Swot Analysis of "Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2)" written by Michael A. Wheeler includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Poulenc Rhone facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Public relations, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Poulenc Rhone, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Poulenc Rhone 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Poulenc Rhone
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 Poulenc Rhone
Strengths Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Poulenc Rhone in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Poulenc Rhone in the sector have low bargaining power. Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Poulenc Rhone to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Poulenc Rhone has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Poulenc Rhone 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
– Poulenc Rhone is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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)
– Poulenc Rhone 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Poulenc Rhone 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 Poulenc Rhone in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Poulenc Rhone is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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.
Analytics focus
– Poulenc Rhone 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 Michael A. Wheeler 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.
Learning organization
- Poulenc Rhone 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 Poulenc Rhone is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Poulenc Rhone
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Poulenc Rhone does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Poulenc Rhone is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Poulenc Rhone 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.
Training and development
– Poulenc Rhone has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Poulenc Rhone 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. Poulenc Rhone 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Poulenc Rhone 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2), it seems that the employees of Poulenc Rhone 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) HBR case study mentions - Poulenc Rhone 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Poulenc Rhone 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Poulenc Rhone 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 - Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Poulenc Rhone supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Poulenc Rhone vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Poulenc Rhone, firm in the HBR case study Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Poulenc Rhone is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2), is just above the industry average. Poulenc Rhone 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.
Opportunities Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) | 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Poulenc Rhone 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Poulenc Rhone to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Poulenc Rhone 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, Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Poulenc Rhone can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Poulenc Rhone to increase its market reach. Poulenc Rhone 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Poulenc Rhone 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.
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. Poulenc Rhone 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. Poulenc Rhone 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Poulenc Rhone 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
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. Poulenc Rhone can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Poulenc Rhone has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Poulenc Rhone to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) case study. Poulenc Rhone can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Poulenc Rhone 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
Threats Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) are -
Environmental challenges
– Poulenc Rhone 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. Poulenc Rhone can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Poulenc Rhone 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) .
Increasing wage structure of Poulenc Rhone
– 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 Poulenc Rhone.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
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. Poulenc Rhone can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Poulenc Rhone.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Poulenc Rhone 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Poulenc Rhone 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 Poulenc Rhone in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Poulenc Rhone needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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 Negotiating the Right to Know: Rhone-Poulenc and Manchester, Texas (A2) 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 Poulenc Rhone needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.