Case Study Description of Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A)
The Paul Revere Insurance Co. lost its number one position in disability insurance, its main product, and formulated a strategy to regain the lead through a comprehensive quality improvement effort. The case describes the forces influencing the strategic direction of this effort, its structure, and its process over a two-and-a-half-year period. Many issues are raised regarding the design of quality improvement efforts, their implementation, and the continual efforts that must be devoted to them if they are to be an ongoing process. Situation-specific factors relating to this case are explored to determine to what extent this company's method can be duplicated by other service firms. May be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement analysis described in Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program.
Swot Analysis of "Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A)" written by Christopher W.L. Hart, Lucy N. Lytle includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Improvement Revere facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Performance measurement, Policy, Product development, Productivity, Strategy execution and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Improvement Revere, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Improvement Revere 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Improvement Revere
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Improvement Revere
Strengths Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Improvement Revere in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Improvement Revere is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Improvement Revere to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Improvement Revere to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Improvement Revere is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Improvement Revere is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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
– Improvement Revere has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Improvement Revere to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Improvement Revere 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 Improvement Revere is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Improvement Revere in the sector have low bargaining power. Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Improvement Revere to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Improvement Revere 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Improvement Revere 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Improvement Revere has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Improvement Revere 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Improvement Revere in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Improvement Revere is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Improvement Revere in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A), in the dynamic environment Improvement Revere has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Improvement Revere has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Improvement Revere is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) HBR case study mentions - Improvement Revere 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Improvement Revere 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Improvement Revere has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Christopher W.L. Hart, Lucy N. Lytle suggests that, Improvement Revere 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.
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 Improvement Revere supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Improvement Revere vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Improvement Revere products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Improvement Revere needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Improvement Revere 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Improvement Revere, firm in the HBR case study Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) | 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Improvement Revere 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, Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Improvement Revere 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Improvement Revere to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Improvement Revere can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Improvement Revere 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 Improvement Revere to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Improvement Revere 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 Technology & Operations segment.
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 Improvement Revere in the consumer business. Now Improvement Revere can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Improvement Revere in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Improvement Revere 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. Improvement Revere can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Improvement Revere 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Improvement Revere 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. Improvement Revere 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Improvement Revere can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Improvement Revere can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Improvement Revere operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Threats Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Improvement Revere in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Improvement Revere 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.
Increasing wage structure of Improvement Revere
– 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 Improvement Revere.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Improvement Revere is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Improvement Revere has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Improvement Revere needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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 Improvement Revere.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Improvement Revere in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Improvement Revere 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Improvement Revere with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Improvement Revere 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Improvement Revere 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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 Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A) 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 Improvement Revere needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
