Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – 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, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR
Strengths of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR in the sector have low bargaining power. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR in industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in industry
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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
- Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is one of the leading players in the 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Analytics focus
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR are -
High dependence on Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is just above the industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR, in the dynamic environment of industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR are -
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. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR in the industry. Now Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can improve the customer journey of consumers in the 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.
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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to increase its market reach. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in industry. This can help Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR products in the industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 industry.
Developing new processes and practices
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can utilize new technology in the field of industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR.
Regulatory challenges
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 industry regulations.
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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR in the sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
Environmental challenges
– Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the 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. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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.
Increasing wage structure of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR
– 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR prominent markets.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR 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 Gulf Keystone Petroleum ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.