Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions
To date, the United States has declined to ratify the Kyoto Treaty to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, many companies are taking advantage of the lack of a mandatory U.S. GHG emission reduction program to set targets at their own pace and in ways that complement their own strategic objectives. Currently, as many as 60 corporations, with net revenues of roughly $1.5 trillion, have set voluntary reduction targets. Many of these companies are agnostic about the science of climate change or the social responsibility of protecting the global climate. The reasons are decidedly strategic. So why are they doing this? They are searching for ways to be prepared for the long term should GHG emission reductions become mandatory, while at the same time attempting to reap near-term economic and strategic benefits should new regulations not emerge.
Swot Analysis of "Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions" written by Andrew J. Hoffman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ghg Climate facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Regulation, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ghg Climate, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ghg Climate 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ghg Climate
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 Ghg Climate
Strengths Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ghg Climate in Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ghg Climate to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ghg Climate to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Ghg Climate has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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 Ghg Climate
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ghg Climate does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ghg Climate 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Ghg Climate is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Ghg Climate 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 Andrew J. Hoffman 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ghg Climate in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ghg Climate is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ghg Climate digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ghg Climate 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ghg Climate in the sector have low bargaining power. Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ghg Climate to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ghg Climate has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ghg Climate 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ghg Climate 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ghg Climate 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ghg Climate 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 - Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ghg Climate is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ghg Climate needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ghg Climate to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions, 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
Ghg Climate 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions, in the dynamic environment Ghg Climate has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ghg Climate has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Ghg Climate has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ghg Climate 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 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 Ghg Climate supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ghg Climate vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ghg Climate 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andrew J. Hoffman suggests that, Ghg Climate 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.
Opportunities Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions | 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ghg Climate has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ghg Climate to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions case study. Ghg Climate can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Ghg Climate 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. Ghg Climate 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ghg Climate is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ghg Climate 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 Ghg Climate to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ghg Climate 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ghg Climate to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ghg Climate 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ghg Climate 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ghg Climate can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ghg Climate 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, Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ghg Climate can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ghg Climate operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ghg Climate 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ghg Climate 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ghg Climate 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.
Threats Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions are -
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 Ghg Climate in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Ghg Climate 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. Ghg Climate can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Ghg Climate 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.
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.
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 Ghg Climate.
Increasing wage structure of Ghg Climate
– 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 Ghg Climate.
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
– Ghg Climate has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ghg Climate 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ghg Climate is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ghg Climate 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ghg Climate 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 Ghg Climate with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions, Ghg Climate 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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 Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions 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 Ghg Climate needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Climate Change Strategy: The Business Logic Behind Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Reductions