Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion
Generali was one of Italy's largest companies and one of Europe's largest insurers and had for decades been at the center of the web of cross-shareholding that has characterized the opaque brand of old Italian capitalism. This bred sub-par returns while serving to strengthen a small group of shareholders. Under new CEO Mario Greco and his vision of a "revolution of simplicity, discipline and focus" the company underwent a successful turnaround. One of Greco's most urgent tasks was to remove uncertainty surrounding the company's majority stake in a joint venture in Central and Eastern Europe, which it had used as a vehicle for expansion in the region.
Swot Analysis of "Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion" written by Dante Roscini, Emer Moloney includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Generali Greco facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate communications, Emerging markets, Growth strategy, Joint ventures, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Generali Greco, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Generali Greco 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Generali Greco
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Generali Greco
Strengths Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Generali Greco in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Generali Greco has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Generali Greco 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 Dante Roscini, Emer Moloney 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Generali Greco is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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.
High brand equity
– Generali Greco has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Generali Greco to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Generali Greco digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Generali Greco 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Generali Greco in the sector have low bargaining power. Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Generali Greco to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Generali Greco to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Generali Greco to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Generali Greco in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Generali Greco is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Generali Greco has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Generali Greco 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Generali Greco 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dante Roscini, Emer Moloney suggests that, Generali Greco is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Generali Greco, firm in the HBR case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Generali Greco 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Generali Greco 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Generali Greco is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali Greco 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Generali Greco is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion, in the dynamic environment Generali Greco has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Generali Greco has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Generali Greco products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Generali Greco needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Generali Greco has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion | 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Generali Greco has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Generali Greco to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion case study. Generali Greco can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Generali Greco 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Generali Greco to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Generali Greco 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, Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Generali Greco can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Generali Greco 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 Generali Greco to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Generali Greco 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Generali Greco 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Generali Greco can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Generali Greco can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Generali Greco operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Generali Greco can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Generali Greco 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. Generali Greco 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Generali Greco 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Generali Greco 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.
Threats Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Generali Greco in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Generali Greco 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Generali Greco 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Generali Greco can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Generali Greco
– 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 Generali Greco.
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 Generali Greco business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Generali Greco.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Generali Greco demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
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.
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. Generali Greco 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Generali Greco 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Generali Greco has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Generali Greco needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Generali Greco with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion 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 Generali Greco needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
