Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy
Schneider Electric has focused primarily on urban customers in the energy management space. The question is the extent to which it should prioritise rural opportunities for meeting the energy needs of the bottom of the pyramid, and whether these initiatives can be transitioned from subsidised social responsibility projects to self-sustaining businesses.
Swot Analysis of "Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy" written by Jasjit Singh, Christiane Bode includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Schneider Prioritise facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Schneider Prioritise, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Schneider Prioritise
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 Schneider Prioritise
Strengths Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Schneider Prioritise in Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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.
Training and development
– Schneider Prioritise has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Schneider Prioritise has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Schneider Prioritise 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Schneider Prioritise 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Schneider Prioritise is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Schneider Prioritise has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Schneider Prioritise to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Schneider Prioritise digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Schneider Prioritise 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Schneider Prioritise in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Schneider Prioritise to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Schneider Prioritise to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Schneider Prioritise is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Jasjit Singh, Christiane Bode can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Innovation driven organization
– Schneider Prioritise is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Prioritise 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy, 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Schneider Prioritise 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. Schneider Prioritise 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Schneider Prioritise is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Schneider Prioritise needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Schneider Prioritise to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy, it seems that the employees of Schneider Prioritise 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy, is just above the industry average. Schneider Prioritise 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Schneider Prioritise has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Prioritise has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Schneider Prioritise supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Schneider Prioritise vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy HBR case study mentions - Schneider Prioritise 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.
Opportunities Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy | 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Schneider Prioritise is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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.
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 Schneider Prioritise 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Schneider Prioritise 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Schneider Prioritise 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Prioritise to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Schneider Prioritise can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Schneider Prioritise operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Schneider Prioritise can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Schneider Prioritise to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Schneider Prioritise 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, Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Schneider Prioritise 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Schneider Prioritise to increase its market reach. Schneider Prioritise 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.
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 Schneider Prioritise in the consumer business. Now Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Prioritise 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.
Threats Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy are -
Environmental challenges
– Schneider Prioritise 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. Schneider Prioritise can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Schneider Prioritise 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Schneider Prioritise in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Schneider Prioritise is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Schneider Prioritise 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy .
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. Schneider Prioritise 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.
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 Schneider Prioritise
– 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 Schneider Prioritise.
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 Schneider Prioritise business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Schneider Prioritise 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Schneider Prioritise 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.
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.
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 Schneider Prioritise in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Electric in Rural India: Integrating Social Responsibility with BOP Strategy 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 Schneider Prioritise needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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