Case Study Description of The Dakota Access Pipeline Project
Plans for a $3.5 billion crude oil pipeline in 2014-17 from the Bakken formation of North Sakota and Canada to a transfer point near Chicago, linked to an existing pipeline to the major refining and export faculities on the US Gulf Coast, run into trouble when the developer, Energy Transfer Partners, encounters a "roadblock" on a section of federal land that is within a reservation of the Flat Rock Sioux tribe of Native Americans. The case charts how the conflict escalated from the local to the global level.
Authors :: Ingo Walter, Sinziana Dorobantu
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: International business, Project management, Risk management, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "The Dakota Access Pipeline Project" written by Ingo Walter, Sinziana Dorobantu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pipeline Faculities facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Project management, Risk management, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Dakota Access Pipeline Project casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Dakota Access Pipeline Project
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pipeline Faculities, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pipeline Faculities 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pipeline Faculities
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 Pipeline Faculities
Strengths The Dakota Access Pipeline Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pipeline Faculities in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pipeline Faculities digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pipeline Faculities 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pipeline Faculities 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– The Dakota Access Pipeline Project firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pipeline Faculities to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pipeline Faculities to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Pipeline Faculities has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pipeline Faculities to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pipeline Faculities 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.
Learning organization
- Pipeline Faculities 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 Pipeline Faculities is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Pipeline Faculities 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 Ingo Walter, Sinziana Dorobantu 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pipeline Faculities 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Pipeline Faculities is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Pipeline Faculities has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pipeline Faculities has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pipeline Faculities 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pipeline Faculities in the sector have low bargaining power. The Dakota Access Pipeline Project has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pipeline Faculities to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses The Dakota Access Pipeline Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Dakota Access Pipeline Project are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Dakota Access Pipeline Project HBR case study mentions - Pipeline Faculities 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.
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 Pipeline Faculities supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Dakota Access Pipeline Project, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pipeline Faculities vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 Pipeline Faculities 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pipeline Faculities 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 Pipeline Faculities has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Pipeline Faculities 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 - The Dakota Access Pipeline Project should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pipeline Faculities 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. Pipeline Faculities 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Pipeline Faculities 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Pipeline Faculities is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Pipeline Faculities needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pipeline Faculities to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pipeline Faculities is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Dakota Access Pipeline Project, in the dynamic environment Pipeline Faculities has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pipeline Faculities has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities The Dakota Access Pipeline Project | 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Pipeline Faculities has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pipeline Faculities to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Dakota Access Pipeline Project case study. Pipeline Faculities can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pipeline Faculities can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pipeline Faculities operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pipeline Faculities 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Pipeline Faculities can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Pipeline Faculities 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. Pipeline Faculities 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 Pipeline Faculities in the consumer business. Now Pipeline Faculities can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pipeline Faculities 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Pipeline Faculities can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Pipeline Faculities can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pipeline Faculities can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pipeline Faculities 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pipeline Faculities 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 Pipeline Faculities to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pipeline Faculities 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, The Dakota Access Pipeline Project, 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Dakota Access Pipeline Project are -
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. Pipeline Faculities needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Pipeline Faculities can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Pipeline Faculities in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Pipeline Faculities business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pipeline Faculities with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pipeline Faculities 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pipeline Faculities is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Pipeline Faculities 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.
Increasing wage structure of Pipeline Faculities
– 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 Pipeline Faculities.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Pipeline Faculities 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pipeline Faculities has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pipeline Faculities 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.
Environmental challenges
– Pipeline Faculities 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. Pipeline Faculities can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 The Dakota Access Pipeline Project 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 Pipeline Faculities needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.