Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program
Describes the design and implemenation of a quality improvement program. Sterling Chemical's management hoped the program would improve teamwork and productivity at the plant.
Swot Analysis of "Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program" written by Karen H. Wruck, A. Scott Keating includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sterling Implemenation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Product development and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sterling Implemenation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sterling Implemenation 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 Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sterling Implemenation
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sterling Implemenation
Strengths Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sterling Implemenation in Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sterling Implemenation in the sector have low bargaining power. Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sterling Implemenation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sterling Implemenation is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Sterling Implemenation 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
– Sterling Implemenation 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 suggested by Karen H. Wruck, A. Scott Keating can also help 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 brand equity
– Sterling Implemenation has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sterling Implemenation to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sterling Implemenation in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sterling Implemenation to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sterling Implemenation to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sterling Implemenation
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sterling Implemenation does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sterling Implemenation has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Sterling Implemenation is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Sterling Implemenation in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sterling Implemenation 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.
Weaknesses Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sterling Implemenation is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Sterling Implemenation needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sterling Implemenation to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program, it seems that the employees of Sterling Implemenation 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program, in the dynamic environment Sterling Implemenation has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sterling Implemenation has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sterling Implemenation has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sterling Implemenation has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sterling Implemenation products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sterling Implemenation needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sterling Implemenation has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sterling Implemenation 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. Sterling Implemenation 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.
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 Sterling Implemenation supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sterling Implemenation vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sterling Implemenation 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Sterling Implemenation has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sterling Implemenation is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sterling Implemenation to increase its market reach. Sterling Implemenation will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sterling Implemenation 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sterling Implemenation has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sterling Implemenation to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sterling Implemenation 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Sterling Implemenation in the consumer business. Now Sterling Implemenation can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sterling Implemenation 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 Sterling Implemenation 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 Sterling Implemenation to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sterling Implemenation in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, 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. Sterling Implemenation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sterling Implemenation can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sterling Implemenation can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sterling Implemenation operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sterling Implemenation 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 Organizational Development segment.
Threats Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program are -
Environmental challenges
– Sterling Implemenation 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. Sterling Implemenation can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program, Sterling Implemenation may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
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. Sterling Implemenation needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sterling Implemenation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sterling Implemenation needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sterling Implemenation 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 the industry and other sectors.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sterling Implemenation is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Sterling Implemenation.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sterling Implemenation in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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 Sterling Implemenation business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sterling Implemenation 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Sterling Implemenation 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Sterling Implemenation
– 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 Sterling Implemenation.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program 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 the case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program 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 the Harvard case study Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program 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 Sterling Chemicals, Inc.: Quality and Productivity Improvement Program is 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 Sterling Implemenation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
