Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sunnyside Bancorp Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Regional Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc
Strengths of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc are -
Ability to lead change in Regional Banks
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Regional Banks industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Sunnyside Bancorp Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Regional 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.
Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sunnyside Bancorp Inc digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Regional Banks industry. This has provided Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Regional Banks industry
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Regional Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Sunnyside Bancorp Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc are -
Skills based hiring in Regional Banks industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sunnyside Bancorp Inc vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Regional Banks industry over the last five years. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Regional 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Sunnyside Bancorp Inc, in the dynamic environment of Regional Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Regional Banks industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has high operating costs in the Regional Banks industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Sunnyside Bancorp Inc lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Regional Banks industry in last five years.
Sunnyside Bancorp Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Regional Banks sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to build a more holistic ecosystem for Sunnyside Bancorp Inc products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can develop new processes and procedures in Regional 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sunnyside Bancorp Inc operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Regional Banks sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sunnyside Bancorp Inc to increase its market reach. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks industry.
Manufacturing automation
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Regional 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Regional Banks industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Sunnyside Bancorp Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc are -
Regulatory challenges
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Regional Banks industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Regional Banks industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Sunnyside Bancorp Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.
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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc in the Regional Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sunnyside Bancorp Inc is facing in Regional Banks sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sunnyside Bancorp Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sunnyside Bancorp Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Regional 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.
Increasing wage structure of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc
– 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc.
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. Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sunnyside Bancorp Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc 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 Sunnyside Bancorp Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.