Swot Analysis of "Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B)" written by Lynn Sharp Paine, Mihnea C. Moldoveanu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 300039 300040 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing,
increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 300039 300040, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 300039 300040 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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 300039 300040
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 300039 300040
Strengths Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 300039 300040 in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For 300039 300040 digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. 300039 300040 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– 300039 300040 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– 300039 300040 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 300039 300040 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– 300039 300040 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 Lynn Sharp Paine, Mihnea C. Moldoveanu 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.
Training and development
– 300039 300040 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– 300039 300040 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– 300039 300040 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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.
Innovation driven organization
– 300039 300040 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– 300039 300040 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. 300039 300040 has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 300039 300040 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of 300039 300040 in the sector have low bargaining power. Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps 300039 300040 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the 300039 300040 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.
Weaknesses Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B), it seems that the employees of 300039 300040 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) 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 300039 300040 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, 300039 300040 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. 300039 300040 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B), in the dynamic environment 300039 300040 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. 300039 300040 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of 300039 300040, firm in the HBR case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) 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, 300039 300040 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 300039 300040 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, 300039 300040 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) 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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as 300039 300040 is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B), is just above the industry average. 300039 300040 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.
Opportunities Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) are -
Loyalty marketing
– 300039 300040 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects 300039 300040 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for 300039 300040 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 300039 300040 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– 300039 300040 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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.
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 300039 300040 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– 300039 300040 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at 300039 300040 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for 300039 300040 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help 300039 300040 to increase its market reach. 300039 300040 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.
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. 300039 300040 can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of 300039 300040 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help 300039 300040 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) case study. 300039 300040 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 300039 300040 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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 300039 300040 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, 300039 300040 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, Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) are -
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 300039 300040 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– 300039 300040 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– 300039 300040 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 300039 300040 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 300039 300040 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents 300039 300040 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. 300039 300040 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of 300039 300040
– 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 300039 300040.
Environmental challenges
– 300039 300040 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. 300039 300040 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– 300039 300040 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.
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. 300039 300040 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, 300039 300040 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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (B) .
Regulatory challenges
– 300039 300040 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 Royal Dutch/Shell in Nigeria (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 300039 300040 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.