ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy
In August 2014, La SociA?tA? Energies Nouvelles & Environnement (ENOVE), a subdivision of Groupe Bismuth, was developing an expansion strategy in the unstable political and economic environment of Tunisia, the company's home country. Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, a series of political revolutions that started in 2010 and swept the Mediterranean region for five years. Tunisia was also quickly moving toward a democratically elected government, but the transition was not an easy one; the country experienced a setback of about 10 to 15 years, in regards to economic development. Years of functional corruption under the long-time president, Ben Ali, were followed by sustained economic growth in manufacturing, tourism, and education. This led the economy into a governmental vacuum. For the first time, workers began exercising their rights to demand better conditions. There was little governmental oversight on customs, labour, or taxation. The threat of terrorism, whether real or perceived, was always present. Under these conditions, ENOVE's president had to make a decision: Should ENOVE expand within Tunisia, or move their manufacturing operations to a more stable country, perhaps nearby Morocco? Maciek Nowak is affiliated with Quinlan School of Business-Isom.
Swot Analysis of "ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy" written by Maciek Nowak, Alexander Stoll includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tunisia Enove facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Emerging markets, Government, Manufacturing, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tunisia Enove, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tunisia Enove 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tunisia Enove
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 Tunisia Enove
Strengths ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tunisia Enove in ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tunisia Enove digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tunisia Enove 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tunisia Enove in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Tunisia Enove 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 Tunisia Enove is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tunisia Enove is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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.
High brand equity
– Tunisia Enove has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tunisia Enove to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tunisia Enove is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tunisia Enove 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tunisia Enove in the sector have low bargaining power. ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tunisia Enove to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tunisia Enove 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tunisia Enove 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Tunisia Enove is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Maciek Nowak, Alexander Stoll suggests that, Tunisia Enove 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tunisia Enove 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. Tunisia Enove 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy, is just above the industry average. Tunisia Enove 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tunisia Enove 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tunisia Enove products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tunisia Enove needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tunisia Enove 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tunisia Enove is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy, it seems that the employees of Tunisia Enove 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tunisia Enove is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tunisia Enove 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 - ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy | 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy are -
Loyalty marketing
– Tunisia Enove 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tunisia Enove to increase its market reach. Tunisia Enove 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tunisia Enove 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 Tunisia Enove to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Tunisia Enove 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tunisia Enove 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, Tunisia Enove can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tunisia Enove operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Tunisia Enove 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tunisia Enove 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, ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Tunisia Enove can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tunisia Enove 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tunisia Enove 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tunisia Enove can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Tunisia Enove 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. Tunisia Enove 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.
Threats ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tunisia Enove 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tunisia Enove 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.
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 Tunisia Enove.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tunisia Enove 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tunisia Enove with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Tunisia Enove
– 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 Tunisia Enove.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy, Tunisia Enove 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, Tunisia Enove 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy .
Environmental challenges
– Tunisia Enove 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. Tunisia Enove can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Tunisia Enove 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.
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. Tunisia Enove needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tunisia Enove has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tunisia Enove 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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 ENOVE: Business Strategy in a Transitioning Economy 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 Tunisia Enove needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
