Swot Analysis of "Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C)" written by David F. Hawkins, Namrata Arora includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Catastrophes Bhopal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Catastrophes Bhopal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Catastrophes Bhopal 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 Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Catastrophes Bhopal
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Catastrophes Bhopal
Strengths Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Catastrophes Bhopal in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Catastrophes Bhopal is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Catastrophes Bhopal in the sector have low bargaining power. Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Catastrophes Bhopal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Catastrophes Bhopal 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 Finance & Accounting industry
– Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Catastrophes Bhopal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Catastrophes Bhopal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Catastrophes Bhopal digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Analytics focus
– Catastrophes Bhopal 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 David F. Hawkins, Namrata Arora 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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.
Learning organization
- Catastrophes Bhopal 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 Catastrophes Bhopal is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Catastrophes Bhopal is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Catastrophes Bhopal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) case study 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Catastrophes Bhopal has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Catastrophes Bhopal 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 Catastrophes Bhopal in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C), it seems that the employees of Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Catastrophes Bhopal has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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 Catastrophes Bhopal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Catastrophes Bhopal 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 - Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Catastrophes Bhopal, firm in the HBR case study Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Catastrophes Bhopal products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Catastrophes Bhopal needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Catastrophes Bhopal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Catastrophes Bhopal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David F. Hawkins, Namrata Arora suggests that, Catastrophes Bhopal 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 industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Catastrophes Bhopal is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) | 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 Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Catastrophes Bhopal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Catastrophes Bhopal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) case study. Catastrophes Bhopal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Catastrophes Bhopal can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Catastrophes Bhopal can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Catastrophes Bhopal operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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. Catastrophes Bhopal can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Catastrophes Bhopal can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting segment. 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Catastrophes Bhopal 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Catastrophes Bhopal is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Catastrophes Bhopal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) suggest that firm 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Catastrophes Bhopal can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Catastrophes Bhopal to increase its market reach. Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Threats Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) are -
Environmental challenges
– Catastrophes Bhopal 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. Catastrophes Bhopal can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Catastrophes Bhopal in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Catastrophes Bhopal 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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. Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Catastrophes Bhopal is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Catastrophes Bhopal in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Catastrophes Bhopal can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C), Catastrophes Bhopal may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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. Catastrophes Bhopal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Catastrophes Bhopal can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Catastrophes Bhopal 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Catastrophes Bhopal 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 prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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 Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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 Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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 Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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 Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (C) 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 Catastrophes Bhopal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.