Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas

In the summer of 2014, a large energy company was poised to begin expanding its unconventional natural gas operations in northeastern British Columbia in the hopes of capitalizing on the Canadian province's determination to build a liquid natural gas industry. The company had secured mineral rights from the province but had not simultaneously pursued surface rights from a First Nation community that historically had used the land. When a seismic exploration team appeared on the tribe's traditional territory without consulting it, as was customary (and in some cases legally required), the company unwittingly ignited a firestorm of protest from both First Nation and non First Nation local citizens. Recognizing the importance of social acceptance both to operations and profitability, the company sent senior vice president Maria Paquet to participate in fireside discussions with tribal, regional government, and environmental leaders in the hopes of finding some common ground. Could these leaders arrive at sufficient trust and agreement to allow the company to move forward with its plans? Or would the company face gridlock, community blocking, or even financial peril? In a small-group role-playing exercise, students will step into the shoes of each of these stakeholders as they try to forge a path forward that is acceptable to all.

Authors :: Jamie Jones, Peter Bryant, Charlotte Snyder

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Conflict, Negotiations, Policy, Public relations, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas" written by Jamie Jones, Peter Bryant, Charlotte Snyder includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nation Gas facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Negotiations, Policy, Public relations, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nation Gas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nation Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nation Gas
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Nation Gas

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Strengths Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Nation Gas in Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas Harvard Business Review case study are -

High brand equity

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

Training and development

– Nation Gas has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nation Gas to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nation Gas to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Nation Gas 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 Nation Gas in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Strong track record of project management

– Nation Gas 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

– Nation Gas has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nation Gas 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Nation Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Nation Gas is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Organizational Resilience of Nation Gas

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nation Gas does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Nation Gas 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.

Superior customer experience

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

Innovation driven organization

– Nation Gas is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

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Weaknesses Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas are -

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 Nation Gas supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nation Gas vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas, it seems that the employees of Nation Gas 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nation Gas 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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 Nation Gas has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jamie Jones, Peter Bryant, Charlotte Snyder suggests that, Nation Gas 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas, is just above the industry average. Nation Gas needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Nation Gas 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 to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nation Gas is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Nation Gas has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

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Opportunities Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas | 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas are -

Manufacturing automation

– Nation Gas can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.

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 Nation Gas in the consumer business. Now Nation Gas can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Nation Gas can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

Reforming the budgeting process

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

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Nation Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nation Gas to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nation Gas in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nation Gas is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nation Gas can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nation Gas operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

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. Nation Gas can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Nation Gas has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nation Gas to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas case study. Nation Gas can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Buying journey improvements

– Nation Gas can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Nation Gas 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.

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Threats Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas are -

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Nation Gas has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nation Gas needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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. Nation Gas 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Nation Gas 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Nation Gas.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Nation Gas can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Nation Gas 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 Nation Gas with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nation Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas .

Consumer confidence and its impact on Nation Gas 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.

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 Nation Gas in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Nation Gas 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.

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. Nation Gas needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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 Mending the Fractures: Creating a Multi-Stakeholder Framework for Building Shared Purpose in Unconventional Oil and Gas 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 Nation Gas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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