SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for ipet Insurance (Japan)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , ipet Insurance is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that ipet Insurance can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the ipet Insurance, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which ipet Insurance 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 ipet Insurance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of ipet Insurance
2. Improving business portfolio management of ipet Insurance
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of ipet Insurance
Strengths of ipet Insurance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of ipet Insurance are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of ipet Insurance comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) 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.
Organizational Resilience of ipet Insurance
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing ipet Insurance does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– ipet Insurance has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – ipet Insurance staying ahead in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For ipet Insurance digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. ipet Insurance 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.
Analytics focus
– ipet Insurance 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. The technology infrastructure of Japan is also helping 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
– ipet Insurance has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled ipet Insurance to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped ipet Insurance to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Insurance (Miscellaneous)
– ipet Insurance is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in Japan. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in Japan but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled ipet Insurance in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of ipet Insurance in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– ipet Insurance has one of the best training and development program in Financial industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – 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 ipet Insurance 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– ipet Insurance has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of ipet Insurance have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– ipet Insurance is present in almost all the verticals within the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. This has provided ipet Insurance 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.
Weaknesses of ipet Insurance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ipet Insurance are -
Lack of clear differentiation of ipet Insurance products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, ipet Insurance needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, ipet Insurance 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry using digital technology.
Employees’ less understanding of ipet Insurance strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of ipet Insurance 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, ipet Insurance has high operating costs in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract ipet Insurance lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
ipet Insurance has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
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 ipet Insurance supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, ipet Insurance is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left ipet Insurance vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of ipet Insurance is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, but ipet Insurance needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help ipet Insurance to focus more on services in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, ipet Insurance needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As ipet Insurance is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, ipet Insurance has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry over the last five years. ipet Insurance 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that ipet Insurance needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at ipet Insurance can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as ipet Insurance is planning to shift buying processes online.
ipet Insurance Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of ipet Insurance are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at ipet Insurance 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, ipet Insurance 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 ipet Insurance 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
– ipet Insurance can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– ipet Insurance can develop new processes and procedures in Insurance (Miscellaneous) 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. ipet Insurance can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– ipet Insurance 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– ipet Insurance has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled ipet Insurance to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help ipet Insurance to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for ipet Insurance 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.
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 ipet Insurance 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.
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. ipet Insurance can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– ipet Insurance can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector. 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, ipet Insurance is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ipet Insurance can utilize new technology in the field of Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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, ipet Insurance can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that ipet Insurance operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector.
Threats ipet Insurance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of ipet Insurance are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on ipet Insurance 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry and other sectors.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for ipet Insurance in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. The Insurance (Miscellaneous) 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.
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. ipet Insurance needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that ipet Insurance is facing in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. ipet Insurance 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.
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 ipet Insurance.
Environmental challenges
– ipet Insurance 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. ipet Insurance can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– ipet Insurance has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, ipet Insurance needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– ipet Insurance 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry.
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 ipet Insurance business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, ipet Insurance may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ipet Insurance Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at ipet 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 ipet 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 ipet 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 ipet Insurance 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 ipet Insurance needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.