TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector
In October 2013, future prospects for TransCanada's pipeline project were uncertain, as the company had to find ways to establish and manage relationships with Aboriginal communities along the proposed Energy East pipeline in Canada, particularly in the province of New Brunswick. Following Supreme Court rulings that reinforced the "duty to consult and accommodate," Aboriginals came to have a powerful voice in the development of energy infrastructure, creating new requirements for companies wishing to expand into areas subject to Aboriginal title and treaty claims.
Authors :: Guy Holburn, Bruce Anderson, Andre Wilkie
Swot Analysis of "TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector" written by Guy Holburn, Bruce Anderson, Andre Wilkie includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aboriginal Transcanada's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Public relations and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aboriginal Transcanada's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aboriginal Transcanada'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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aboriginal Transcanada'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 Aboriginal Transcanada's
Strengths TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aboriginal Transcanada's in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Aboriginal Transcanada's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Aboriginal Transcanada's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Aboriginal Transcanada's 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.
Learning organization
- Aboriginal Transcanada's 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 Aboriginal Transcanada's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Aboriginal Transcanada's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Aboriginal Transcanada's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Aboriginal Transcanada's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Aboriginal Transcanada'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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Aboriginal Transcanada's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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.
Organizational Resilience of Aboriginal Transcanada's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Aboriginal Transcanada's 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 Aboriginal Transcanada's 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.
Training and development
– Aboriginal Transcanada's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 Aboriginal Transcanada's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Guy Holburn, Bruce Anderson, Andre Wilkie suggests that, Aboriginal Transcanada's 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector HBR case study mentions - Aboriginal Transcanada'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, Aboriginal Transcanada'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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Aboriginal Transcanada's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Aboriginal Transcanada's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Aboriginal Transcanada's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Aboriginal Transcanada'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. Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 Aboriginal Transcanada's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Aboriginal Transcanada's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Aboriginal Transcanada's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector, 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector, is just above the industry average. Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Opportunities TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector | 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector are -
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 Aboriginal Transcanada's 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 Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Loyalty marketing
– Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Aboriginal Transcanada's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Aboriginal Transcanada's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector case study. Aboriginal Transcanada's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Aboriginal Transcanada's 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, Aboriginal Transcanada's 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, TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Aboriginal Transcanada's to increase its market reach. Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Aboriginal Transcanada's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Aboriginal Transcanada's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Aboriginal Transcanada's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
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 Aboriginal Transcanada's in the consumer business. Now Aboriginal Transcanada's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Aboriginal Transcanada's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Aboriginal Transcanada's is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Aboriginal Transcanada'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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Aboriginal Transcanada's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aboriginal Transcanada's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Aboriginal Transcanada's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector, Aboriginal Transcanada'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 wage structure of Aboriginal Transcanada'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 Aboriginal Transcanada's.
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 Aboriginal Transcanada's.
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 Aboriginal Transcanada's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Aboriginal Transcanada's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 TransCanada's Energy East Pipeline: Managing Aboriginal Relations in the Energy Sector 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 Aboriginal Transcanada's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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