Standard Bank Group Ltd PK (SGBLY) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Standard Bank Group Ltd PK (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Standard Bank Group Ltd PK, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK
2. Improving business portfolio management of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK
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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK
Strengths of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK in the sector have low bargaining power. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Standard Bank Group Ltd PK to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Learning organization
- Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Standard Bank Group Ltd PK emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has one of the best training and development program in 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.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Standard Bank Group Ltd PK digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Standard Bank Group Ltd PK staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Weaknesses of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Standard Bank Group Ltd PK, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ less understanding of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Standard Bank Group Ltd PK needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Standard Bank Group Ltd PK vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Standard Bank Group Ltd PK needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK, 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 dependence on Standard Bank Group Ltd PK ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Standard Bank Group Ltd PK Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Standard Bank Group Ltd PK in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Standard Bank Group Ltd PK to build a more holistic ecosystem for Standard Bank Group Ltd PK products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK to increase its market reach. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Standard Bank Group Ltd PK to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Standard Bank Group Ltd PK External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
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.
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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the industry regulations.
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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK
– 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Environmental challenges
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Standard Bank Group Ltd PK is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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
– Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Standard Bank Group Ltd PK Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK 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 Standard Bank Group Ltd PK needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.