SWOT Analysis of Bank of America Research Paper

SWOT Analysis of Bank of America - Research Paper Example In its mission statement, BoA has identified its responsibilities towards all its stakeholders which include the shareholders, the customers and the clients, its employees, the institutional investors, government, the community and the society in which it operates. BoA’s vision is to become the World’s finest financial service company. At the heart of BoA’s mission statement lays its core values and strategies which highlights how it intends to achieve its mission. BoA believes in doing the right thing for its stakeholders, work in teams while developing trust, focusing on achieving results and respecting each others differences and becoming leaders to build a better future. (Editors) 2. Identify the five (5) forces of competition and how it impacts the company. The first force of Porter’s five forces is threat of new entrants. Banking and financial services industry in general faces severe competition. Being a multinational bank operated worldwide, BoA fa ces tough competition. The potential of absolutely ‘new’ entrants in the banking sector is low as operating a bank is a highly regulated business which requires vast amount of investment. However already established banks worldwide can very easily enter regions and compete with each other which makes competition quite tough for BoA in many regions. (Schmidt. 2010; Henry. 2008) The second force to determine competition in the industry is competition form established rivals. In BoA’s case this seems to be high too as due to globalization in the financial institution the competition has become tougher within already established companies. All the US based and international institutions are trying to win the market share and strengthen their customer base. (Schmidt. 2010; Henry. 2008) The third Porter’s force is competition from substitutes. This seems to be reasonably low for the financial institutions as they offer services like wealth management, investment banking, insurance, loans, advisory etc that have no substitutes. (Schmidt. 2010; Henry. 2008) The power of customer and the power of supplier are the fourth and fifth forces of Porter’s model. The power of supplier seems to be weak in BoA’s case as there are no significant suppliers in the financial services sector. The power of customers is high as in most of the businesses due to increased globalization and competition the customers can now exercise greater influence on the pricing and need of new offers which can accelerate competition. However in an industry like financial services providers where the intervention of government and other regulators is high the companies are restricted to a certain level. (Schmidt. 2010; Henry. 2008) 3. Create a SWOT analysis for the company identifying the major strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. BoA’s presence world wide gives it a wider geographical coverage to avail opportunities. Its geographical spread e nables it to serve various markets, business segments and needs of customers all around the world. BoA deals in various products which is an additional strength that serves millions of customers all around the world through its strong network. Product diversification- offering services like retail banking, investment banking, cards, capital and wealth management along with continuous product development and keeping pace with latest technology and promoting learning and innovation have been major strengths of the company. Additionally it operates a very strong risk management