Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation
"With a global leadership and sustainability perspective, this case uses SNCF, a state-owned railway and public service company based in France, to set the stage for an analysis of change management in a large company. It also allows for an exploration of sustainable development within the context of a large company. Written from the field, it depicts the firm's overall strategy to adopt sustainable practices and provides an opportunity to introduce basic leadership, strategy, sustainability, and operational terms that can be explored in subsequent classes. The case opens with a summary of urgent issues that include an influential employee who resists new policies, a public scandal around a supplier that employed undocumented workers, and pressure to present the accounting department with financial metrics to evaluate the sustainable procurement efforts. In a big-picture view, Olivier Menuet, directeur dA?lA?guA? achats durable et solidaires, and his boss, Pierre Pelouzet, directeur des achats, want more visibility around sustainable development not only within the procurement function but throughout the organization. How might changes already made at SNCF be driven deeper into the company? "
Authors :: Gerry Yemen, Ronald G. Kamin, Karen Delchet-Cochet
Swot Analysis of "Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation" written by Gerry Yemen, Ronald G. Kamin, Karen Delchet-Cochet includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sncf Achats facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Economics, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sncf Achats, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sncf Achats 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sncf Achats
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 Sncf Achats
Strengths Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sncf Achats in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Sncf Achats
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sncf Achats does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sncf Achats is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sncf Achats has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sncf Achats 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sncf Achats digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sncf Achats 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
– Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sncf Achats to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sncf Achats to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sncf Achats 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sncf Achats in the sector have low bargaining power. Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sncf Achats to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sncf Achats 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sncf Achats 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Sncf Achats 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 Sncf Achats in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Sncf Achats has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sncf Achats to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Sncf Achats is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerry Yemen, Ronald G. Kamin, Karen Delchet-Cochet suggests that, Sncf Achats 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation, in the dynamic environment Sncf Achats has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sncf Achats has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sncf Achats is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sncf Achats has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sncf Achats is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sncf Achats 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. Sncf Achats 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation, it seems that the employees of Sncf Achats 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation HBR case study mentions - Sncf Achats 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sncf Achats needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sncf Achats, firm in the HBR case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sncf Achats 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation | 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation are -
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. Sncf Achats 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. Sncf Achats 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sncf Achats 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sncf Achats 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.
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 Sncf Achats in the consumer business. Now Sncf Achats 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. Sncf Achats can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sncf Achats 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, Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Sncf Achats 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sncf Achats can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sncf Achats 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sncf Achats to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sncf Achats has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sncf Achats to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation case study. Sncf Achats can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sncf Achats 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sncf Achats 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sncf Achats 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.
Threats Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sncf Achats 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.
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. Sncf Achats can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Sncf Achats
– 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 Sncf Achats.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sncf Achats 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation .
Environmental challenges
– Sncf Achats 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. Sncf Achats can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sncf Achats has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sncf Achats 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.
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 Sncf Achats.
Regulatory challenges
– Sncf Achats 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sncf Achats with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Sncf Achats in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sncf Achats 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 Sncf Achats 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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 Sncf Achats needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
