Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBANn) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Misc. Financial Services
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (Germany)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Deutsche Beteiligungs AG, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
2. Improving business portfolio management of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Germany
4. Making a Misc. Financial Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
Strengths of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Misc. Financial Services industry
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Misc. Financial Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Misc. Financial Services industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Deutsche Beteiligungs AG digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Misc. Financial Services industry
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
Learning organization
- Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Deutsche Beteiligungs AG emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Misc. Financial Services industry. The technology infrastructure of Germany 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.
Organizational Resilience of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Deutsche Beteiligungs AG does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is one of the leading players in the Misc. Financial Services industry in Germany. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Germany. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is present in almost all the verticals within the Misc. Financial Services industry. This has provided Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 brand equity
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Misc. Financial 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Deutsche Beteiligungs AG vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Misc. Financial Services industry, but Deutsche Beteiligungs AG needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to focus more on services in the Misc. Financial Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has high operating costs in the Misc. Financial Services industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Deutsche Beteiligungs AG lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Deutsche Beteiligungs AG needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Misc. Financial Services industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ less understanding of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 bargaining power of channel partners in Misc. Financial Services industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Germany, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Misc. Financial Services industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has some of the most successful models in the Misc. Financial Services industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Deutsche Beteiligungs AG Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can develop new processes and procedures in Misc. Financial Services 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Misc. Financial Services 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.
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. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Deutsche Beteiligungs AG in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Misc. Financial Services industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Misc. Financial Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Deutsche Beteiligungs AG operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Misc. Financial Services sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Misc. Financial Services industry. This can help Deutsche Beteiligungs AG to build a more holistic ecosystem for Deutsche Beteiligungs AG products in the Misc. Financial Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Deutsche Beteiligungs AG External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate Deutsche Beteiligungs AG prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Misc. Financial Services industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Misc. Financial Services industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Misc. Financial Services 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Misc. Financial Services industry and other sectors.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Deutsche Beteiligungs AG may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Misc. Financial Services sector.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Misc. Financial Services industry are lowering. It can presents Deutsche Beteiligungs AG with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Misc. Financial Services sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Misc. Financial Services industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
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. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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.
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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG in the Misc. Financial Services sector and impact the bottomline 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. Deutsche Beteiligungs AG needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Misc. Financial Services industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG 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 Deutsche Beteiligungs AG needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
