Fintech Acquisition Corp III (FTACU) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Fintech Acquisition Corp III (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Fintech Acquisition Corp III is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fintech Acquisition Corp III
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Fintech Acquisition Corp III can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fintech Acquisition Corp III, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Fintech Acquisition Corp III
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fintech Acquisition Corp III
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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III
Strengths of Fintech Acquisition Corp III | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fintech Acquisition Corp III are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Fintech Acquisition Corp III comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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 industry
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fintech Acquisition Corp III to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fintech Acquisition Corp III to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Fintech Acquisition Corp III staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fintech Acquisition Corp III are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fintech Acquisition Corp III in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fintech Acquisition Corp III digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fintech Acquisition Corp III has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
High brand equity
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fintech Acquisition Corp III to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Learning organization
- Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Fintech Acquisition Corp III emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Fintech Acquisition Corp III | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fintech Acquisition Corp III are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Fintech Acquisition Corp III, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fintech Acquisition Corp III has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fintech Acquisition Corp III products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fintech Acquisition Corp III needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Fintech Acquisition Corp III is just above the 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Fintech Acquisition Corp III, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Fintech Acquisition Corp III is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fintech Acquisition Corp III has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the 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, Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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. Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Fintech Acquisition Corp III supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Fintech Acquisition Corp III is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fintech Acquisition Corp III vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Fintech Acquisition Corp III Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Fintech Acquisition Corp III are -
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. Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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, Fintech Acquisition Corp III can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fintech Acquisition Corp III operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fintech Acquisition Corp III to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fintech Acquisition Corp III to increase its market reach. Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fintech Acquisition Corp III has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Fintech Acquisition Corp III to build a more holistic ecosystem for Fintech Acquisition Corp III products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Fintech Acquisition Corp III can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Threats Fintech Acquisition Corp III External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Fintech Acquisition Corp III are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III prominent markets.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fintech Acquisition Corp III needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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. Fintech Acquisition Corp III can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fintech Acquisition Corp III Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III 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 Fintech Acquisition Corp III needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.