Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam
Fortis Inc., a company with interests in various North American electric utilities, is proposing to build the Chalillo dam on the Macal River in Belize, Central America. The dam would contribute to the economic development of the country by meeting the increasing demand from industry and consumers for electricity. The company believes that the dam is the most feasible, reliable and cheapest supply of electricity. Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) oppose the project because of the destruction of wild animal and plant life and the adverse downstream impact, and allege that there are more viable and more cost effective sources. The case reviews the company's presence in Belize, the environmental impact studies and the activities of the ENGOs during 2001. At the beginning of 2002, management is faced with a decision of whether or not to go ahead with the project.
Swot Analysis of "Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam" written by Robert W. Sexty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dam Chalillo facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Globalization, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dam Chalillo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dam Chalillo 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dam Chalillo
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 Dam Chalillo
Strengths Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dam Chalillo in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Dam Chalillo 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 Dam Chalillo is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dam Chalillo to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dam Chalillo to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Dam Chalillo is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Dam Chalillo 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dam Chalillo is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dam Chalillo digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dam Chalillo 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dam Chalillo has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Training and development
– Dam Chalillo has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dam Chalillo is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Dam Chalillo
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dam Chalillo does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dam Chalillo has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dam Chalillo 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dam Chalillo 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dam Chalillo is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Dam Chalillo 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dam Chalillo 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 - Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam, it seems that the employees of Dam Chalillo 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dam Chalillo is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Dam Chalillo needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dam Chalillo to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Dam Chalillo 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dam Chalillo has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dam Chalillo 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert W. Sexty suggests that, Dam Chalillo 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam HBR case study mentions - Dam Chalillo takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Dam Chalillo has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam | 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam are -
Buying journey improvements
– Dam Chalillo can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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.
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 Dam Chalillo in the consumer business. Now Dam Chalillo can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Dam Chalillo can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Dam Chalillo can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Dam Chalillo is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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, Dam Chalillo can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dam Chalillo operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dam Chalillo 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dam Chalillo to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dam Chalillo 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dam Chalillo to increase its market reach. Dam Chalillo 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dam Chalillo 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dam Chalillo 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 Dam Chalillo to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dam Chalillo 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dam Chalillo 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dam Chalillo has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dam Chalillo to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam case study. Dam Chalillo can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam are -
Regulatory challenges
– Dam Chalillo 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.
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.
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 Dam Chalillo.
Environmental challenges
– Dam Chalillo 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. Dam Chalillo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Dam Chalillo in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Dam Chalillo
– 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 Dam Chalillo.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dam Chalillo is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Dam Chalillo in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dam Chalillo 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Dam Chalillo 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dam Chalillo with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Dam Chalillo business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Fortis Inc. and the Chalillo Dam 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 Dam Chalillo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.