First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor (FEO) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Financial Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor
2. Improving business portfolio management of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor
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 Emerging Oppor
Strengths of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Organizational Resilience of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Ability to recruit top talent
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Ability to lead change in Misc. Financial Services
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor in Misc. Financial Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Training and development
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
High brand equity
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Misc. Financial Services industry in last five years.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor, 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.
High dependence on First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Misc. Financial Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring in Misc. Financial Services industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Need for greater diversity
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Misc. Financial Services industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Financial Services industry, but First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor to focus more on services in the Misc. Financial Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor are -
Loyalty marketing
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
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 Emerging Oppor in the Misc. Financial Services industry. Now First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Financial Services industry. This can help First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor to build a more holistic ecosystem for First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor products in the Misc. Financial Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Financial Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Threats First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor in Misc. Financial Services industry. The Misc. Financial Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor.
Increasing wage structure of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor
– 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 Emerging Oppor.
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 Emerging Oppor 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.
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 Emerging Oppor needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Financial Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor prominent markets.
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 Emerging Oppor in the Misc. Financial Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Emerging Oppor can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Environmental challenges
– First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of First Trust/Aberdeen Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor 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 Emerging Oppor needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.