VersaBank (VB) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Money Center Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for VersaBank (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , VersaBank is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that VersaBank can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the VersaBank, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which VersaBank 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 VersaBank can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of VersaBank
2. Improving business portfolio management of VersaBank
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Money Center Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of VersaBank
Strengths of VersaBank | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of VersaBank are -
Strong track record of project management in the Money Center Banks industry
– VersaBank is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– VersaBank is one of the most innovative firm in Money Center Banks sector.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the VersaBank 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– VersaBank has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Money Center Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of VersaBank have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of VersaBank comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Money Center Banks 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.
Training and development
– VersaBank 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.
Analytics focus
– VersaBank 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 Money Center Banks 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– VersaBank has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – VersaBank staying ahead in the Money Center Banks industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of VersaBank in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. VersaBank has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps VersaBank to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– VersaBank is present in almost all the verticals within the Money Center Banks industry. This has provided VersaBank 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.
Organizational Resilience of VersaBank
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing VersaBank does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Money Center Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For VersaBank digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. VersaBank 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.
Weaknesses of VersaBank | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of VersaBank are -
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 VersaBank supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, VersaBank is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left VersaBank vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of VersaBank, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Money Center Banks 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
VersaBank has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Money Center Banks industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of VersaBank products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, VersaBank needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that VersaBank needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Money Center Banks industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at VersaBank can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as VersaBank is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of VersaBank is just above the Money Center Banks 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.
Need for greater diversity
– VersaBank 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, VersaBank has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Money Center Banks industry over the last five years. VersaBank 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, VersaBank has high operating costs in the Money Center Banks industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract VersaBank lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Money Center Banks industry, VersaBank 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, VersaBank 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 Money Center Banks industry using digital technology.
VersaBank Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of VersaBank are -
Loyalty marketing
– VersaBank 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help VersaBank to increase its market reach. VersaBank 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– VersaBank has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Money Center Banks sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled VersaBank to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help VersaBank to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Money Center Banks industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for VersaBank in the Money Center Banks industry. Now VersaBank can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– VersaBank can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Money Center Banks 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of VersaBank has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Money Center Banks industry. This can help VersaBank to build a more holistic ecosystem for VersaBank products in the Money Center Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Money Center Banks industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. VersaBank 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
– VersaBank can develop new processes and procedures in Money Center Banks 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for VersaBank in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Money Center Banks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, VersaBank can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that VersaBank operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Money Center Banks sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, VersaBank is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. VersaBank can utilize new technology in the field of Money Center Banks industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. VersaBank can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– VersaBank can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Money Center Banks 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 VersaBank External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of VersaBank are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– VersaBank has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Money Center Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, VersaBank needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Money Center Banks 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.
Regulatory challenges
– VersaBank 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 Money Center Banks industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Money Center Banks industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. VersaBank can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Environmental challenges
– VersaBank 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. VersaBank can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Money Center Banks industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– VersaBank 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 wage structure of VersaBank
– 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 VersaBank.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, VersaBank 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 VersaBank prominent markets.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for VersaBank in the Money Center Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– VersaBank 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 Money Center Banks 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 VersaBank.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Money Center Banks industry are lowering. It can presents VersaBank with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Money Center Banks sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for VersaBank in Money Center Banks industry. The Money Center Banks 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of VersaBank Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at VersaBank 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 VersaBank 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 VersaBank 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 VersaBank 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 VersaBank needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.