Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB

This is a four-player negotiation simulation in which a newly-privatized British water utility must deal with contentious unions and national collective-bargaining agreements. Explores the question of coalitions and multi-lateral negotiations, and the value of interlocking guarantees. This case contains the confidential information for one of the four roles.

Authors :: Robert J. Robinson

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Labor, Negotiations, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB" written by Robert J. Robinson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Swab Confidential facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Swab Confidential, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Swab Confidential 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Swab Confidential
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 Swab Confidential

---

Strengths Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Swab Confidential in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB Harvard Business Review case study are -

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Swab Confidential in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Strong track record of project management

– Swab Confidential is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Swab Confidential to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Swab Confidential to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Swab Confidential in the sector have low bargaining power. Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Swab Confidential to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Diverse revenue streams

– Swab Confidential is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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.

Organizational Resilience of Swab Confidential

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Swab Confidential does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Swab Confidential 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Swab Confidential is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High brand equity

– Swab Confidential has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Swab Confidential to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Training and development

– Swab Confidential has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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.

Analytics focus

– Swab Confidential 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 Robert J. Robinson 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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.

---

---

Weaknesses Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB HBR case study mentions - Swab Confidential takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Swab Confidential 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB, in the dynamic environment Swab Confidential has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Swab Confidential has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB, it seems that the employees of Swab Confidential 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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 Swab Confidential has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert J. Robinson suggests that, Swab Confidential 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Swab Confidential 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 - Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Swab Confidential is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Swab Confidential needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Swab Confidential to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Need for greater diversity

– Swab Confidential 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Swab Confidential has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Swab Confidential, firm in the HBR case study Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

---

Opportunities Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB | 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB are -

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. Swab Confidential can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Swab Confidential 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 Swab Confidential to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Swab Confidential to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Loyalty marketing

– Swab Confidential has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

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. Swab Confidential 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. Swab Confidential 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Swab Confidential 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

– Swab Confidential 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Swab Confidential to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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. Swab Confidential can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Swab Confidential can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Swab Confidential to increase its market reach. Swab Confidential 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Swab Confidential 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Swab Confidential can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Swab Confidential operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Swab Confidential can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

---

Threats Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB are -

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. Swab Confidential 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.

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. Swab Confidential can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Swab Confidential 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.

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 Swab Confidential business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB, Swab Confidential 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 .

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Swab Confidential 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB .

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

– Swab Confidential 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.

Environmental challenges

– Swab Confidential 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. Swab Confidential can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Swab Confidential 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Swab Confidential 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.

Increasing wage structure of Swab Confidential

– 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 Swab Confidential.

---

Weighted SWOT Analysis of Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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 Welsh Water (D): General Information and Confidential Instructions for Sam Johnson, Lead Negotiator for SWAB 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 Swab Confidential needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

--- ---