Svenska Handelsbanken A (SVNLF) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Svenska Handelsbanken A (United States)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Svenska Handelsbanken A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Svenska Handelsbanken A

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Svenska Handelsbanken A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Svenska Handelsbanken A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Svenska Handelsbanken A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Svenska Handelsbanken A
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 Svenska Handelsbanken A

---

Strengths of Svenska Handelsbanken A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Svenska Handelsbanken A are -

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Learning organization

- Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Svenska Handelsbanken A emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Svenska Handelsbanken A is one of the leading players in the Regional 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 Regional Banks industry

– Svenska Handelsbanken A is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Svenska Handelsbanken A in Regional Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Ability to lead change in Regional Banks

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Training and development

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Svenska Handelsbanken A is one of the most innovative firm in Regional Banks sector.

Digital Transformation in Regional Banks industry

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Svenska Handelsbanken A digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

High brand equity

– Svenska Handelsbanken A has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Svenska Handelsbanken A to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Svenska Handelsbanken A has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Regional Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Svenska Handelsbanken A have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

---

---

Weaknesses of Svenska Handelsbanken A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Svenska Handelsbanken A are -

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A lucrative customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative at Svenska Handelsbanken A, in the dynamic environment of Regional Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Svenska Handelsbanken A has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

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 Svenska Handelsbanken A supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Svenska Handelsbanken A is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Svenska Handelsbanken A vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Skills based hiring in Regional Banks industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Svenska Handelsbanken A has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Employees’ less understanding of Svenska Handelsbanken A strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Svenska Handelsbanken A 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. Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of United States, Svenska Handelsbanken A needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High bargaining power of channel partners in Regional Banks industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Svenska Handelsbanken A has some of the most successful models in the Regional Banks industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Svenska Handelsbanken A should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

---

Svenska Handelsbanken A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Svenska Handelsbanken A are -

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Svenska Handelsbanken A is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Svenska Handelsbanken A can utilize new technology in the field of Regional Banks industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Loyalty marketing

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Svenska Handelsbanken A has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help Svenska Handelsbanken A to build a more holistic ecosystem for Svenska Handelsbanken A products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Svenska Handelsbanken A 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. Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Svenska Handelsbanken A can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help Svenska Handelsbanken A to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Svenska Handelsbanken A can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Svenska Handelsbanken A operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Regional Banks sector.

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. Svenska Handelsbanken A can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Svenska Handelsbanken A can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Svenska Handelsbanken A to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Svenska Handelsbanken A to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Svenska Handelsbanken A to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

---

Threats Svenska Handelsbanken A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Svenska Handelsbanken A are -

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Svenska Handelsbanken A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.

Increasing wage structure of Svenska Handelsbanken A

– 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Svenska Handelsbanken A has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Regional Banks industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

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.

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. Svenska Handelsbanken A needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Svenska Handelsbanken A.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Svenska Handelsbanken A may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Regional Banks sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Regional Banks industry and other sectors.

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. Svenska Handelsbanken A can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Svenska Handelsbanken A 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Svenska Handelsbanken A in Regional Banks industry. The Regional 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A 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 Svenska Handelsbanken A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

--- ---