BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION
The A-case begins with Tony Hayward's appointment as CEO of BP. Hayward was immediately faced with the challenge of convincing the board that he could streamline BP's cost structure, while at the same time addressing the other main issue facing the company, its safety record. One of the board's subcommittees, the safety, ethics and environment assurance committee (SEEAC), had the mandate to identify and mitigate significant non-financial risks and ensure the company achieved its goal of "no accidents, no harm to people, and no damage to the environment." Learning objectives: Strategic positioning in terms of risk and costs; setting strategic priorities; comparison competitors; managing the expectations of the board.
Swot Analysis of "BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION" written by Paul Strebel, Brian Rogers includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hayward's Seeac facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hayward's Seeac, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hayward's Seeac 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hayward's Seeac
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 Hayward's Seeac
Strengths BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hayward's Seeac in BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hayward's Seeac 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hayward's Seeac is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Hayward's Seeac is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 Hayward's Seeac digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hayward's Seeac 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hayward's Seeac to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hayward's Seeac to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hayward's Seeac in the sector have low bargaining power. BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hayward's Seeac to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hayward's Seeac 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
– Hayward's Seeac 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 Hayward's Seeac in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Hayward's Seeac has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hayward's Seeac 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Hayward's Seeac
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hayward's Seeac does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hayward's Seeac is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Hayward's Seeac needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hayward's Seeac to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Hayward's Seeac 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
Hayward's Seeac 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION HBR case study mentions - Hayward's Seeac 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hayward's Seeac 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION, is just above the industry average. Hayward's Seeac 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hayward's Seeac, firm in the HBR case study BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION, in the dynamic environment Hayward's Seeac has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hayward's Seeac has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hayward's Seeac 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 - BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hayward's Seeac is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION | 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hayward's Seeac 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hayward's Seeac has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hayward's Seeac to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION case study. Hayward's Seeac can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hayward's Seeac can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hayward's Seeac can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hayward's Seeac 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 Hayward's Seeac to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hayward's Seeac 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Hayward's Seeac can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hayward's Seeac 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, BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hayward's Seeac 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hayward's Seeac to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hayward's Seeac is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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.
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 Hayward's Seeac in the consumer business. Now Hayward's Seeac can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Hayward's Seeac can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Hayward's Seeac 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.
Threats BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hayward's Seeac 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hayward's Seeac 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.
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. Hayward's Seeac 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 Hayward's Seeac 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hayward's Seeac is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Hayward's Seeac in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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 Hayward's Seeac.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hayward's Seeac 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Hayward's Seeac 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.
Environmental challenges
– Hayward's Seeac 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. Hayward's Seeac can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 wage structure of Hayward's Seeac
– 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 Hayward's Seeac.
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. Hayward's Seeac 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 BRITISH PETROLEUM (A): DEFINING A STRATEGIC VISION 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 Hayward's Seeac needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
