Bank Of Ningbo A (2142) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Money Center Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Bank Of Ningbo A (China)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Bank Of Ningbo A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Bank Of Ningbo A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bank Of Ningbo A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Bank Of Ningbo A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bank Of Ningbo A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Money Center Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bank Of Ningbo A
Strengths of Bank Of Ningbo A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bank Of Ningbo A are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bank Of Ningbo A has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Bank Of Ningbo A staying ahead in the Money Center Banks industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Bank Of Ningbo A
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Bank Of Ningbo A does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bank Of Ningbo A in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Bank Of Ningbo A has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bank Of Ningbo A to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Bank Of Ningbo 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 Money Center Banks industry. The technology infrastructure of China 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Money Center Banks industry
– Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Training and development
– Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bank Of Ningbo A has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Money Center Banks industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Bank Of Ningbo A have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bank Of Ningbo A in Money Center Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Bank Of Ningbo A comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Money Center Banks industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bank Of Ningbo A 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.
Learning organization
- Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo A is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Bank Of Ningbo A emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Bank Of Ningbo A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bank Of Ningbo A are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bank Of Ningbo A is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Money Center Banks industry, but Bank Of Ningbo A needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bank Of Ningbo A to focus more on services in the Money Center Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Bank Of Ningbo A has high operating costs in the Money Center Banks industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Bank Of Ningbo A lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring in Money Center Banks industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bank Of Ningbo 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Bank Of Ningbo A, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Money Center Banks industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bank Of Ningbo A is one of the leading players in the Money Center Banks industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Money Center Banks industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Money Center Banks industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in China, Bank Of Ningbo 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 Money Center Banks industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bank Of Ningbo A has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Money Center Banks industry using digital technology.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Bank Of Ningbo A needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Money Center Banks industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Bank Of Ningbo A can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bank Of Ningbo A is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bank Of Ningbo 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 Money Center Banks industry over the last five years. Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bank Of Ningbo A 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bank Of Ningbo A has some of the most successful models in the Money Center Banks industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Bank Of Ningbo A should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Bank Of Ningbo A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Bank Of Ningbo A are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bank Of Ningbo A 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bank Of Ningbo A can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bank Of Ningbo A operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Money Center Banks sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Money Center Banks industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bank Of Ningbo A in the Money Center Banks industry. Now Bank Of Ningbo A can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bank Of Ningbo A in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Money Center Banks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bank Of Ningbo A to increase its market reach. Bank Of Ningbo A 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bank Of Ningbo A is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bank Of Ningbo A can utilize new technology in the field of Money Center Banks industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Bank Of Ningbo A 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Money Center Banks industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bank Of Ningbo A can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Money Center Banks industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bank Of Ningbo 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. Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bank Of Ningbo 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bank Of Ningbo A can develop new processes and procedures in Money Center Banks industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Bank Of Ningbo A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Bank Of Ningbo A are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Bank Of Ningbo 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 Money Center Banks sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Money Center Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Bank Of Ningbo A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Money Center Banks sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Bank Of Ningbo 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 Money Center Banks industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bank Of Ningbo A 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.
Environmental challenges
– Bank Of Ningbo A 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. Bank Of Ningbo A can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Money Center Banks industry.
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 Bank Of Ningbo A in the Money Center Banks sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Bank Of Ningbo A business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bank Of Ningbo 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 Money Center Banks industry.
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. Bank Of Ningbo A 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 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. Bank Of Ningbo A needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Money Center Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bank Of Ningbo A in Money Center Banks industry. The Money Center Banks industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Money Center Banks industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bank Of Ningbo A can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bank Of Ningbo A Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo 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 Bank Of Ningbo A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.