Discussion
Highlights of the Capstone Project
The capstone project was based on the topic of strategic issue management in US insurance companies. In Module 1 the project discussed the impact of internal and external factors in maintaining the profitability of insurance companies. It discussed the primary dynamics in the Organization’s external environment imposing both the opportunities and threats for the business. It also discussed how these factors are changing in the cu
ent scenario, and how can we leverage these strategic insights.
Module 2 highlighted the strategic context and its analysis for the project. In this module we na
owed down to fewer aspects influencing the insurance agency. The aim of this component was to understand the factors and suggest appropriate tools to improve the profits.
Module 3 discussed internal organization analysis and problem solving in existing Insurance Organization. This part discussed the strengths and weakness which affect the insurance industry. It also applied root cause analysis to detect the causes why the companies face low profitability. The analysis involved Behavior Analysis and Kotter’s 8 step change model to address the management of change.
Module 4 discussed all the internal and external factors affecting the profitability of the insurance company. It identified the cu
ent problems faced by the companies and suggested alternate solutions to the problem.
In Module 5, the discussion na
owed down to a single problem of ‘employee retention in US insurance companies’. The project also elaborated the Hertzberg Motivator Hygiene Theory to diagnose the hygiene and motivating factors influencing the profits.
In Module 6, I explored the talent retention strategies and existing issues in one of the world’s largest insurance company ‘Manulife’. This component also discussed the recommendations of chosen actions and defined the metrics for success of the strategy.
Module 7 elaborated the 7S Model, stakeholder Analysis and ethical issues. It discussed all the likely helping forces supporting the change and likely hindering forces against the change implementation.
Module 8 elaborated the final project report, recombining the different components of project into a single one. This part expressed the overall project focus, strategic analysis, issue analysis, action recommendations and implementation analysis.
The project performed all the types of analysis and research such as Force field Analysis, 7S Model, scenario mapping, SWOT Analysis, Porter’s Analysis, Stakeholder’s Assessment, Risk Assessment and also explained the Life cycle of the insurance products.
Key Learning
The Project helped me to identify and study the different factors influencing the insurance business in the market and refining them to na
ow down the focus of the study towards the case study of a single insurance organization.
· I learned to perform different types of analysis for finding out the answers to my research question. I learned the role of leadership in understanding the different issues of the employees and assess the likely impact of change in the company.
· The research focused on the single issue of employee retention and gave me an opportunity to learn the reasons why the employees get dissatisfied and quit the job. It provided my opportunity to propose ways to sustain the long term retention of employees in the company.
· I learned the potential changes in the strategic context of the insurance sector in the next 5 years and helped me plan the career development to help me prepare to address the future market threats and the opportunities.
· I produced the recommendations and evaluated the conditions why these set of recommendations could not be imposed earlier in the company.
· The insights gained through this research helped me get significant exposure, and knowledge to choose right or wrong. It will help me take informed decisions for my career and will help in securing good position at my work in future.
The project has been related to my own profession as I am also working in the Insurance Sector. Working for the project provided me significant insight into all the dimensions of the insurance agency finally focusing on the ongoing cu
ent issues in Manulife insurance. It provided me opportunity to implement my theoretical knowledge in identifying the practical scenario of the Manulife.
What was the most difficult?
The most difficult part in this research was that I could not collect real time interviews and surveys of the focus groups. I could not conduct any sponsor meetings with the stakeholders and leaders to collect their real time views. Due to shortage of time it could not be possible and privileges. I had no adequate time after my full time job to perform the survey and meet the employees outside my own company. I could not get adequate support from the management of insurance companies out of my own one to let me record the interviews of their employees. So I quitted this initiative and based by research on the literature review and the recent news published in the magazines.
What surprised you?
Immense depth of the research and the role of so many different factors collectively responsible for the success of the business surprised me. It was a great experience to explore that my research could have so many different dimensions and angles to be considered. Throughout the eight modules of the research I unraveled deep knowledge and information influencing the profitability of the insurance industry. It made me happier that I could co
elate my chosen issue of employee retention to that of cu
ent ongoing incidents in Manulife Insurance. It provided me valuable opportunity to associate my theoretical findings at the practical arena. The overall journey of the capstone project has been extremely valuable and useful for upgrading my knowledge, and has equipped me considerably to deal with the conditions in future. I thank my professor for guiding me to avail the opportunity to elaborate this research and find myself extremely lucky to have chosen this topic which is related to my own job area. I am immensely thankful to everyone who took part in the analysis and helped me in completing my research.
Hi expert, In the last module we wrote a discussion question, that is attached with this. The professor asked a return question on it. Requesting to answer it.
The professor question is: "What are your thoughts about the overall merits of the 7S model? On the face of it, you see an a
ay of connected circles. But, the precise relationship between each is not completely clear. Also, is it a given that all circles must be connected?"