Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin (HGH) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin
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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin
Strengths of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Training and development
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Weaknesses of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is one of the leading players in the industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is just above the 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact 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.
Skills based hiring in industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 industry.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin to build a more holistic ecosystem for Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
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. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin can improve the customer journey of consumers in the 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.
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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin
– 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to industry are lowering. It can presents Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
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. Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin prominent markets.
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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin 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 Hartford Financial Services Group Fixed To Floatin needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
