AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E (AXS_pe) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E
2. Improving business portfolio management of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E
Strengths of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 brand equity
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E in the sector have low bargaining power. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Innovation driven organization
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Ability to lead change in
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has one of the best training and development program in 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Analytics focus
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure of United States 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.
Weaknesses of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E are -
Employees’ less understanding of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the industry, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to increase its market reach. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Loyalty marketing
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
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. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E are -
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. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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. AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E in industry. The 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of sector.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E 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 AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd Pref E needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.