Postal Savings Bank China Pref (4612) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Regional Banks
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Postal Savings Bank China Pref (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Postal Savings Bank China Pref is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Postal Savings Bank China Pref
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Postal Savings Bank China Pref can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Postal Savings Bank China Pref, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Postal Savings Bank China Pref
2. Improving business portfolio management of Postal Savings Bank China Pref
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Regional Banks sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Postal Savings Bank China Pref
Strengths of Postal Savings Bank China Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Postal Savings Bank China Pref are -
Ability to lead change in Regional Banks
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in Hong Kong. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Regional Banks industry in Hong Kong but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Postal Savings Bank China Pref in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Postal Savings Bank China Pref to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Regional Banks industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Regional Banks industry
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Postal Savings Bank China Pref to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Regional Banks industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Postal Savings Bank China Pref to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref is present in almost all the verticals within the Regional Banks industry. This has provided Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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)
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Postal Savings Bank China Pref staying ahead in the Regional Banks industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref is one of the leading players in the Regional Banks industry in Hong Kong. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Hong Kong. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Postal Savings Bank China Pref in Regional Banks industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Postal Savings Bank China Pref in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Postal Savings Bank China Pref has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Postal Savings Bank China Pref to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses of Postal Savings Bank China Pref | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Postal Savings Bank China Pref are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Postal Savings Bank China Pref, in the dynamic environment of Regional Banks industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Postal Savings Bank China Pref has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Postal Savings Bank China Pref, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Regional 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Postal Savings Bank China Pref is just above the Regional Banks industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Postal Savings Bank China Pref is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Postal Savings Bank China Pref vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Postal Savings Bank China Pref has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Regional Banks industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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. Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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. Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Postal Savings Bank China Pref is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Regional Banks industry, but Postal Savings Bank China Pref needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Postal Savings Bank China Pref to focus more on services in the Regional Banks industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Regional Banks industry, Postal Savings Bank China Pref needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Postal Savings Bank China Pref Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Postal Savings Bank China Pref are -
Manufacturing automation
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Regional Banks sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Postal Savings Bank China Pref has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Regional Banks industry. This can help Postal Savings Bank China Pref to build a more holistic ecosystem for Postal Savings Bank China Pref products in the Regional Banks industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Regional Banks 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Postal Savings Bank China Pref in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Regional Banks industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Postal Savings Bank China Pref is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Postal Savings Bank China Pref to increase its market reach. Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Postal Savings Bank China Pref can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Postal Savings Bank China Pref operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Regional Banks sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Threats Postal Savings Bank China Pref External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Postal Savings Bank China Pref are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Regional Banks industry are lowering. It can presents Postal Savings Bank China Pref with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Regional Banks sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
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. Postal Savings Bank China Pref needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Regional Banks industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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. Postal Savings Bank China Pref can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Regional Banks industry.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Postal Savings Bank China Pref
– 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref prominent markets.
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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref in the Regional 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Postal Savings Bank China Pref Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref 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 Postal Savings Bank China Pref needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.