Internal Factors Essay Example

Strengths

• Strong brand reputation in its current client base

• Strong revenue and profitability

• Proprietary risk management analysis

• Excellent risk management record

• Founders’ comfort level with IT

• Substantial founder influence on existing operations and culture

• Strong wealthy customer base

• Decentralized high degree of autonomy of revenue generation division heads

Weakness

• Poor brand recognition outside current client base

• Lack of presence in overseas markets

• Private company-may lack sufficiently ‘deep pockets” for major capital investments

• Weak enterprise IT standards

• Perception by managers that IT is a “cost of doing business”

• CIO not a part of executive management

• IT investment decisions made locally without CIO discussion

• Client perception that CIO is slow to adopt new technology

• IT employee morale

• Lack of developing and supporting global IT products

External factors

Opportunities

• License risk management algorithms to other firms

• Create and market an artificial intelligence tool for asset portfolio management

• Provide customized analyzed online risk management analysis services for existing publications and news letters

• Enhance global presence via a partnership with an existing firm for risk management products

• Alliance with prestigious insurance companies

• Targeted discounts to customers

• Alliance with major financial services firms

• Expand into EU and major pacific

SO Strategies

• Create an alliance with Big rock services to enable global expansion

• Invest in research and development

• Leverage brand for growth and expansion in emerging market

• Provide customers with real time trading

• Invest in entrepreneurial skills of management

WO Strategies

• Innovative products with higher margins to drive profitability

• Institute CIO and management meetings

• Establish a career development for IT professionals

• Expand to new markets for increase in profitability

• Acquisition of new technology for innovation

• Other firms may copy FRM offerings

• Turbulent financial markets

• Concern about impact of terrorism on equity investments

• Unfamiliarity with potential overseas market cultures and investment management needs

• Competition from Tax exempt buyers

• Increased concern on risk adjusted investment performance

• Growing of advanced technologies

ST Strategies

• Focus on innovation for higher margins

• Offer analyzed risk free products

• Facilitate communication through creation of web based current technology

• Leverage brand to differentiate with others

• Establishment of technology groups

WT Strategies

• Diversification into new emerging markets

• Invest in IT branding and customer loyalty products

• Differentiation to avoid loyalty programs

• Concentrate on data mining and analytic skills