Case Study Description of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change
The case describes the transformation of the large independent oil and gas company, Anadarko. The company had fallen into bad times as a consequence of a host of environmental factors as well as questionable strategic choices and ill-timed acquisitions. James Hackett was hired as the new CEO to transform the company. The case discusses the major changes that he made during his tenure and the transition from Hackett to his handpicked successor Al Walker. It dwells on the era of Hackett more than Walker and focuses on the manner in which Hackett engineered the key changes, his approach to leadership, and his inclusive transformational approach. The case ends with some key challenges confronting Al Walker as he contemplates the changes he would have to make in both preserving the legacy of his mentor Hackett and addressing the challenges that confronted the company in 2017.
Swot Analysis of "Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change" written by Kannan Ramaswamy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hackett Walker facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hackett Walker, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hackett Walker 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hackett Walker
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Hackett Walker
Strengths Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hackett Walker in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Hackett Walker has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hackett Walker to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hackett Walker has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hackett Walker 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hackett Walker 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Hackett Walker 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 Hackett Walker in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Hackett Walker
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hackett Walker does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Hackett Walker 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 Kannan Ramaswamy 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hackett Walker to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hackett Walker to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hackett Walker digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hackett Walker 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 Hackett Walker in the sector have low bargaining power. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hackett Walker to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hackett Walker is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hackett Walker is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hackett Walker is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Hackett Walker has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Hackett Walker 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 Hackett Walker products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hackett Walker needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Hackett Walker 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hackett Walker, firm in the HBR case study Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hackett Walker is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Hackett Walker needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hackett Walker to focus more on services rather than just following the product 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 Hackett Walker supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hackett Walker vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change, it seems that the employees of Hackett Walker 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hackett Walker 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 - Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change | 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hackett Walker 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hackett Walker to increase its market reach. Hackett Walker 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hackett Walker 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, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change, 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. Hackett Walker can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hackett Walker 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 Hackett Walker to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hackett Walker is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Hackett Walker 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. Hackett Walker 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.
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 Hackett Walker in the consumer business. Now Hackett Walker can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hackett Walker can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hackett Walker 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hackett Walker to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hackett Walker can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Hackett Walker 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hackett Walker in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hackett Walker has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hackett Walker needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hackett Walker 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hackett Walker 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Hackett Walker can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hackett Walker 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hackett Walker with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Hackett Walker 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hackett Walker in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hackett Walker is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Hackett Walker in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Hackett Walker
– 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 Hackett Walker.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Hackett Walker 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation: Leading Transformational Change 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 Hackett Walker needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
