Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future?
The global sentiment towards energy has focused on reducing fossil fuel dependence. This move to alternative energy represents an opportunity for the world's largest energy technology companies, such as Siemens, to lead the future with a disruptive innovation. There are many new and developing technologies vying to unseat fossil fuels. Wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower and nuclear are the most mature technologies. Siemens Energy has a hand in each of these technologies with its greatest focus in wind and solar, although the time has come to choose which alternative it will focus on to disrupt the industry. This decision comes down to anticipating the most successful technology for the future. Should Siemens wait to acquire a smaller company with an innovative product in order to limit its risk? Or, should Siemens partner with competitors despite bad history?
Swot Analysis of "Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future?" written by Frank T. Rothaermel, Matt Hoepfer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Siemens Energy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Siemens Energy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Siemens Energy 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Siemens Energy
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 Siemens Energy
Strengths Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Siemens Energy in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Siemens Energy is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Siemens Energy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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.
Organizational Resilience of Siemens Energy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Siemens Energy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Siemens Energy in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Siemens Energy digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Siemens Energy 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Siemens Energy is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy in the sector have low bargaining power. Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Siemens Energy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Siemens Energy 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 Siemens Energy is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Siemens Energy has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Siemens Energy to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Siemens Energy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Siemens Energy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Siemens Energy are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Weaknesses Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? HBR case study mentions - Siemens Energy 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
– Siemens Energy 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Siemens Energy products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Siemens Energy needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Siemens Energy 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future?, it seems that the employees of Siemens Energy 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Frank T. Rothaermel, Matt Hoepfer suggests that, Siemens Energy 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Siemens Energy 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Siemens Energy 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Siemens Energy is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? | 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Siemens Energy 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Siemens Energy 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Siemens Energy 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, Siemens Energy 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, Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Siemens Energy 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Siemens Energy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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.
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 Siemens Energy 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Siemens Energy 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Siemens Energy can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Siemens Energy operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution 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. Siemens Energy can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Siemens Energy in the consumer business. Now Siemens Energy can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Siemens Energy 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Siemens Energy can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? are -
Increasing wage structure of Siemens Energy
– 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 Siemens Energy.
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 Siemens Energy in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Siemens Energy business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Siemens Energy 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.
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. Siemens Energy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Siemens Energy 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.
Environmental challenges
– Siemens Energy 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. Siemens Energy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Siemens Energy has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Siemens Energy 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.
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. Siemens Energy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Siemens Energy 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? .
Regulatory challenges
– Siemens Energy 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy (in 2010): How to Engineer a Green Future? 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 Siemens Energy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.