Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return (FLC) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return
2. Improving business portfolio management of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return
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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return

---

Strengths of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return are -

Innovation driven organization

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return is one of the most innovative firm in Misc. Financial Services sector.

Learning organization

- Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Financial Services industry

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return staying ahead in the Misc. Financial Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Digital Transformation in Misc. Financial Services industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Training and development

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Organizational Resilience of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

---

---

Weaknesses of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return are -

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return is planning to shift buying processes online.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of United States, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return, 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Lack of clear differentiation of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Employees’ less understanding of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has high operating costs in the Misc. Financial Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return lucrative customers.

---

Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return are -

Developing new processes and practices

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Misc. Financial Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Financial Services sector.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return in the Misc. Financial Services industry. Now Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return to increase its market reach. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Financial Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

---

Threats Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

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 wage structure of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return

– 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return.

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.

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. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Financial Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return in the Misc. Financial Services sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Environmental challenges

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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. Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry.

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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return is facing in Misc. Financial Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

---

Weighted SWOT Analysis of Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

--- ---