Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal
Describes the total transformation of a wholly owned subsidiary of Aegon, one of the largest insurance companies in the Netherlands, which deals in the sale of financial instruments, such as annuities, savings, and investment products. The new managing director forms a management team, and together they segment the market, introduce a variety of distribution methods, and increase sales by dramatic amounts while keeping the number of staff constant. Looks at team building, market segmentation by focusing on customer values, distribution strategy, and management philosophy. An ECCH award winner.
Swot Analysis of "Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal" written by J. B.M. Kassarjian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Spaarbeleg Unreal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leading teams, Marketing and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing,
increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Spaarbeleg Unreal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Spaarbeleg Unreal 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 Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Spaarbeleg Unreal
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Spaarbeleg Unreal
Strengths Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Spaarbeleg Unreal in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Spaarbeleg Unreal in the sector have low bargaining power. Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Spaarbeleg Unreal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Spaarbeleg Unreal has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal - staying ahead in the 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
– Spaarbeleg Unreal is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Spaarbeleg Unreal has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Spaarbeleg Unreal to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Spaarbeleg Unreal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Spaarbeleg Unreal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Spaarbeleg Unreal has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Spaarbeleg Unreal has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Learning organization
- Spaarbeleg Unreal 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 Spaarbeleg Unreal is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Spaarbeleg Unreal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal case study 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.
Training and development
– Spaarbeleg Unreal has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Spaarbeleg Unreal is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Spaarbeleg Unreal has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Spaarbeleg Unreal has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
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 Spaarbeleg Unreal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Spaarbeleg Unreal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Spaarbeleg Unreal is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Spaarbeleg Unreal needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Spaarbeleg Unreal to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal, is just above the industry average. Spaarbeleg Unreal 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Spaarbeleg Unreal 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Spaarbeleg Unreal 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 industry using digital technology.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Spaarbeleg Unreal is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. 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.
Opportunities Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal are -
Loyalty marketing
– Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Spaarbeleg Unreal can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
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 Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Spaarbeleg Unreal can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Spaarbeleg Unreal in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Spaarbeleg Unreal 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, as suggested in case study, Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Spaarbeleg Unreal in the consumer business. Now Spaarbeleg Unreal can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Spaarbeleg Unreal can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Spaarbeleg Unreal to increase its market reach. Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Spaarbeleg Unreal can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Spaarbeleg Unreal operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Spaarbeleg Unreal has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Spaarbeleg Unreal to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal are -
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. Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Increasing wage structure of Spaarbeleg Unreal
– 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 Spaarbeleg Unreal.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Spaarbeleg Unreal in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Spaarbeleg Unreal 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. Spaarbeleg Unreal can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Spaarbeleg Unreal business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Spaarbeleg Unreal 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Spaarbeleg Unreal is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Spaarbeleg Unreal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Spaarbeleg Unreal with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Spaarbeleg Unreal has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Spaarbeleg Unreal needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Spaarbeleg Unreal.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal 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 the case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal 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 the Harvard case study Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal 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 Shaping Spaarbeleg: Real and Unreal is 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 Spaarbeleg Unreal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.