Case Study Description of Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A)
In 2010, approximately 20,000 barrels of oil being shipped south by Enbridge spilled into Michigan's Talmadge Creek, contaminating wetlands around Battle Creek and the nearby county seat of Marshall, including a stretch of the Kalamazoo River. The timing of the incident could not have been worse. The pipeline had been carrying controversial tar sands oil at a time when Enbridge and its competitors were seeking to greatly expand their pipeline networks across North America. Moreover, the pipeline failure came on the heels of BP's much larger oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, amid a period of heightened public intolerance toward oil spills. As a result, Enbridge faced massive public relations (PR) and regulatory challenges. Enbridge's reputation was clearly at risk since the company had promoted itself as a true believer in corporate social responsibility, which had raised the stakes when dealing with the industrial accident. The CEO of Enbridge faced an almost impossible challenge. He needed to prove to American citizens - and to industry regulators, market watchers, company shareholders and Enbridge employees - that his company deserved to be judged on its own merits, not as a Canadian version of BP. To meet this challenge, he needed to demonstrate that Enbridge was run by people who not only wanted to make amends but could be trusted to do so.
Swot Analysis of "Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A)" written by Gerard Seijts, Thomas Watson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Enbridge Oil facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Enbridge Oil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Enbridge Oil
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 Enbridge Oil
Strengths Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Enbridge Oil in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Enbridge Oil is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Enbridge Oil 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Enbridge Oil is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Enbridge Oil in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) - 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 Enbridge Oil in the sector have low bargaining power. Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Enbridge Oil to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Enbridge Oil
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Enbridge Oil does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Enbridge Oil digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Enbridge Oil 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.
Analytics focus
– Enbridge Oil 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 Gerard Seijts, Thomas Watson 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Enbridge Oil has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Enbridge Oil 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Enbridge Oil is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Enbridge Oil is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Enbridge Oil 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Oil has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Enbridge Oil 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerard Seijts, Thomas Watson suggests that, Enbridge Oil 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Enbridge Oil 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Enbridge Oil is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Enbridge Oil needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Enbridge Oil to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A), in the dynamic environment Enbridge Oil has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Enbridge Oil has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Oil 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) HBR case study mentions - Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) | 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Enbridge Oil 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
– Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Enbridge Oil to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Oil 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 Enbridge Oil 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, Enbridge Oil can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Enbridge Oil operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Enbridge Oil to increase its market reach. Enbridge Oil 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Enbridge Oil 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.
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 Enbridge Oil in the consumer business. Now Enbridge Oil can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Enbridge Oil 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, Enbridge Oil 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, Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Enbridge Oil 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.
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. Enbridge Oil 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. Enbridge Oil 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.
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 Enbridge Oil 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.
Threats Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Enbridge Oil with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Enbridge Oil.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Enbridge Oil 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Enbridge Oil 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Enbridge Oil has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Enbridge Oil 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Enbridge Oil 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. Enbridge Oil can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Enbridge Oil 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
– Enbridge Oil 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.
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 Enbridge Oil business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Enbridge Oil
– 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 Enbridge Oil.
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 Enbridge Oil is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Michigan Oil Spill: Patrick Daniel's Challenge (A) 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 Enbridge Oil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.