Strad Energy Svcs (SDY) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Oil Well Services & Equipment
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Strad Energy Svcs (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Strad Energy Svcs is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Strad Energy Svcs
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Strad Energy Svcs can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Strad Energy Svcs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Strad Energy Svcs
2. Improving business portfolio management of Strad Energy Svcs
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Oil Well Services & Equipment sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Strad Energy Svcs
Strengths of Strad Energy Svcs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Strad Energy Svcs are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry
– Strad Energy Svcs has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Strad Energy Svcs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Strad Energy Svcs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Strad Energy Svcs is present in almost all the verticals within the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. This has provided Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry
– Strad Energy Svcs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Strad Energy Svcs in the Energy sector have low bargaining power. Strad Energy Svcs has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Strad Energy Svcs to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Strad Energy Svcs has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Analytics focus
– Strad Energy Svcs 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 Well Services & Equipment industry. The technology infrastructure of Canada 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 brand equity
– Strad Energy Svcs has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Strad Energy Svcs to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Oil Well Services & Equipment 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.
Ability to lead change in Oil Well Services & Equipment
– Strad Energy Svcs is one of the leading players in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry in Canada. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry in Canada but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Strad Energy Svcs in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Strad Energy Svcs in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Strad Energy Svcs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Strad Energy Svcs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses of Strad Energy Svcs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Strad Energy Svcs are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Strad Energy Svcs is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry, but Strad Energy Svcs needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Strad Energy Svcs to focus more on services in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Strad Energy Svcs 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Strad Energy Svcs has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Strad Energy Svcs, in the dynamic environment of Oil Well Services & Equipment industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Strad Energy Svcs has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on Strad Energy Svcs ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Strad Energy Svcs still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Strad Energy Svcs has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Strad Energy Svcs supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Strad Energy Svcs is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Strad Energy Svcs vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Strad Energy Svcs is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Strad Energy Svcs to provide better information regarding Oil Well Services & Equipment products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Strad Energy Svcs products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Strad Energy Svcs needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Strad Energy Svcs has some of the most successful models in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Strad Energy Svcs should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Strad Energy Svcs has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Strad Energy Svcs Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Strad Energy Svcs are -
Manufacturing automation
– Strad Energy Svcs can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Oil Well Services & Equipment 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Strad Energy Svcs to increase its market reach. Strad Energy Svcs 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
– Strad Energy Svcs 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.
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 Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Strad Energy Svcs 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 Well Services & Equipment industry.
Developing new processes and practices
– Strad Energy Svcs can develop new processes and procedures in Oil Well Services & Equipment 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Strad Energy Svcs in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. Now Strad Energy Svcs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Strad Energy Svcs is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Strad Energy Svcs can utilize new technology in the field of Oil Well Services & Equipment 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 Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Strad Energy Svcs has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Oil Well Services & Equipment sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Strad Energy Svcs to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Strad Energy Svcs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Strad Energy Svcs has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. This can help Strad Energy Svcs to build a more holistic ecosystem for Strad Energy Svcs products in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Strad Energy Svcs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Strad Energy Svcs are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Strad Energy Svcs is facing in Oil Well Services & Equipment sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Strad Energy Svcs 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 Well Services & Equipment industry are lowering. It can presents Strad Energy Svcs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Oil Well Services & Equipment sector.
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. Strad Energy Svcs 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Strad Energy Svcs 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, Strad Energy Svcs 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 Well Services & Equipment sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Strad Energy Svcs 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 Well Services & Equipment industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Strad Energy Svcs 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 Well Services & Equipment industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Strad Energy Svcs 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. Strad Energy Svcs can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Strad Energy Svcs in Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. The Oil Well Services & Equipment 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs prominent markets.
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.
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. Strad Energy Svcs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Oil Well Services & Equipment industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Strad Energy Svcs Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs 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 Strad Energy Svcs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.