Company – Strengths and weaknesses Analysis

Application Assignment •Application Assignment on Situational Analysis and SWOT common to all themespgs MM-112 to MM-122 PART B and C (to be submitted together) (15+ 5 Marks) Company –Strengths and weaknesses Analysis Remember this assignment is in continuity to the previous marketing assignment. Here we do a strength and weakness analysis for our company vis -a- vis competitors. We need to know: A. What special strength/ competence or assets company has to satisfy the needs of customers? B. Who competes with us in meeting those needs and what is their competence, strength or asset?

Can we scale our own firm and the major competitors on those competencies and strengths? This kind of an analysis follows a 3-step process.

1Identification of all our Competitors. Competition does not stem only from products or firms that compete directly for your market share but also from any company that satisfies the same customer need. (Refer to the ‘Market concept of competition’ at the end of the assignment ) 2List the areas in which your organization or the competitor has the competence.

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Needless to say that these areas should be industry relevant.

An indicative list of the areas in which a firm can have strength / competence is listed below. Innovation ?Ability to develop innovative products ?Amount of Rs. spent on R&D ?Patents that a company has to its credit ?Technical product or service superiority Manufacturing ?Favorable Cost Structure ?Flexible production operations ?Access to Raw materials ?Quality of work force ?Capacity ?Outsourcing Finance- Access to capital ?Ability to generate funds in the short and long run ?Ability to use debt and equity financing ?Parent firms willingness to finance

Management ?Quality of top and middle management ?Knowledge of business ?Culture ?Strategic goals and plans ?Entrepreneurial thrust ?Planning or operation system ?Loyalty ?Quality of strategic decision making.

Marketing ?Product quality reputation ?Product differentiation ?Brand name recognition ?Customer orientation ?Breadth of the product line ?Segmentation ?Distribution ?Retailer relationship ?Advertising / Promotional skills ?Sales force ?Service Customer base ?Size and loyalty ?Market share ?Growth of segments served

This list is only indicative to serve as a guide to the major areas in which a firm can have strength/ competence. You can add on or delete items to suit to your company and industry. 3Scaling your organization vis - a - vis the competitors on the parameters listed above-The Competitive strength Grid *(Please refer exhibit at the end of the assignment) Once the strengths / assets relevant to the industry have been identified, one has to scale one’s own firm and the major competitors on those strengths. One such grid has been done for the Luxury car market.

The left side of the grid identifies the areas in which a luxury car maker can have strengths/ competencies namely product quality, product differentiation etc. On the right side various brands have been scaled with either less than average, average or above average position with respect to the strength/ competence identified. For ex. Cadillac has above average position in product quality, average when it comes to product differentiation and less than average on dealer satisfaction, all 3 areas being key to success in a car market. Assignment questions 1.

Identify all the major competitors to your product. (Already done in part A of the assignment) •ICICI bank •HDFC •SBI •Deutsche Bank •Citibank •Goldman Sachs 2. Identify and list all the major strengths/assets/ competencies relevant to your industry. Core competencies: •Customer service •Risk management & Compliance •Strategy & Development •Strong leadership and management •Sales, marketing and Operations •Client base and brand 3. Scale your firm and any two other competitors on these strengths in a Competitive Strength Grid as is shown in the example. HSBCICICI bank

Deutsche Bank •Customer service •Reach to the customer is good •Good relationship management •Premier clients focused cells •Reach to the customer is good •Premier clients focused cells •Reach to the customer is good •Good relationship management •Premier clients focused cells •Risk management & Compliance •Credit Risk •Operational Risk •Market Risk •Credit Risk •Operational Risk •Market Risk •Credit Risk •Operational Risk •Market Risk •Strategy & Development •Reach to global markets •Presence in emerging economies •Specific to one country •Reach to global markets

Strong leadership and management •Business expansions & Leadership support •Culture of developing and retaining leaders •Strong international management and leadership •Business expansions regionally •Strong management presence •Business expansions & Leadership support •Strong international management and leadership •Sales, marketing and Operations •Consumer / Transactional Sales •Advisory / Relationship Management Sales •Consumer / Transactional Sales •Advisory / Relationship Management Sales •Consumer / Transactional Sales •Advisory / Relationship Management Sales

Client base and brand •History and strong brand •Your local banker approach •Internationally renowned brand •Strong regional brand •History and strong brand •Internationally renowned brand 4. Do you have a competitive advantage superior to that of the competitor in any or more area? Do you see major areas for improvement in any competitive area? The areas of competitive advantage are: •Strategy & Development •Reach to global markets •Presence in emerging economies •Strong leadership and management •Culture of developing and retaining leaders

Strong international management and leadership •Client base and brand •History and strong brand •Your local banker approach •Internationally renowned brand Areas for improvement: •Larger presence in retail operations in emerging economies •Leveraging technology to increase efficiency, access to markets and risk management •Innovation by providing weekend banking and banking in non official hours PART C Assignment question 1. Based upon PART A and Part B of the assignment, consolidate the Strengths , Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your organization into a SWOT Grid.