Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability
Pibrex is one of the world's largest developers of petrochemical-based polymers for the plastics market. This case illustrates what the management team has done to begin a turnaround of the firm and also highlights the many problems that remain. In particular, the company must reassess its management strategies and take steps to maintain its competitive position.
Swot Analysis of "Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability" written by Rachel Doern, Carl Fey includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pibrex Polymers facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Corporate governance and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pibrex Polymers, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pibrex Polymers 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pibrex Polymers
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 Pibrex Polymers
Strengths Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pibrex Polymers in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pibrex Polymers 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Pibrex Polymers is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Pibrex Polymers is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Pibrex Polymers is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Pibrex Polymers is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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
– Pibrex Polymers has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pibrex Polymers to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pibrex Polymers has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pibrex Polymers 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pibrex Polymers 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pibrex Polymers 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pibrex Polymers to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pibrex Polymers to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Pibrex Polymers has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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.
Weaknesses Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Pibrex Polymers products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pibrex Polymers needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability, is just above the industry average. Pibrex Polymers needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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 Pibrex Polymers 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rachel Doern, Carl Fey suggests that, Pibrex Polymers 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Pibrex Polymers, firm in the HBR case study Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pibrex Polymers 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 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 Pibrex Polymers supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pibrex Polymers vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pibrex Polymers 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pibrex Polymers 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability HBR case study mentions - Pibrex Polymers 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Pibrex Polymers 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.
Opportunities Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability | 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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. Pibrex Polymers can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pibrex Polymers 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Pibrex Polymers can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pibrex Polymers to increase its market reach. Pibrex Polymers 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.
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 Pibrex Polymers in the consumer business. Now Pibrex Polymers can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Pibrex Polymers 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pibrex Polymers 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, Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pibrex Polymers 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 Pibrex Polymers 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pibrex Polymers can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pibrex Polymers operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Pibrex Polymers 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.
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. Pibrex Polymers 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. Pibrex Polymers 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Pibrex Polymers has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pibrex Polymers to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability case study. Pibrex Polymers can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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. Pibrex Polymers needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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. Pibrex Polymers 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
– Pibrex Polymers 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pibrex Polymers 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pibrex Polymers 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Pibrex Polymers 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Pibrex Polymers 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability, Pibrex Polymers 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pibrex Polymers 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pibrex Polymers has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pibrex Polymers 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.
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 Pibrex Polymers.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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 Managing Pibrex Russia (B): Developing Organizational Strategies to Ensure Sustainable Profitability 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 Pibrex Polymers needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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