Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC (IPB) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC
2. Improving business portfolio management of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC
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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC
Strengths of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Learning organization
- Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC in the sector have low bargaining power. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Weaknesses of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC, 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 industry using digital technology.
Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC to build a more holistic ecosystem for Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC in the industry. Now Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
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. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Threats Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC are -
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.
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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC in industry. The 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 industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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
– Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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.
Increasing wage structure of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC
– 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC.
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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the 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. Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC 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 Merrill Lynch Depositor Inc IC needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.