Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring

The (B) case describes the actions taken by Royal Dutch Shell's CEO and his management team to maintain their commitment to diversity and inclusion (D&I), as introduced in the (A) case, during a major restructuring of the whole organization.

Authors :: Sandra J. Sucher, Daniela Beyersdorfer

Topics :: Technology & Operations

Tags :: Diversity, International business, Leadership, Leading teams, Reorganization, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring" written by Sandra J. Sucher, Daniela Beyersdorfer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Inclusion Dutch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Diversity, International business, Leadership, Leading teams, Reorganization and Technology & Operations.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Inclusion Dutch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Inclusion Dutch 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Inclusion Dutch
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 Inclusion Dutch

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Strengths Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Inclusion Dutch in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring Harvard Business Review case study are -

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Inclusion Dutch 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Inclusion Dutch is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Inclusion Dutch is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Training and development

– Inclusion Dutch has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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.

High brand equity

– Inclusion Dutch has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Inclusion Dutch to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Inclusion Dutch in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Learning organization

- Inclusion Dutch 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 Inclusion Dutch is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Inclusion Dutch digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Inclusion Dutch 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry

– Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Inclusion Dutch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Inclusion Dutch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Inclusion Dutch in the sector have low bargaining power. Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Inclusion Dutch to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Strong track record of project management

– Inclusion Dutch is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

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Weaknesses Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Inclusion Dutch 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Inclusion Dutch 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring, it seems that the employees of Inclusion Dutch 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring HBR case study mentions - Inclusion Dutch 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring, 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Inclusion Dutch 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Inclusion Dutch products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Inclusion Dutch needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sandra J. Sucher, Daniela Beyersdorfer suggests that, Inclusion Dutch 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Inclusion Dutch is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Inclusion Dutch needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Inclusion Dutch to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Inclusion Dutch 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 decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Inclusion Dutch 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. Inclusion Dutch 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.

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Opportunities Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring | 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring are -

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Inclusion Dutch can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Inclusion Dutch 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 Inclusion Dutch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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. Inclusion Dutch can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Inclusion Dutch in the consumer business. Now Inclusion Dutch 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 Inclusion Dutch has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Inclusion Dutch to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring case study. Inclusion Dutch can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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. Inclusion Dutch can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Loyalty marketing

– Inclusion Dutch 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.

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. Inclusion Dutch 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. Inclusion Dutch 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Inclusion Dutch 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Inclusion Dutch 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Inclusion Dutch 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Inclusion Dutch to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Inclusion Dutch 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, Inclusion Dutch 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, Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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Threats Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring are -

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Inclusion Dutch with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Inclusion Dutch needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Inclusion Dutch in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 dependence on third party suppliers

– Inclusion Dutch 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.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Inclusion Dutch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Inclusion Dutch 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Inclusion Dutch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Inclusion Dutch 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.

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. Inclusion Dutch 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Inclusion Dutch 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring .

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring, Inclusion Dutch 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 .

Environmental challenges

– Inclusion Dutch 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. Inclusion Dutch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.

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. Inclusion Dutch can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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 Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (B): The Impact of Restructuring 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 Inclusion Dutch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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