Connecticut Water Service (CTWS) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Water Utilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Connecticut Water Service (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Connecticut Water Service is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Connecticut Water Service
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Connecticut Water Service can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Connecticut Water Service, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Connecticut Water Service
2. Improving business portfolio management of Connecticut Water Service
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Water Utilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Connecticut Water Service
Strengths of Connecticut Water Service | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Connecticut Water Service are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Connecticut Water Service has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Water Utilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Connecticut Water Service have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Connecticut Water Service is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Connecticut Water Service is present in almost all the verticals within the Water Utilities industry. This has provided Connecticut Water Service 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.
Organizational Resilience of Connecticut Water Service
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Connecticut Water Service does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Water Utilities
– Connecticut Water Service is one of the leading players in the Water Utilities industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Water Utilities industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Connecticut Water Service in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Connecticut Water Service emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Water Utilities industry
– Connecticut Water Service is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Water Utilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Connecticut Water Service digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Connecticut Water Service 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Water Utilities industry
– Connecticut Water Service has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Connecticut Water Service to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Water Utilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Connecticut Water Service to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Connecticut Water Service has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Connecticut Water Service to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Connecticut Water Service comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Water Utilities 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Connecticut Water Service has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Connecticut Water Service 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.
Weaknesses of Connecticut Water Service | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Connecticut Water Service are -
High dependence on Connecticut Water Service ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Connecticut Water Service still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Water Utilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Connecticut Water Service has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ less understanding of Connecticut Water Service strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Connecticut Water Service 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.
Skills based hiring in Water Utilities industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Connecticut Water Service has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
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 Connecticut Water Service supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Connecticut Water Service is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Connecticut Water Service vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Connecticut Water Service is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Water Utilities industry, but Connecticut Water Service needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Connecticut Water Service to focus more on services in the Water Utilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Connecticut Water Service needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Water Utilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Connecticut Water Service 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 Water Utilities industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Connecticut Water Service products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Connecticut Water Service needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Connecticut Water Service 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Water Utilities industry, Connecticut Water Service 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Connecticut Water Service has some of the most successful models in the Water Utilities industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Connecticut Water Service should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Connecticut Water Service Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Connecticut Water Service are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Connecticut Water Service to increase its market reach. Connecticut Water Service 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Connecticut Water Service has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Water Utilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Connecticut Water Service in the Water Utilities industry. Now Connecticut Water Service can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Connecticut Water Service can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Water Utilities sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Connecticut Water Service can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Connecticut Water Service 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service 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, Connecticut Water Service is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Connecticut Water Service can utilize new technology in the field of Water Utilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Connecticut Water Service 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Water Utilities industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Connecticut Water Service 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. Connecticut Water Service 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Connecticut Water Service has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Water Utilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Connecticut Water Service to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Connecticut Water Service 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
– Connecticut Water Service can develop new processes and procedures in Water Utilities 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.
Threats Connecticut Water Service External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Connecticut Water Service are -
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 Connecticut Water Service business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Connecticut Water Service is facing in Water Utilities sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Connecticut Water Service has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Water Utilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Connecticut Water Service needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Water Utilities 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.
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 Connecticut Water Service in the Water Utilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Connecticut Water Service
– 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 Connecticut Water Service.
Regulatory challenges
– Connecticut Water Service 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 Water Utilities industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service 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. Connecticut Water Service needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Water Utilities 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 Connecticut Water Service.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Water Utilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Connecticut Water Service can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Connecticut Water Service may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Water Utilities sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Connecticut Water Service in Water Utilities industry. The Water Utilities 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Connecticut Water Service Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service 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 Connecticut Water Service needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.