Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B)
A new administration/government takes power in a state in India and cancels a power project agreed upon/created by the previous state government and an American-based energy company. The project cancellation is based on allegations of irregularities, exorbitant costs, and political pressures.
Authors :: Krishna G. Palepu, V. Kasturi Rangan, Sarayu Srinivasan
Swot Analysis of "Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B)" written by Krishna G. Palepu, V. Kasturi Rangan, Sarayu Srinivasan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Power Cancels facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Government, Marketing, Negotiations and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Power Cancels, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Power Cancels 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Power Cancels
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Power Cancels
Strengths Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Power Cancels in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Power Cancels 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Power Cancels is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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.
Analytics focus
– Power Cancels 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 Krishna G. Palepu, V. Kasturi Rangan, Sarayu Srinivasan 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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Power Cancels 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 Power Cancels in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Power Cancels is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Power Cancels to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Power Cancels to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Power Cancels in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Power Cancels 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Power Cancels
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Power Cancels does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Power Cancels 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 Power Cancels is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Power Cancels 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.
Weaknesses Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) HBR case study mentions - Power Cancels 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B), it seems that the employees of Power Cancels 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Krishna G. Palepu, V. Kasturi Rangan, Sarayu Srinivasan suggests that, Power Cancels 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B), in the dynamic environment Power Cancels has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Power Cancels has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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 Power Cancels 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Power Cancels 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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 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 Power Cancels supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Power Cancels vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Power Cancels products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Power Cancels needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Power Cancels 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Power Cancels 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.
Opportunities Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) | 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Power Cancels can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Global Business segment.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Power Cancels is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Power Cancels can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing 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. Power Cancels can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Power Cancels can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Power Cancels operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Power Cancels can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Power Cancels 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 Power Cancels 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 Power Cancels can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Power Cancels can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Power Cancels to increase its market reach. Power Cancels 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Power Cancels 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. Power Cancels 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Power Cancels has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Power Cancels to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) case study. Power Cancels can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Power Cancels 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.
Threats Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) are -
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 Power Cancels
– 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 Power Cancels.
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 Power Cancels in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Power Cancels is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Power Cancels business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Power Cancels has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Power Cancels needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Power Cancels 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Power Cancels in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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 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. Power Cancels needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Power Cancels can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Power Cancels.
Environmental challenges
– Power Cancels needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Power Cancels can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Power Cancels 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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 Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) 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 Power Cancels needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
