Case Study Description of Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A)
In April 1995, Greenpeace boarded a Shell oil platform named Brent Spar in the North Sea to protest its scheduled disposal in the Atlantic. This action took the operator Shell Expro (a joint venture between Shell and Esso) totally by surprise, as this was the first protest of any kind that Shell management had encountered. Describes the circumstances why Shell wants the Brent Spar platform's disposal in the deep sea and why Greenpeace rejects these plans.
Authors :: Ulrich Steger, J. Peter Killing, Matthias Winter, Mary Schweinsberg
Swot Analysis of "Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A)" written by Ulrich Steger, J. Peter Killing, Matthias Winter, Mary Schweinsberg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Shell Spar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Sustainability and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Shell Spar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Shell Spar 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Shell Spar
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Shell Spar
Strengths Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Shell Spar in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Shell Spar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Shell Spar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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
– Shell Spar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Shell Spar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Shell Spar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Shell Spar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Shell Spar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Shell Spar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Shell Spar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Shell Spar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Shell Spar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Shell Spar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Shell Spar 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Shell Spar 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 Shell Spar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Shell Spar in the sector have low bargaining power. Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Shell Spar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Shell Spar 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.
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 Shell Spar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Shell Spar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Shell Spar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Shell Spar is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Shell Spar 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Shell Spar is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Shell Spar needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Shell Spar to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Shell Spar, firm in the HBR case study Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Shell Spar 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Shell Spar 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 Shell Spar 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 - Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) | 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Shell Spar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Shell Spar in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Shell Spar to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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 Shell Spar in the consumer business. Now Shell Spar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Shell Spar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Shell Spar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) case study. Shell Spar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Shell Spar 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, Shell Spar 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, Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A), 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, Shell Spar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Shell Spar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Shell Spar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Shell Spar 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Shell Spar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Shell Spar 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Shell Spar 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. Shell Spar 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, Shell Spar is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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.
Threats Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A), Shell Spar may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
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.
Increasing wage structure of Shell Spar
– 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 Shell Spar.
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
– Shell Spar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Shell Spar needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Shell Spar 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Shell Spar can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Shell Spar will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Shell Spar 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.
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 Shell Spar.
Environmental challenges
– Shell Spar 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. Shell Spar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Shell Spar is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Shell Spar 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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 Brent Spar Platform Controversy (A) 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 Shell Spar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
