Stratigic mangement / Shell case study
...ent of the Problem In 1994, Saro-Wiwa was arrested and sentenced to death along with eight Ogoni activists because of their leadership of a protest movement. The main reason for that was because they organized a protest against the Nigerian government as well as Shell demanding their rights in the oil revenues that is generated on their own lands and a compensation for the environmental problems occurred to their lands as well. Despite the intense international pressure, the execution went ahead as scheduled on November 1995. After that, shell was widely criticized in the western media because it did not use its influence to free the convicted. Also, that raised the question of the roles and responsibilities of the multinational corporations in societies that have low standards of protecting human rights and the environments such as Nigeria. What this Case Analysis will discuss In this case, we will explain what the significance of that story on Shell is and how it was supposed to react. Also what has happened to the Ogoni people aftermath? Later on, we will see what the importance of this analysis is followed by a detailed SWOT analysis. Finally, we will evaluate it by putting the Strengths with the Weaknesses, Opportunuty with the Threads and make some findings and recommendations for Shell as well as some general suggestions to be done. Significance of the Problem By the time Shell is operating in a third world country such as Nigeria, it should realize that the culture there is completely different than the western world especially in terms of human rights issues. Shell has been widely blamed in Nigeria for its low environmental standards there such as frequent oil spills and contaminating soil & ground water, ignoring the Ogoni problems on which Shell was one of the reasons, not influencing the government to give the release of Saro-Wiwa and his members and so on. Also, it should do voluntarily actions in cleaning the environment such as what happened in the beginning of the 1990s when the sunken oil reappeared in the surface of Ogoni lands but Shell did not do anything claiming that it endangers its employees. That caused the Ogoni to organize the first protests against Shell and the Nigerian government in 1993. These events followed by a series of storming villages by the Nigerian soldiers targeting the Ogoni in particular. The villagers say that it is a punishment for obstructing Shell. They also stated that the military has ordered to destroy entire villages by using weak justification or excuses for their actions. As a result, hundreds of people lost their lives in the violence. In turn, this provided the government the justification it required to arrest Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other associates in the movements for the survival of the Ogoni people. Importance of the Analysis After those sad events, what is the future of Shell in Nigeria as well as its image in the whole world? How that might affect its future operations in Nigeria and the whole world. Was what happened in Nigeria considered as a shame story with regard to Shell bright history or not. What are the new threats and opportunities to Shell in Nigeria and world wide? These are some major and general concerns about Shell regarding what happened in Nigeria. Indeed, the company should consider what went wrong in that story. A proper analysis will help Shell find out its faults and how to avoid it later on. A list of SWOT items may helps a lot to do so. SWOT Analysis of Shell Strengths - It is the main oil company operating in Nigeria. - It is a huge company on which a world leader in oil operations. - It is very efficient in doing its business. - It has a long stay and experiences in Nigeria. - It has been granted by the Nigerian government a liquefied gas project. - Superior in R&D skills. - It usually made some joint ventures with the government. - It has a diversified projects and good management of its strategic changes. Weaknesses - It ignored the Ogoni minorities. - It has bad future vision in Nigeria. - It got calls from many nations to boycott it. This might cause a loss of customers and disrupt its image and reputation worldwide. - Inability of shell to use its influence and power to pressure the Nigerian government to free the Ogoni convicted. Opportunities - No major rivalry and competitors in its industry especially in Nigeria. - It has already established the oil facilities in Nigeria. - It can apply R&D skills in new areas. - It has no need to have any new acquisitions. - It started to exploit new market segment which is the gas area. - By the growing population, it can expand the demand for oil and seek fast market growth. Threats - The foreign competition started to increase in the oil sector. - Shell has caused so many environmental threats due to its low environmental standards such as frequent oil spills on which Shell was blamed as well as contaminating soil and underground water. - In Nigeria, the political problem may cause it to loss huge projects such as the liquefied gas. - In Nigeria, Shell is operating in an unstable political condition. - In Nigeria, the economy is down turning. - In Nigeria, there are frequent attacks on the oil industry by the people. - In Nigeria, the ruling regime is military. Evaluating the Analysis The previous analysis shows that Shell is in a strong position in general. Th...