SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation (Singapore)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Singapore Reinsurance Corporation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation
2. Improving business portfolio management of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Singapore
4. Making a Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation
Strengths of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry in Singapore. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Singapore. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
High brand equity
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is present in almost all the verticals within the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. This has provided Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Singapore Reinsurance Corporation staying ahead in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 (Prop. & Casualty) industry. The technology infrastructure of Singapore 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.
Ability to lead change in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty)
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry in Singapore. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry in Singapore but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Singapore Reinsurance Corporation in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has some of the most successful models in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has high operating costs in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Singapore Reinsurance Corporation lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is just above the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Singapore Reinsurance Corporation needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on Singapore Reinsurance Corporation ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry, but Singapore Reinsurance Corporation needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to focus more on services in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 (Prop. & Casualty) industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Singapore Reinsurance Corporation Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
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. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 (Prop. & Casualty) industry.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to increase its market reach. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. This can help Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to build a more holistic ecosystem for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation products in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. Now Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can develop new processes and procedures in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) 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.
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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 (Prop. & Casualty) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Singapore Reinsurance Corporation to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Singapore Reinsurance Corporation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation are -
Increasing wage structure of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation
– 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Singapore Reinsurance Corporation is facing in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry are lowering. It can presents Singapore Reinsurance Corporation with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 (Prop. & Casualty) sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 (Prop. & Casualty) industry and other sectors.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation in Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry. The Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) 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.
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. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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.
Environmental challenges
– Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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. Singapore Reinsurance Corporation can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Insurance (Prop. & Casualty) industry.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation 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 Singapore Reinsurance Corporation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.