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 - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, 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 -
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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.
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.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sncf Achats 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.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sncf Achats is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Sncf Achats is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
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.
Training and development
– Sncf Achats has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation 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.
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 -
Lack of clear differentiation of Sncf Achats products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sncf Achats needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sncf Achats is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Sncf Achats needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sncf Achats to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sncf Achats 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sncf Achats 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 - Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sncf Achats 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.
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.
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 -
Developing new processes and practices
– Sncf Achats 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sncf Achats can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sncf Achats operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sncf Achats 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 Sncf Achats to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sncf Achats to increase its market reach. Sncf Achats 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.
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.
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. Sncf Achats can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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 .
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. Sncf Achats needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sncf Achats 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.
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.
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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sustainable Procurement at SNCF: An Impressionist's Approach to Transformation, Sncf Achats 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 .
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.
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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sncf Achats is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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.
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.