Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp
2. Improving business portfolio management of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Consumer Financial Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp
Strengths of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is present in almost all the verticals within the Consumer Financial Services industry. This has provided Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High brand equity
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Consumer Financial Services industry. The technology infrastructure of Canada 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Consumer Financial Services industry
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Consumer Financial Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp in Consumer Financial Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp staying ahead in the Consumer Financial Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Consumer 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 Consumer Financial Services
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is one of the leading players in the Consumer Financial Services industry in Canada. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Consumer Financial Services industry in Canada but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Consumer Financial Services industry using digital technology.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to provide better information regarding Consumer Financial Services products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Consumer Financial Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Canada, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Consumer Financial Services industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp, in the dynamic environment of Consumer Financial Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Consumer Financial Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Consumer Financial Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is just above the Consumer 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Consumer Financial Services industry over the last five years. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp are -
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. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Consumer Financial Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can develop new processes and procedures in Consumer 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Consumer Financial Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp in the Consumer Financial Services industry. Now Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Consumer Financial Services industry. This can help Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp to build a more holistic ecosystem for Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp products in the Consumer Financial Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Consumer Financial Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Consumer Financial Services sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Consumer 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
Threats Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp are -
Regulatory challenges
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Consumer Financial Services industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp prominent markets.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp in Consumer Financial Services industry. The Consumer 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Consumer Financial Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Consumer Financial Services industry.
Increasing wage structure of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp
– 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp.
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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp.
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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Consumer Financial Services sector.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp is facing in Consumer Financial Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp 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 Atrium Mortgage Investment Corp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
