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 - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
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.
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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dte Dte's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dte Dte's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Dte Dte's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dte Dte's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Dte Dte's 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 Dte's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dte Dte's 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 Dte Dte's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dte Dte's 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.
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.
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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dte Dte's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Dte Dte's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dte Dte's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Dte Dte's 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.
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.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dte Dte's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert Quinn suggests that, Dte Dte's 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.
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 -
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.
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.
Buying journey improvements
– Dte Dte's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. DTE Energy (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dte Dte's 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.
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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dte Dte's 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.
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 Dte's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dte Dte's 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.
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.
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 -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dte Dte's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Dte Dte's.
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.
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.
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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dte Dte's 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 (C): A Positive Organization and a Force for Social Good, Dte Dte's 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 .
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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Dte Dte's
– 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 Dte's.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dte Dte's 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.
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.
