DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good
This case depicts how DTE Energy expanded its internal momentum as a positive organization to encompass improving the broader community as well. The case opens at the end of 2015, with DTE's stock price having tripled since 2008 and the company having won Gallup's Great Work Place awards. DTE Energy CEO Gerry Anderson has articulated the vision of DTE as being a "force for growth and prosperity in the communities where we live and serve," but he wonders how he can operationalize such an expansive, intangible vision, particularly given its external focus. The case describes DTE's work with the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, detailing the characteristics of positive leadership, applying authentic leadership, connecting to purpose and calling, and DTE's Positive Organization Framework. Students will be challenged to think of additional ways that for-profit organizations could become transformational forces for positive social good. This is Case C 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good" written by Robert Quinn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dte Dte's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Social responsibility and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions,
technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dte Dte's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dte Dte's 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dte Dte's
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 Dte's
Strengths DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dte Dte's in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Dte Dte's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dte Dte's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dte Dte's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dte Dte's 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dte Dte's 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.
Training and development
– Dte Dte's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dte Dte's in the sector have low bargaining power. DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dte Dte's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Dte Dte's 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 Dte's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dte Dte's 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dte Dte's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Dte Dte's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dte Dte's 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 DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good, is just above the industry average. Dte Dte's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dte Dte's 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. Dte Dte's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dte Dte's 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 - DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 Dte's 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good HBR case study mentions - Dte Dte's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dte Dte's, firm in the HBR case study DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 Dte's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dte Dte's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dte Dte's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dte Dte's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Dte Dte's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dte Dte's 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.
Opportunities DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good | 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dte Dte's 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 DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dte Dte's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dte Dte's to increase its market reach. Dte Dte's 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.
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 Dte's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dte Dte's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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 Dte Dte's in the consumer business. Now Dte Dte's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Dte Dte's 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. Dte Dte's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dte Dte's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dte Dte's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Dte Dte's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dte Dte's 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 Dte's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Dte Dte's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dte Dte's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dte Dte's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good case study. Dte Dte's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Dte Dte's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dte Dte's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dte Dte's can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dte Dte's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dte Dte's 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.
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 Dte's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Dte Dte's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Dte's 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
– Dte Dte's 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
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 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.
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 Dte's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dte Dte's 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 DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good .
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 Dte's in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dte Dte's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dte Dte's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 Dte's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.