Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jardine Lloyd Thompson is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jardine Lloyd Thompson
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Jardine Lloyd Thompson can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jardine Lloyd Thompson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Jardine Lloyd Thompson
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jardine Lloyd Thompson
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jardine Lloyd Thompson
Strengths of Jardine Lloyd Thompson | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jardine Lloyd Thompson are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in United Kingdom. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United Kingdom. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Analytics focus
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 United Kingdom 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Digital Transformation in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jardine Lloyd Thompson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Training and development
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jardine Lloyd Thompson in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jardine Lloyd Thompson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jardine Lloyd Thompson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson is one of the most innovative firm in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector.
Ability to lead change in Insurance (Miscellaneous)
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Jardine Lloyd Thompson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Jardine Lloyd Thompson | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jardine Lloyd Thompson are -
Need for greater diversity
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jardine Lloyd Thompson is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Jardine Lloyd Thompson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jardine Lloyd Thompson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Jardine Lloyd Thompson is just above the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry average. It 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.
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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Jardine Lloyd Thompson is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jardine Lloyd Thompson vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jardine Lloyd Thompson has some of the most successful models in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Jardine Lloyd Thompson should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson lucrative customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Jardine Lloyd Thompson strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Jardine Lloyd Thompson are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Jardine Lloyd Thompson in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jardine Lloyd Thompson has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. This can help Jardine Lloyd Thompson to build a more holistic ecosystem for Jardine Lloyd Thompson products in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jardine Lloyd Thompson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jardine Lloyd Thompson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jardine Lloyd Thompson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Jardine Lloyd Thompson External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Jardine Lloyd Thompson are -
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.
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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson.
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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Jardine Lloyd Thompson
– 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jardine Lloyd Thompson is facing in Insurance (Miscellaneous) 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.
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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
