Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals
2. Improving business portfolio management of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Oil & Gas Operations sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals
Strengths of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals staying ahead in the Oil & Gas Operations industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
Training and development
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Oil & Gas Operations 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals in the Energy sector have low bargaining power. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Oil & Gas Operations industry
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Oil & Gas Operations
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is one of the leading players in the Oil & Gas Operations industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Oil & Gas Operations industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Oil & Gas Operations industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals in Oil & Gas Operations industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management in the Oil & Gas Operations industry
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals are -
High bargaining power of channel partners in Oil & Gas Operations industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Oil & Gas Operations industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has high operating costs in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Oil & Gas Operations industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Oil & Gas Operations industry. 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has some of the most successful models in the Oil & Gas Operations industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Oil & Gas Operations industry over the last five years. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is one of the leading players in the Oil & Gas Operations industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Oil & Gas Operations industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Oil & Gas Operations industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is planning to shift buying processes online.
Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Oil & Gas Operations sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Oil & Gas Operations industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. Now Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
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. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Oil & Gas Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can utilize new technology in the field of Oil & Gas Operations industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can develop new processes and procedures in Oil & Gas Operations 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Oil & Gas Operations industry. This can help Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals to build a more holistic ecosystem for Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals products in the Oil & Gas Operations industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
Threats Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Operations industry and other sectors.
Increasing wage structure of Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals
– 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Oil & Gas Operations industry are lowering. It can presents Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Oil & Gas Operations sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals prominent markets.
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. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Oil & Gas Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals.
Environmental challenges
– Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Oil & Gas Operations industry.
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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Oil & Gas Operations sector.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals in the Oil & Gas Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Oil & Gas Operations industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals 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 Coastal Caribbean Oils & Minerals needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.