Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry
The work of CMG Life Services provides a window into the life settlement industry, showing the difficulties that one young company faces in trying to solve a market failure. This case uses CMG's strategic dilemma to both illuminate the mechanics of a small, inefficient market and show how the success or failure of a market can sometimes depend on more than intrinsic value. The case lays out disagreement about the future of the industry, and even within the industry as key players differ on the most promising path forward. Ultimately, the promise of the life-settlement market for both insurance policy holders and investors may not be realized, and the case lays out the strategic impasse and key factors that will dictate its resolution.
Swot Analysis of "Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry" written by Lauren H. Cohen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cmg Life facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cmg Life, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cmg Life 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cmg Life
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cmg Life
Strengths Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cmg Life in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Cmg Life 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 Lauren H. Cohen 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cmg Life 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry - 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 lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Cmg Life 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 Cmg Life in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cmg Life 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.
Learning organization
- Cmg Life 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 Cmg Life is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cmg Life digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cmg Life 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cmg Life to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cmg Life to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Cmg Life has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cmg Life is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cmg Life in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cmg Life has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cmg Life 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.
Weaknesses Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cmg Life 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cmg Life 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Cmg Life has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Cmg Life supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cmg Life vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cmg Life is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Cmg Life needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cmg Life to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cmg Life 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cmg Life 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. Cmg Life 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry, in the dynamic environment Cmg Life has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cmg Life has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cmg Life is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry, it seems that the employees of Cmg Life don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Cmg Life 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry | 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cmg Life can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cmg Life operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cmg Life 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, Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cmg Life 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cmg Life 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cmg Life is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cmg Life 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.
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. Cmg Life can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cmg Life 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cmg Life has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cmg Life to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry case study. Cmg Life can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cmg Life in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Cmg Life in the consumer business. Now Cmg Life can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Cmg Life can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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.
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 Cmg Life 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.
Threats Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cmg Life in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
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 Cmg Life business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cmg Life is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Cmg Life 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. Cmg Life can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cmg Life with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Cmg Life 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cmg Life 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry .
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 Cmg Life in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Cmg Life 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cmg Life 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry, Cmg Life may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cmg Life 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.
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. Cmg Life needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Seeking Alpha in the Afterlife: CMG Life Services and the Life Settlement Industry 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 Cmg Life needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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