Black Ridge Oil Gas (ANFC) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Oil & Gas - Integrated
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Black Ridge Oil Gas (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Black Ridge Oil Gas is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Black Ridge Oil Gas
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Black Ridge Oil Gas can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Black Ridge Oil Gas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Black Ridge Oil Gas
2. Improving business portfolio management of Black Ridge Oil Gas
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Oil & Gas - Integrated sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Black Ridge Oil Gas
Strengths of Black Ridge Oil Gas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Black Ridge Oil Gas are -
Analytics focus
– Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry
– Black Ridge Oil Gas has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Black Ridge Oil Gas to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Black Ridge Oil Gas to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Black Ridge Oil Gas has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Black Ridge Oil Gas has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Learning organization
- Black Ridge Oil Gas is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Black Ridge Oil Gas is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Black Ridge Oil Gas emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Black Ridge Oil Gas has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Black Ridge Oil Gas have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Black Ridge Oil Gas in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Black Ridge Oil Gas has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Black Ridge Oil Gas to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Black Ridge Oil Gas are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Training and development
– Black Ridge Oil Gas has one of the best training and development program in Energy industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Black Ridge Oil Gas
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Black Ridge Oil Gas does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Black Ridge Oil Gas digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
Weaknesses of Black Ridge Oil Gas | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Black Ridge Oil Gas are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Black Ridge Oil Gas is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry, but Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Black Ridge Oil Gas to focus more on services in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Black Ridge Oil Gas can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Black Ridge Oil Gas is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Oil & Gas - Integrated industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Black Ridge Oil Gas has some of the most successful models in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Black Ridge Oil Gas 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, Black Ridge Oil Gas is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Black Ridge Oil Gas to provide better information regarding Oil & Gas - Integrated products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ less understanding of Black Ridge Oil Gas strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
High dependence on Black Ridge Oil Gas ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Black Ridge Oil Gas still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Black Ridge Oil Gas has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Black Ridge Oil Gas has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Black Ridge Oil Gas, in the dynamic environment of Oil & Gas - Integrated industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Black Ridge Oil Gas has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Black Ridge Oil Gas products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Black Ridge Oil Gas Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Black Ridge Oil Gas are -
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Black Ridge Oil Gas in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. Now Black Ridge Oil Gas can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Oil & Gas - Integrated industry.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
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 Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Black Ridge Oil Gas is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Black Ridge Oil Gas can utilize new technology in the field of Oil & Gas - Integrated industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Black Ridge Oil Gas 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. Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Black Ridge Oil Gas has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. This can help Black Ridge Oil Gas to build a more holistic ecosystem for Black Ridge Oil Gas products in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Black Ridge Oil Gas can develop new processes and procedures in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Black Ridge Oil Gas to increase its market reach. Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Black Ridge Oil Gas can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Black Ridge Oil Gas in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Black Ridge Oil Gas can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Black Ridge Oil Gas External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Black Ridge Oil Gas are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Oil & Gas - Integrated industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Oil & Gas - Integrated industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Oil & Gas - Integrated industry and other sectors.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Black Ridge Oil Gas has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Oil & Gas - Integrated 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.
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. Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas prominent markets.
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. Black Ridge Oil Gas 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.
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 Black Ridge Oil Gas.
Environmental challenges
– Black Ridge Oil Gas 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. Black Ridge Oil Gas can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Oil & Gas - Integrated industry.
Increasing wage structure of Black Ridge Oil Gas
– 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas.
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 Black Ridge Oil Gas is facing in Oil & Gas - Integrated sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Oil & Gas - Integrated industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Black Ridge Oil Gas can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Black Ridge Oil Gas Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas 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 Black Ridge Oil Gas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.