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Statoil Iran SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Statoil Iran


Less than one year after being awarded a contract to develop one of the world's largest offshore petroleum fields, Statoil's future in Iran appeared to be in jeopardy. Statoil was at the center of a corruption investigation that had resulted in the resignations of three of the company's top executives, including its CEO. The issue was alleged bribes paid by Horton Investments, on Statoil's behest, to secure lucrative petroleum development contracts. According to the Iranian government, Statoil used Horton to channel $15 million in secret bribes to unnamed government officials. Statoil's country manager, who had considerable experience in the region and was unaware of the secret deals, is left with the difficult task of trying to salvage the operation and rebuild the social capital he had established between Statoil and its Iranian counterparts.

Authors :: Henry W. Lane, David T.A. Wesley

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Ethics, Government, Influence, Managing people, Professional transitions, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Statoil Iran" written by Henry W. Lane, David T.A. Wesley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Statoil Statoil's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Statoil Iran case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Government, Influence, Managing people, Professional transitions and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Statoil Iran casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Statoil Iran


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Statoil Iran case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Statoil Statoil's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Statoil Statoil's 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 Statoil Iran can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Statoil Iran case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Statoil Statoil's
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 Statoil Statoil's




Strengths Statoil Iran | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Statoil Statoil's in Statoil Iran Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Statoil Statoil's 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 Statoil Iran HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Diverse revenue streams

– Statoil Statoil's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Statoil Iran 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

– Statoil Statoil's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Statoil Iran are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Statoil Statoil's 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Statoil Statoil's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Statoil's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Statoil Statoil's 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Statoil Statoil's in the sector have low bargaining power. Statoil Iran has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Statoil Statoil's 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

– Statoil Iran firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Statoil Statoil's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Statoil Statoil's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Statoil Statoil's 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 Statoil Statoil's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Analytics focus

– Statoil Statoil's 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 Henry W. Lane, David T.A. Wesley can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Training and development

– Statoil Statoil's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Statoil Iran 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Statoil Statoil's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.






Weaknesses Statoil Iran | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Statoil Iran are -

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Statoil Iran, in the dynamic environment Statoil Statoil's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Statoil Statoil's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Lack of clear differentiation of Statoil Statoil's products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Statoil Statoil's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Statoil Statoil's 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Statoil Iran, is just above the industry average. Statoil Statoil's 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 to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Statoil Iran HBR case study mentions - Statoil Statoil's 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Statoil Statoil's 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

Statoil Statoil's 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Statoil's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Statoil Statoil's 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Statoil Statoil's 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 - Statoil Iran should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Statoil Statoil's 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. Statoil Statoil's 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.




Opportunities Statoil Iran | 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 Statoil Iran are -

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Statoil Statoil's 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Statoil Statoil's 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Statoil Statoil's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Statoil's to increase its market reach. Statoil Statoil's 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Statoil Statoil's 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Statoil Statoil's 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Statoil Statoil's 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 Statoil Statoil's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Statoil Statoil's 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Statoil Statoil's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Statoil Iran 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Statoil Statoil's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Statoil Statoil's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

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. Statoil Statoil's 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. Statoil Statoil's 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.

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 Statoil Statoil's in the consumer business. Now Statoil Statoil's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Loyalty marketing

– Statoil Statoil's 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.




Threats Statoil Iran External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Statoil Iran are -

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Statoil Statoil's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Statoil Statoil's 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.

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. Statoil Statoil's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Statoil Statoil's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Regulatory challenges

– Statoil Statoil's 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Statoil Statoil's 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.

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. Statoil Statoil's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Increasing wage structure of Statoil Statoil's

– 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 Statoil Statoil's.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Statoil Statoil's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Statoil Statoil's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.

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 Statoil Statoil's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Statoil Statoil's 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Statoil Iran, Statoil Statoil's 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 .

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Statoil Statoil's 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 Statoil Iran .




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Iran 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 Statoil Statoil's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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