Swot Analysis of "Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B)" written by Gerard Seijts, Thomas Watson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that W12279 Enbridge facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the W12279 Enbridge, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which W12279 Enbridge 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of W12279 Enbridge
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 W12279 Enbridge
Strengths Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of W12279 Enbridge in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of W12279 Enbridge
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that W12279 Enbridge does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the W12279 Enbridge 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that W12279 Enbridge 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– W12279 Enbridge has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. W12279 Enbridge 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled W12279 Enbridge to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped W12279 Enbridge to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- W12279 Enbridge 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 W12279 Enbridge is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For W12279 Enbridge digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. W12279 Enbridge 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– W12279 Enbridge 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of W12279 Enbridge in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– W12279 Enbridge 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 W12279 Enbridge in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– W12279 Enbridge has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled W12279 Enbridge to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 W12279 Enbridge 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of W12279 Enbridge is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. W12279 Enbridge needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help W12279 Enbridge to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, W12279 Enbridge is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B), is just above the industry average. W12279 Enbridge 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, W12279 Enbridge 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B), it seems that the employees of W12279 Enbridge 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerard Seijts, Thomas Watson suggests that, W12279 Enbridge 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of W12279 Enbridge, firm in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B), in the dynamic environment W12279 Enbridge has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. W12279 Enbridge has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B), 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as W12279 Enbridge is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) | 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) are -
Loyalty marketing
– W12279 Enbridge 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for W12279 Enbridge 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 W12279 Enbridge to increase its market reach. W12279 Enbridge 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.
Buying journey improvements
– W12279 Enbridge can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– W12279 Enbridge 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. W12279 Enbridge can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for W12279 Enbridge 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 W12279 Enbridge to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of W12279 Enbridge has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help W12279 Enbridge to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) case study. W12279 Enbridge can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– W12279 Enbridge can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help W12279 Enbridge 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for W12279 Enbridge 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. W12279 Enbridge can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, W12279 Enbridge 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, Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) are -
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. W12279 Enbridge 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. W12279 Enbridge can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for W12279 Enbridge 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that W12279 Enbridge is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. W12279 Enbridge needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on W12279 Enbridge 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.
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 W12279 Enbridge in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– W12279 Enbridge has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, W12279 Enbridge 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, W12279 Enbridge 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B), W12279 Enbridge 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 .
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 W12279 Enbridge.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– W12279 Enbridge 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (B) 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 W12279 Enbridge needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.