The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) was one of the largest conservation organizations in the world; its mission was to "to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends." Over time, TNC had expanded its mission to include advocating for sustainable water-management practices, and its numerous water specialists had advised corporations, water ministries, legislatures, and many other organizations. TNC was constantly exploring new ways of advocating sustainable water use and weighing its options to engage new opportunities. Brian Richter, a veteran scientist for TNC who had led its water market strategy for the past few years, was convinced that water markets could be attractive for the market-friendly TNC. But he wondered how TNC could integrate water markets into its water strategy while staying true to its legacy and mission. This case includes an interview with TNC's Brian Richter about some of the tools TNC had at its disposal to realize its conservationist objectives.
Swot Analysis of "The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management" written by Peter Debaere, Brian Richter includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tnc Water facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management casestudy better are - – 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 household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tnc Water, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tnc Water 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tnc Water
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tnc Water
Strengths The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tnc Water in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Tnc Water 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 Tnc Water in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tnc Water is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tnc Water has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tnc Water 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Tnc Water 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tnc Water in the sector have low bargaining power. The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tnc Water to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tnc Water to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tnc Water to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Tnc Water 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 Peter Debaere, Brian Richter 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Tnc Water is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tnc Water digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tnc Water has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Tnc Water 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 Tnc Water is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tnc Water is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tnc Water 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management, is just above the industry average. Tnc Water 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 Tnc Water 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management, it seems that the employees of Tnc Water 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tnc Water 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management, in the dynamic environment Tnc Water has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tnc Water has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tnc Water is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tnc Water is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Tnc Water needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tnc Water to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tnc Water 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 Tnc Water has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Peter Debaere, Brian Richter suggests that, Tnc Water 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.
Opportunities The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management | 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tnc Water 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, The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Tnc Water can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tnc Water has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tnc Water to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management case study. Tnc Water can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Tnc Water 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tnc Water can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tnc Water 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tnc Water in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Tnc Water 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
– Tnc Water can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Tnc Water in the consumer business. Now Tnc Water can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tnc Water can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Tnc Water is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tnc Water can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tnc Water operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Threats The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management are -
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 Tnc Water.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tnc Water 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.
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. Tnc Water 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tnc Water 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.
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 Tnc Water business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tnc Water 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management .
Environmental challenges
– Tnc Water 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. Tnc Water can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management, Tnc Water may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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.
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. Tnc Water needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tnc Water can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Tnc Water 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 The Nature Conservancy: Advocating for and Investing in Sustainable Water Management 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 Tnc Water needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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