SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Northeast Indiana (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Northeast Indiana is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Northeast Indiana
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Northeast Indiana can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Northeast Indiana, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Northeast Indiana
2. Improving business portfolio management of Northeast Indiana
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a S&Ls/Savings Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Northeast Indiana
Strengths of Northeast Indiana | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Northeast Indiana are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Northeast Indiana is one of the leading players in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry
– Northeast Indiana 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
– Northeast Indiana is one of the most innovative firm in S&Ls/Savings Banks sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry
– Northeast Indiana has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Northeast Indiana to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Northeast Indiana to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Northeast Indiana comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the S&Ls/Savings 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Northeast Indiana has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Northeast Indiana staying ahead in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Northeast Indiana emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Northeast Indiana has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive S&Ls/Savings Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Northeast Indiana have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Northeast Indiana digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Northeast Indiana 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.
Organizational Resilience of Northeast Indiana
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Northeast Indiana does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Northeast Indiana has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Northeast Indiana 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 brand equity
– Northeast Indiana has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Northeast Indiana to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Northeast Indiana | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Northeast Indiana are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Northeast Indiana is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Northeast Indiana to provide better information regarding S&Ls/Savings Banks products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Northeast Indiana has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the S&Ls/Savings 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Northeast Indiana is one of the leading players in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry in last five years.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry, Northeast Indiana 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 bargaining power of channel partners in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Northeast Indiana 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 S&Ls/Savings Banks industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Northeast Indiana 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 S&Ls/Savings Banks industry using digital technology.
Lack of clear differentiation of Northeast Indiana products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Northeast Indiana needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Northeast Indiana, in the dynamic environment of S&Ls/Savings Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Northeast Indiana has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Northeast Indiana needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Northeast Indiana supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Northeast Indiana is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Northeast Indiana vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Northeast Indiana is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry, but Northeast Indiana needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Northeast Indiana to focus more on services in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Northeast Indiana Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Northeast Indiana are -
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 Northeast Indiana 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Northeast Indiana 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Northeast Indiana in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry. Now Northeast Indiana can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Northeast Indiana can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Northeast Indiana operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in S&Ls/Savings Banks sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Northeast Indiana 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Northeast Indiana can improve the customer journey of consumers in the S&Ls/Savings 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Northeast Indiana to increase its market reach. Northeast Indiana 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Northeast Indiana has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry. This can help Northeast Indiana to build a more holistic ecosystem for Northeast Indiana products in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Northeast Indiana 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Northeast Indiana can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in S&Ls/Savings 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Northeast Indiana 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 S&Ls/Savings Banks industry.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Northeast Indiana has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in S&Ls/Savings Banks sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Northeast Indiana to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Northeast Indiana to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Northeast Indiana in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Northeast Indiana External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Northeast Indiana are -
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana prominent markets.
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 Northeast Indiana business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Northeast Indiana
– 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 Northeast Indiana.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Northeast Indiana 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.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Northeast Indiana can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to S&Ls/Savings Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Northeast Indiana with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the S&Ls/Savings Banks sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Northeast Indiana 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 S&Ls/Savings Banks industry.
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. Northeast Indiana needs to understand the core reasons impacting the S&Ls/Savings Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Northeast Indiana in the S&Ls/Savings Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Northeast Indiana 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 S&Ls/Savings Banks industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Northeast Indiana in S&Ls/Savings Banks industry. The S&Ls/Savings 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 Northeast Indiana Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana 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 Northeast Indiana needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.