SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische (Germany)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, 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, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische
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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische
Strengths of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Training and development
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische in the Financial sector have low bargaining power. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Insurance (Life) industry
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Insurance (Life) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Insurance (Life) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Insurance (Life) industry
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Life) industry in Germany. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Germany. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is present in almost all the verticals within the Insurance (Life) industry. This has provided Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is one of the most innovative firm in Insurance (Life) sector.
Weaknesses of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring in Insurance (Life) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Insurance (Life) industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is just above the Insurance (Life) 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Insurance (Life) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Germany, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the Insurance (Life) industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Insurance (Life) industry, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is one of the leading players in the Insurance (Life) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Insurance (Life) industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Insurance (Life) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ less understanding of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische lucrative customers.
Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Insurance (Life) industry. This can help Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to build a more holistic ecosystem for Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische products in the Insurance (Life) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
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. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
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. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische in the Insurance (Life) industry. Now Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can utilize new technology in the field of Insurance (Life) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Insurance (Life) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Insurance (Life) 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.
Threats Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische are -
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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische in the Insurance (Life) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 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.
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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Insurance (Life) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Insurance (Life) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Insurance (Life) industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Insurance (Life) industry are lowering. It can presents Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Insurance (Life) sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische is facing in Insurance (Life) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische 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 Wuestenrot Wuerttembergische needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
