Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance
This two-part case study describes the initial merger and cultural transformation of Aviva's Norwich Union (NUI) operation in the UK. It examines the complexities of integration that arose following a series of mergers that created NUI from 1998 to 2000. Case A describes how, after CGU Plc and Norwich Union joined forces to become NUI, top management's priority was to restore profits. Behind the scenes, however, the need for a whole new corporate culture was becoming increasingly imperative. It shows the tension between the need for immediate gains in efficiencies vs. longer-term approaches to the business that required careful nurturing and attention. It ends as the executive team's announcement of the new corporate philosophy - "to be a service provider with insurance at our core and care at our heart" - is greeted with complete disbelief by employees. Case B describes the actions taken to overcome their skepticism and successfully implement the new philosophy - actions that required significant change to the organisational culture.
Swot Analysis of "Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance" written by D. Charles Galunic, Anne-Marie Carrick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Norwich Nui facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Growth strategy, International business, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions, Organizational culture, Strategy execution and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Norwich Nui, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Norwich Nui 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Norwich Nui
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Norwich Nui
Strengths Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Norwich Nui in Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Norwich Nui 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 D. Charles Galunic, Anne-Marie Carrick 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Norwich Nui to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Norwich Nui to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Norwich Nui digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Norwich Nui 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Norwich Nui is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Norwich Nui is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Norwich Nui 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Norwich Nui has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Norwich Nui 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Norwich Nui 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Norwich Nui has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Norwich Nui to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Norwich Nui in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Norwich Nui
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Norwich Nui does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Norwich Nui 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 Norwich Nui is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, D. Charles Galunic, Anne-Marie Carrick suggests that, Norwich Nui 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Norwich Nui 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Norwich Nui products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Norwich Nui needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance, in the dynamic environment Norwich Nui has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Norwich Nui has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance, it seems that the employees of Norwich Nui 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Norwich Nui 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, Norwich Nui is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Norwich Nui supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Norwich Nui vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance, is just above the industry average. Norwich Nui needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Norwich Nui, firm in the HBR case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance | 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Norwich Nui 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. Norwich Nui 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Norwich Nui is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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.
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. Norwich Nui 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, Norwich Nui 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
– Norwich Nui 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 Norwich Nui 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Norwich Nui 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Norwich Nui can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Norwich Nui 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, Norwich Nui can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Norwich Nui operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Norwich Nui 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Norwich Nui can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Norwich Nui can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Threats Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance are -
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Norwich Nui 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Norwich Nui 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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. Norwich Nui needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Norwich Nui high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Norwich Nui 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.
Environmental challenges
– Norwich Nui 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. Norwich Nui can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Norwich Nui
– 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 Norwich Nui.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Norwich Nui 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.
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 Norwich Nui in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Norwich Nui.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Norwich Nui is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Norwich Nui business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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 Leadership, Culture Change and Transformation at AVIVA (A): Norwich Union Insurance 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 Norwich Nui needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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