MonFinancier (MLMON) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for MonFinancier (France)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , MonFinancier is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MonFinancier

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that MonFinancier can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the MonFinancier, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which MonFinancier 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of MonFinancier can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of MonFinancier
2. Improving business portfolio management of MonFinancier
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in France
4. Making a Investment Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of MonFinancier

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Strengths of MonFinancier | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of MonFinancier are -

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of MonFinancier comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Investment Services 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Investment Services industry

– MonFinancier has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled MonFinancier to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Investment Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped MonFinancier to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of MonFinancier in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. MonFinancier has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps MonFinancier to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the MonFinancier 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.

Ability to lead change in Investment Services

– MonFinancier is one of the leading players in the Investment Services industry in France. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Investment Services industry in France but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled MonFinancier in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Highly skilled collaborators

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

Strong track record of project management in the Investment Services industry

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

Innovation driven organization

– MonFinancier is one of the most innovative firm in Investment Services sector.

Analytics focus

– MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry. The technology infrastructure of France 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– MonFinancier has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. MonFinancier 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– MonFinancier has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – MonFinancier staying ahead in the Investment Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Training and development

– MonFinancier 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.

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Weaknesses of MonFinancier | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of MonFinancier are -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry using digital technology.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that MonFinancier needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Investment Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at MonFinancier can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as MonFinancier is planning to shift buying processes online.

High dependence on MonFinancier ‘s star products

– The top 2 products and services of MonFinancier still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Investment Services industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though MonFinancier has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of MonFinancier, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Investment Services 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.

Products dominated business model

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

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, MonFinancier has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Investment Services industry over the last five years. MonFinancier 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 France, MonFinancier needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of MonFinancier products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, MonFinancier needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

MonFinancier has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Investment Services 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Investment Services industry

– because of the regulatory requirements in France, MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry.

Need for greater diversity

– MonFinancier 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.

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MonFinancier Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of MonFinancier are -

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, MonFinancier 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– consumer behavior has changed in the Investment Services industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. MonFinancier 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. MonFinancier 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– MonFinancier has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Investment Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled MonFinancier to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help MonFinancier to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Leveraging digital technologies

– MonFinancier 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.

Buying journey improvements

– MonFinancier can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Investment Services 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

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

Creating value in data economy

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

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Investment Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. MonFinancier can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Investment Services industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for MonFinancier in the Investment Services industry. Now MonFinancier can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help MonFinancier to increase its market reach. MonFinancier 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for MonFinancier in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Investment Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Increase in government spending

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

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Threats MonFinancier External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of MonFinancier are -

Aging population

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

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Investment Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. MonFinancier can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for MonFinancier in Investment Services industry. The Investment Services 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.

Learning curve for new practices

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

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. MonFinancier 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that MonFinancier is facing in Investment Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

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

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. MonFinancier needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Investment Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Consumer confidence and its impact on MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry and other sectors.

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 MonFinancier.

Regulatory challenges

– MonFinancier 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 Investment Services industry regulations.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of MonFinancier Template, Example

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

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