DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO
This case describes DTE Energy CEO Gerry Anderson's transformation from a hard-nosed, "old school" leader to an authentic, purpose-driven leader implementing positive change. Students follow along as Anderson begins re-thinking his approach to leadership from a cost-focus to a more holistic view that employees are not "simply factors of production" and that management by edict was not sustainable. But just as Anderson is slowly earning employees' trust, the recession of 2008 hits and DTE faces a potential loss of $175 million. Anderson is confronted with the biggest challenge of his career: should he lay off a large portion of the workforce to save the company? Such a move would undermine all he had been working toward in his new leadership style and would destroy the trust he had been trying to build in the company, but his management team sees no alternative. What should Anderson do? This is Case A of a three-case series which can be taught sequentially or as stand-alone cases. The cases describe the organizational transformation of energy utility company DTE Energy into a positive organization, focusing first on the personal transformation of DTE's CEO, Gerry Anderson (Case A); then on the transformation of the company (Case B) and finally on DTE Energy's advancement to the "next level" - positive social issues to improve the wider community and societal context in which the company operates (Case C).
Swot Analysis of "DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO" written by Robert Quinn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dte Anderson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dte Anderson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dte Anderson 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dte Anderson
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Dte Anderson
Strengths DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dte Anderson in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Dte Anderson 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 Dte Anderson is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dte Anderson 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dte Anderson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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
– Dte Anderson is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Dte Anderson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dte Anderson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dte Anderson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dte Anderson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dte Anderson has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Dte Anderson
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dte Anderson does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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.
High brand equity
– Dte Anderson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dte Anderson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Dte Anderson 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 Dte Anderson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dte Anderson is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Dte Anderson 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 Dte Anderson has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dte Anderson 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO, it seems that the employees of Dte Anderson 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dte Anderson, firm in the HBR case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO, in the dynamic environment Dte Anderson has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Dte Anderson has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Dte Anderson 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert Quinn suggests that, Dte Anderson 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Dte Anderson 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dte Anderson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dte Anderson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO | 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO are -
Manufacturing automation
– Dte Anderson can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Loyalty marketing
– Dte Anderson 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dte Anderson 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dte Anderson can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dte Anderson 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 Dte Anderson to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dte Anderson is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dte Anderson in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dte Anderson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dte Anderson to increase its market reach. Dte Anderson 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dte Anderson 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dte Anderson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dte Anderson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Dte Anderson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dte Anderson 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, DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dte Anderson in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dte Anderson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dte Anderson needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
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. Dte Anderson needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Dte Anderson
– 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 Dte Anderson.
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 Dte Anderson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dte Anderson 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dte Anderson 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.
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. Dte Anderson 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.
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 Dte Anderson in the Organizational Development 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dte Anderson is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO, Dte Anderson may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Environmental challenges
– Dte Anderson 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. Dte Anderson can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 DTE Energy (A): Becoming a Transformational Leader: Gerry Anderson, Chairman and CEO 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 Dte Anderson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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