misc. Financial Services industry. Now First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu are -
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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu in the Misc. Financial Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Financial Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 Misc. Financial Services 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Financial Services industry are lowering. It can presents First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Financial Services sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Financial Services sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 Misc. Financial Services industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu prominent markets.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Misc. Financial Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu
– 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Financial Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 Misc. Financial Services industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Global Opportu needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.