Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble)
In Fall 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest man and the CEO of Yukos, the second-largest Russian oil producer with a market capitalization of US$26 billion, was arrested and thrown into jail on charges of fraud. Several days later he resigned as CEO of Yukos. This case study tells the story of the rise and fall of a young man whom some would call a brilliant entrepreneur, and others would call a scoundrel. The case includes an interview with Khodorkovsky when he was still CEO, and offers a rare opportunity to examine the leadership philosophy of one of Russia's top business leaders.
Authors :: Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Konstantin Korotov, Stanislav Shekshnia, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy
Swot Analysis of "Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble)" written by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Konstantin Korotov, Stanislav Shekshnia, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Khodorkovsky Yukos facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Khodorkovsky Yukos, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Khodorkovsky Yukos
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Khodorkovsky Yukos
Strengths Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Khodorkovsky Yukos in Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Khodorkovsky Yukos has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Khodorkovsky Yukos to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Khodorkovsky Yukos to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Khodorkovsky Yukos has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Khodorkovsky Yukos to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Khodorkovsky Yukos is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Training and development
– Khodorkovsky Yukos has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Khodorkovsky Yukos is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Khodorkovsky Yukos in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Konstantin Korotov, Stanislav Shekshnia, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy 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.
Weaknesses Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) are -
Need for greater diversity
– Khodorkovsky Yukos has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Khodorkovsky Yukos has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Khodorkovsky Yukos, firm in the HBR case study Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Konstantin Korotov, Stanislav Shekshnia, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy suggests that, Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble), is just above the industry average. Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Khodorkovsky Yukos 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. Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 - Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Khodorkovsky Yukos is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Khodorkovsky Yukos is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) | 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Khodorkovsky Yukos can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Khodorkovsky Yukos 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, Khodorkovsky Yukos is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Khodorkovsky Yukos to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Khodorkovsky Yukos to increase its market reach. Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Khodorkovsky Yukos can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Khodorkovsky Yukos operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
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 Khodorkovsky Yukos in the consumer business. Now Khodorkovsky Yukos can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Khodorkovsky Yukos to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) are -
Environmental challenges
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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. Khodorkovsky Yukos can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Khodorkovsky Yukos has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Khodorkovsky Yukos needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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.
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. Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
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 Khodorkovsky Yukos.
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 Khodorkovsky Yukos in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble), Khodorkovsky Yukos may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Khodorkovsky Yukos with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Khodorkovsky Yukos 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 Khodorkovsky Yukos business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Khodorkovsky Yukos can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Khodorkovsky Yukos 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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 Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Yukos: Chelovek c rublyom (Man with a Ruble) 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 Khodorkovsky Yukos needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.