Polyard Petroleum Intl Group (8011) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Oil & Gas Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Polyard Petroleum Intl Group (Hong Kong)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Polyard Petroleum Intl Group is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Polyard Petroleum Intl Group, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group
2. Improving business portfolio management of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Oil & Gas Operations sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group
Strengths of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group are -
Digital Transformation in Oil & Gas Operations industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Polyard Petroleum Intl Group digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Organizational Resilience of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Polyard Petroleum Intl Group does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group is one of the most innovative firm in Oil & Gas Operations sector.
Learning organization
- Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Polyard Petroleum Intl Group emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Oil & Gas Operations industry
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Oil & Gas Operations industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
High brand equity
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group in Oil & Gas Operations industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Oil & Gas Operations industry
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Oil & Gas Operations industry, but Polyard Petroleum Intl Group needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to focus more on services in the Oil & Gas Operations industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Oil & Gas Operations industry using digital technology.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Polyard Petroleum Intl Group is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Oil & Gas Operations industry, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group is just above the Oil & Gas Operations 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.
Skills based hiring in Oil & Gas Operations industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Polyard Petroleum Intl Group, in the dynamic environment of Oil & Gas Operations industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hong Kong, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group lucrative customers.
Polyard Petroleum Intl Group Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group are -
Buying journey improvements
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Oil & Gas Operations 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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. Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Polyard Petroleum Intl Group operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Oil & Gas Operations sector.
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. Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. Now Polyard Petroleum Intl Group can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Oil & Gas Operations industry. This can help Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to build a more holistic ecosystem for Polyard Petroleum Intl Group products in the Oil & Gas Operations industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Polyard Petroleum Intl Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group are -
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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group in the Oil & Gas Operations sector and impact the bottomline 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.
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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Oil & Gas Operations industry are lowering. It can presents Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Polyard Petroleum Intl Group has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Oil & Gas Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Oil & Gas Operations 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Polyard Petroleum Intl Group in Oil & Gas Operations industry. The Oil & Gas Operations 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.
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. Polyard Petroleum Intl Group needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Oil & Gas Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group prominent markets.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group
– 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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.
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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Polyard Petroleum Intl Group Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group 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 Polyard Petroleum Intl Group needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.