SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Muench. Rueckvers. (Germany)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Muench. Rueckvers. is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Muench. Rueckvers.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Muench. Rueckvers. can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Muench. Rueckvers., and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Muench. Rueckvers.
2. Improving business portfolio management of Muench. Rueckvers.
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Germany
4. Making a Insurance (Life) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Muench. Rueckvers.
Strengths of Muench. Rueckvers. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Muench. Rueckvers. are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Learning organization
- Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Muench. Rueckvers. emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Muench. Rueckvers. has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Insurance (Life) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Muench. Rueckvers. have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Insurance (Life) industry
– Muench. Rueckvers. has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Muench. Rueckvers. to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Insurance (Life) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Muench. Rueckvers. to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Muench. Rueckvers. in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Muench. Rueckvers. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Muench. Rueckvers. to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Muench. Rueckvers. is one of the most innovative firm in Insurance (Life) sector.
Analytics focus
– Muench. Rueckvers. 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 (Life) industry. The technology infrastructure of Germany 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Muench. Rueckvers. has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Muench. Rueckvers. staying ahead in the Insurance (Life) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Insurance (Life) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Muench. Rueckvers. digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Muench. Rueckvers. in Insurance (Life) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Weaknesses of Muench. Rueckvers. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Muench. Rueckvers. are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Muench. Rueckvers. is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Insurance (Life) industry, but Muench. Rueckvers. needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Muench. Rueckvers. to focus more on services in the Insurance (Life) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Muench. Rueckvers. has some of the most successful models in the Insurance (Life) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Muench. Rueckvers. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Muench. Rueckvers. has high operating costs in the Insurance (Life) industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Muench. Rueckvers. lucrative customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Muench. Rueckvers. strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Muench. Rueckvers. needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Insurance (Life) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Muench. Rueckvers. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Muench. Rueckvers. is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Muench. Rueckvers. products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Muench. Rueckvers. needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Skills based hiring in Insurance (Life) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Muench. Rueckvers. supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Muench. Rueckvers. is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Muench. Rueckvers. vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Insurance (Life) industry, Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Muench. Rueckvers., it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Insurance (Life) 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.
Muench. Rueckvers. Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Muench. Rueckvers. are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Muench. Rueckvers. has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Insurance (Life) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Muench. Rueckvers. to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Muench. Rueckvers. to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Muench. Rueckvers. to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Insurance (Life) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Muench. Rueckvers. can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Muench. Rueckvers. 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 (Life) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Muench. Rueckvers. can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Muench. Rueckvers. can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Insurance (Life) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Muench. Rueckvers. in the Insurance (Life) industry. Now Muench. Rueckvers. can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Muench. Rueckvers. 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 (Life) industry.
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 Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Threats Muench. Rueckvers. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Muench. Rueckvers. are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Muench. Rueckvers. in Insurance (Life) industry. The Insurance (Life) 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.
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 Muench. Rueckvers. business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Muench. Rueckvers. 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. Muench. Rueckvers. can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Insurance (Life) industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. prominent markets.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Insurance (Life) industry are lowering. It can presents Muench. Rueckvers. with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Insurance (Life) sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Muench. Rueckvers. 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 (Life) industry and other sectors.
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 Muench. Rueckvers. in the Insurance (Life) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Muench. Rueckvers. 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Muench. Rueckvers. has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Insurance (Life) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Muench. Rueckvers. needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Insurance (Life) 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.
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. Muench. Rueckvers. needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Insurance (Life) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Insurance (Life) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Muench. Rueckvers. can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Muench. Rueckvers. 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 (Life) sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Muench. Rueckvers. Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. 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 Muench. Rueckvers. needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.