Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath
The case describes the resolution to the January 2006 gas crisis, precipitated by the decision of Gazprom, the largest natural gas producer in the world, to cut off gas supply to Ukraine because of disagreement on the terms of future trade. The case also narrates the events that have followed: the adoption by Gazprom of a comprehensive policy to renegotiate prices with the rest of the former Soviet states; the erratic relationship with Ukraine, dependent on the internal political configuration in the latter at any given time; and a persistence of Gazprom's negative image in the world.
Authors :: Rawi Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi, Alexander Jorov
Swot Analysis of "Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath" written by Rawi Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi, Alexander Jorov includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gazprom Ukraine facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Global strategy, Globalization and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gazprom Ukraine, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gazprom Ukraine 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gazprom Ukraine
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 Gazprom Ukraine
Strengths Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gazprom Ukraine in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Gazprom Ukraine is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Gazprom Ukraine 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Gazprom Ukraine 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 Rawi Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi, Alexander Jorov 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.
High brand equity
– Gazprom Ukraine has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gazprom Ukraine to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Gazprom Ukraine is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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
– Gazprom Ukraine has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gazprom Ukraine digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gazprom Ukraine to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gazprom Ukraine to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Gazprom Ukraine is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gazprom Ukraine is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Gazprom Ukraine has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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.
Weaknesses Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gazprom Ukraine is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rawi Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi, Alexander Jorov suggests that, Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Gazprom Ukraine 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. Gazprom Ukraine 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 Gazprom Ukraine is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Gazprom Ukraine needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gazprom Ukraine to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom Ukraine 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom Ukraine has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath, is just above the industry average. Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Gazprom Ukraine products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Gazprom Ukraine needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath, in the dynamic environment Gazprom Ukraine has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gazprom Ukraine has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath | 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Gazprom Ukraine is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom Ukraine to increase its market reach. Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gazprom Ukraine 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.
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 Gazprom Ukraine in the consumer business. Now Gazprom Ukraine can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Gazprom Ukraine can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Gazprom Ukraine 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gazprom Ukraine to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gazprom Ukraine has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gazprom Ukraine to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath case study. Gazprom Ukraine can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gazprom Ukraine in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gazprom Ukraine 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.
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 Gazprom Ukraine 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
– Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Threats Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath are -
Regulatory challenges
– Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gazprom Ukraine has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gazprom Ukraine 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 Gazprom Ukraine 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. Gazprom Ukraine needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Gazprom Ukraine business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Gazprom Ukraine 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. Gazprom Ukraine can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. Gazprom Ukraine 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gazprom Ukraine 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.
Increasing wage structure of Gazprom Ukraine
– 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 Gazprom Ukraine.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath, Gazprom Ukraine may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
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.
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 Gazprom Ukraine in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Gazprom Ukraine 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom (C): The Ukrainian Crisis and Its Aftermath 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 Gazprom Ukraine needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.