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Investor Relations at TOTAL SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Investor Relations at TOTAL


Examines investor relations and financial communications in a large company with a diverse group of financial stakeholders. Total is an "energy major" based in Paris, France. The importance of its product and its impact on economies and environments combine with the size of the company to make Total highly visible to investors, governments, environmental groups, and other shareholders. The highly technical nature of Total's many internal activities and the breadth of its complex operations further impacts communication efforts. In addition, as a Continental European firm (in particular, French), Total has strong societal expectations regarding its interactions with employees/citizens vs. shareholders. Examines how Total creates a consistent and clear financial communication that provides information to these diverse stakeholder bases and their different desires for the company. Also asks students to consider how this communication strategy will need adjustment due to a period of high oil prices and a resulting windfall profit during 2005.

Authors :: Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Dessain, Anders Sjoman

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Corporate communications, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, Financial markets, Marketing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Investor Relations at TOTAL" written by Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Dessain, Anders Sjoman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Total Communication facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Investor Relations at TOTAL case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate communications, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, Financial markets, Marketing and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Investor Relations at TOTAL casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Investor Relations at TOTAL


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Investor Relations at TOTAL case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Total Communication, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Total Communication 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Investor Relations at TOTAL case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Total Communication
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Total Communication




Strengths Investor Relations at TOTAL | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Total Communication in Investor Relations at TOTAL Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Total Communication is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Total Communication

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Total Communication 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry

– Investor Relations at TOTAL firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Total Communication to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Total Communication to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Investor Relations at TOTAL 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.

Analytics focus

– Total Communication 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 Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Dessain, Anders Sjoman 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Total Communication 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Total Communication is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Training and development

– Total Communication has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Investor Relations at TOTAL 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Total Communication in the sector have low bargaining power. Investor Relations at TOTAL has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Total Communication to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Total Communication digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Total Communication 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.

Learning organization

- Total Communication 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 Total Communication is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Investor Relations at TOTAL Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.






Weaknesses Investor Relations at TOTAL | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Investor Relations at TOTAL are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Investor Relations at TOTAL, it seems that the employees of Total Communication 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Total Communication is planning to shift buying processes online.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Investor Relations at TOTAL, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Total Communication is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Investor Relations at TOTAL 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, Total Communication 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Total Communication 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Total Communication 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 - Investor Relations at TOTAL should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Investor Relations at TOTAL, in the dynamic environment Total Communication has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Total Communication has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Total Communication 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. Total Communication 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Total Communication, firm in the HBR case study Investor Relations at TOTAL needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.




Opportunities Investor Relations at TOTAL | 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL are -

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Total Communication 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Total Communication is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Investor Relations at TOTAL 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Total Communication can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Investor Relations at TOTAL 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Total Communication 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, Investor Relations at TOTAL, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Finding new ways to collaborate

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

Manufacturing automation

– Total Communication can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Total Communication 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.

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

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Total Communication 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Total Communication to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Total Communication 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. Total Communication 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.

Increase in government spending

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

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 Total Communication 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Total Communication 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Investor Relations at TOTAL are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Total Communication 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.

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 Total Communication business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Total Communication 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Total Communication in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.

Easy access to finance

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

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Total Communication 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL .

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 Total Communication.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Investor Relations at TOTAL, Total Communication may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .

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. Total Communication needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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. Total Communication 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.

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.

Increasing wage structure of Total Communication

– 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 Total Communication.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Investor Relations at TOTAL 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 Total Communication needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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