Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Jardine Lloyd Thompson is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jardine Lloyd Thompson in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Jardine Lloyd Thompson has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jardine Lloyd Thompson to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Jardine Lloyd Thompson
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Jardine Lloyd Thompson does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson is present in almost all the verticals within the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. This has provided Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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.
Learning organization
- Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Jardine Lloyd Thompson emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson is one of the most innovative firm in Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector.
Strong track record of project management in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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 -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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 Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry.
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.
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.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Jardine Lloyd Thompson, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. 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.
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.
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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jardine Lloyd Thompson to increase its market reach. Jardine Lloyd Thompson will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
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.
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 Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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.
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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jardine Lloyd Thompson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Jardine Lloyd Thompson in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. Now Jardine Lloyd Thompson can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
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 -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Jardine Lloyd Thompson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry are lowering. It can presents Jardine Lloyd Thompson with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Insurance (Miscellaneous) sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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. Jardine Lloyd Thompson can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Insurance (Miscellaneous) industry.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Increasing 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jardine Lloyd Thompson 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.
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.