Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life
In early 1991, a spirit of innovation and organizational change was in the air at Mutual Benefit Life, with the success of the new "case manager" program its most concrete manifestation. Using powerful computer workstations, case managers could see insurance applications through from start to finish, and many had been trained to do their own underwriting. The shift from manual bureaucracy to a new era of "Personalized Computing" would however present many new challenges to the company, particularly its human resources function. Objective is to explore the organizational changes necessitated by personal computer technology in the setting of a rapidly changing firm.
Swot Analysis of "Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life" written by Robert G. Eccles, James D. Berkley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mutual Benefit facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Human resource management, Innovation, IT and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mutual Benefit, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mutual Benefit 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mutual Benefit
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 Mutual Benefit
Strengths Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mutual Benefit in Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Mutual Benefit has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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.
High brand equity
– Mutual Benefit has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mutual Benefit to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Mutual Benefit is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mutual Benefit digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mutual Benefit has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mutual Benefit in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mutual Benefit in the sector have low bargaining power. Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mutual Benefit to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Mutual Benefit is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Robert G. Eccles, James D. Berkley can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mutual Benefit 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
– Mutual Benefit has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mutual Benefit 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mutual Benefit 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mutual Benefit
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mutual Benefit does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life HBR case study mentions - Mutual Benefit takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mutual Benefit is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mutual Benefit has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mutual Benefit 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mutual Benefit 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. Mutual Benefit 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.
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 Mutual Benefit supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mutual Benefit vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Mutual Benefit 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mutual Benefit is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Mutual Benefit needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mutual Benefit to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mutual Benefit has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mutual Benefit, firm in the HBR case study Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Mutual Benefit has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Opportunities Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life | 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mutual Benefit 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mutual Benefit to increase its market reach. Mutual Benefit 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.
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 Mutual Benefit 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mutual Benefit can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mutual Benefit operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mutual Benefit is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mutual Benefit 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, Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mutual Benefit can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mutual Benefit 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Mutual Benefit can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mutual Benefit has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mutual Benefit to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life case study. Mutual Benefit can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mutual Benefit can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Mutual Benefit can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mutual Benefit to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Mutual Benefit to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mutual Benefit 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.
Threats Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mutual Benefit can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mutual Benefit 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 prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life .
Regulatory challenges
– Mutual Benefit 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mutual Benefit with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Mutual Benefit needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life, Mutual Benefit may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
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. Mutual Benefit 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.
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
– Mutual Benefit 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. Mutual Benefit can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Mutual Benefit.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mutual Benefit is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mutual Benefit 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 field.
Increasing wage structure of Mutual Benefit
– 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 Mutual Benefit.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Rethinking the Corporate Workplace: Case Managers at Mutual Benefit Life 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 Mutual Benefit needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
