Digitization of operational practices in the insurance industry

Industrija osiguranja, kao dio ukupne financijske industrije ima nemjerljivu važnost za svakog pojedinca, kompaniju i društvo u cjelini. U proteklih nekoliko godina industrija osiguranja kao djelatnost doživjela je nevjerojatnu transformaciju iz tradicionalnih kanala i obrazaca i jednog krutog oblika poslovanja u moderan, okretan i digitalizirani financijski svijet prepun inovacija. Navedene promjene impliciraju redefiniranje nove strategije na svim razinama poduzeća, a posebice redefiniranje operativnih procesa i praksi koje više ne mogu biti niti približno iste kao nekada. Pružanje usluge zaštite, usluge štednje i investiranja, prodajni i distribucijski kanali, kao i odnosi s regulatorom imaju potpuno nove procese i prakse. Upravo je cilj ovog rada istražiti te promjene, istražiti kako je i zašto došlo do tih promjena i koja je funkcija operacijskog menadžmenta u takvom okruženju. Trendovi u razvijenim zemljama sugeriraju i pokazuju kako je temelj osiguravajuće industrije danas tehnologija, koja vodi do značajne razine digitalizacije i automatizacije svih procesa. Navedeni trendovi poprimili su značajno svoje oblike u razvijenim zemljama, ali isto tako i u Republici Hrvatskoj. Digitalizacija je već sveprisutna i nužna, a oni koji je ne prihvate, teško će zadržati tržišne udjele. Na kraju, cilj je empirijskim istraživanjem i anketnim upitnikom među svim osiguravajućim društvima u Republici Hrvatskoj istražiti stupanj digitalizacije poslovanja i posljedično promjenu operativnih praksi i procesa.The insurance industry, as a part of the overall finance industry has immeasurable importance for every individual person, company, as well as society. In the past few years the insurance industry has experienced an immense and incredible transformation from traditional channels and rigid patterns of business to a modern, lean and digitized financial world full of innovations. The aformentioned changes imply the redefinition of new strategy at all levels of business and especially the redefition of operational processes and practices which can no longer be nearly at the same level as they used to be. The provisions of services, claims, savings and investments activities, sales and distribution channels, as well as relations with the regulators have completely new processes and procedures. The aim of this paper is to investigate and research these changes, to research how and why these changes occured, and what is the function of operational management in such new environment. Trends in developed countries suggest and show that the core of the insurance industry today is technology, which leads to a significant level of digitization and automation of all processes. The aforementioned trends took on significant forms and patterns in developed countries, but also in the Republic of Croatia. Digitization is already ubiquitous and necessary and those who do not accept it will find it difficult to maintain market shares. In the end, the goal is to research the degree of digization of operations and the consequent change in operational practices and processes among all insurance companies in the Republic of Croatia through empirical research and a survey questionnaire