The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board
This case discusses the efforts by the state of Andhra Pradesh and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board to provide water services to its poorest inhabitants - approximately 1.7 million people. Undermining this challenge is the reality that Hyderabad is located in a comparatively dry region of India, and the Water Board is only able to provide water for an average of two hours per day. To attract investment, the government decides to privatize the Water Board, but the World Bank conditions its support for this privatization on Andhra Pradesh's ability to develop a program that will provide water to the city's slums. HKS Case Number 1828.0
Swot Analysis of "The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board" written by Jennifer Davis, Sunil Tankha includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Water Hyderabad facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures, Operations management, Strategic planning, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Water Hyderabad, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Water Hyderabad 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Water Hyderabad
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Water Hyderabad
Strengths The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Water Hyderabad in The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Water Hyderabad has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Water Hyderabad 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.
Analytics focus
– Water Hyderabad 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 Jennifer Davis, Sunil Tankha 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Water Hyderabad in the sector have low bargaining power. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Water Hyderabad to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Water Hyderabad 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 Water Hyderabad in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Water Hyderabad 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Water Hyderabad 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Water Hyderabad
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Water Hyderabad does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Water Hyderabad has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Water Hyderabad has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Innovation driven organization
– Water Hyderabad is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Water Hyderabad 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Water Hyderabad is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Water Hyderabad supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Water Hyderabad vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Water Hyderabad 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of Water Hyderabad products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Water Hyderabad needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Water Hyderabad 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Water Hyderabad 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. Water Hyderabad 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 Water Hyderabad has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jennifer Davis, Sunil Tankha suggests that, Water Hyderabad 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Water Hyderabad 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Water Hyderabad 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board | 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Water Hyderabad 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 Water Hyderabad to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Water Hyderabad can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Water Hyderabad 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Water Hyderabad 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 Water Hyderabad has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Water Hyderabad to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board case study. Water Hyderabad can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Water Hyderabad is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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, Water Hyderabad 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Water Hyderabad can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Water Hyderabad operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Water Hyderabad can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Water Hyderabad can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Water Hyderabad can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Water Hyderabad can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Water Hyderabad 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Water Hyderabad in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board are -
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. Water Hyderabad needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Water Hyderabad may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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. Water Hyderabad 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Water Hyderabad 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.
Increasing wage structure of Water Hyderabad
– 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 Water Hyderabad.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Water Hyderabad has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Water Hyderabad needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Water Hyderabad in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Water Hyderabad can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Water Hyderabad 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. Water Hyderabad can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 Water Hyderabad business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Water Hyderabad 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Water Hyderabad with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Water Hyderabad in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board 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 Water Hyderabad needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.