Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. SWOT Analysis / Matrix

Business Essays, Term Papers & Research Papers

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that can be used by Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. managers to do a situational analysis of the organization . It is an important technique to map out the present Strengths (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) & Threats (T) Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is facing in its current business environment.

The Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is one of the leading companies in its industry. Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. maintains its prominent position in market by carefully analyzing and reviewing the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis a highly interactive process and requires effective coordination among various departments within the organization such as – marketing, finance, operations, management information systems and strategic planning.

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The SWOT Analysis framework facilitates an organization to identify the internal strategic factors such as -strengths and weaknesses, & external strategic factors such as - opportunities and threats. It leads to a 2X2 matrix – also known as SWOT Matrix.

The Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis / Matrix enables the managers of the Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. to develop four types of strategies:

SO (strengths-opportunities) Strategies
WO (weaknesses-opportunities) Strategies
ST (strengths-threats) Strategies
WT (weaknesses-threats) Strategies

Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. swot analysis / matrix

SWOT Matrix Strategies Objective

The primary purpose of SWOT matrix is to identify the strategies that an organization can use to exploit external opportunities, counter threats, and build on & protect Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. strengths, and eradicate its weaknesses.

Step by Step Guide to Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. SWOT Analysis

Strengths of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. – Internal Strategic Factors

As one of the leading organizations in its industry, Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. has numerous strengths that help it to thrive in the market place. These strengths not only help it to protect the market share in existing markets but also help in penetrating new markets. Based on Fern Fort University extensive research – some of the strengths of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. are –

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Strong Brand Portfolio – Over the years Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. has invested in building a strong brand portfolio. The SWOT analysis of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. just underlines this fact. This brand portfolio can be extremely useful if the organization wants to expand into new product categories.
High level of customer satisfaction – the company with its dedicated customer relationship management department has able to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction among present customers and good brand equity among the potential customers.
Strong dealer community – It has built a culture among distributor & dealers where the dealers not only promote company’s products but also invest in training the sales team to explain to the customer how he/she can extract the maximum benefits out of the products.
Highly skilled workforce through successful training and learning programs. Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is investing huge resources in training and development of its employees resulting in a workforce that is not only highly skilled but also motivated to achieve more.
Successful track record of developing new products – product innovation.
Automation of activities brought consistency of quality to Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. products and has enabled the company to scale up and scale down based on the demand conditions in the market.
Strong distribution network – Over the years Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. has built a reliable distribution network that can reach majority of its potential market.
Highly successful at Go To Market strategies for its products.

Weakness of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. – Internal Strategic Factors

Weakness are the areas where Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. can improve upon. Strategy is about making choices and weakness are the areas where a firm can improve using SWOT analysis and build on its competitive advantage and strategic positioning.

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Limited success outside core business – Even though Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is one of the leading organizations in its industry it has faced challenges in moving to other product segments with its present culture.
Organization structure is only compatible with present business model thus limiting expansion in adjacent product segments.
Days inventory is high compare to the competitors – making the company raise more capital to invest in the channel. This can impact the long term growth of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.
Not very good at product demand forecasting leading to higher rate of missed opportunities compare to its competitors. One of the reason why the days inventory is high compare to its competitors is that Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is not very good at demand forecasting thus end up keeping higher inventory both in-house and in channel.
There are gaps in the product range sold by the company. This lack of choice can give a new competitor a foothold in the market.
Investment in Research and Development is below the fastest growing players in the industry. Even though Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. is spending above the industry average on Research and Development, it has not been able to compete with the leading players in the industry in terms of innovation. It has come across as a mature firm looking forward to bring out products based on tested features in the market.
Financial planning is not done properly and efficiently. The current asset ratio and liquid asset ratios suggest that the company can use the cash more efficiently than what it is doing at present.

Opportunities for Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. – External Strategic Factors

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The new technology provides an opportunity to Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. to practices differentiated pricing strategy in the new market. It will enable the firm to maintain its loyal customers with great service and lure new customers through other value oriented propositions.
Lower inflation rate – The low inflation rate bring more stability in the market, enable credit at lower interest rate to the customers of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd..
Decreasing cost of transportation because of lower shipping prices can also bring down the cost of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.’s products thus providing an opportunity to the company - either to boost its profitability or pass on the benefits to the customers to gain market share.
Stable free cash flow provides opportunities to invest in adjacent product segments. With more cash in bank the company can invest in new technologies as well as in new products segments. This should open a window of opportunity for Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. in other product categories.
The market development will lead to dilution of competitor’s advantage and enable Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. to increase its competitiveness compare to the other competitors.
Opening up of new markets because of government agreement – the adoption of new technology standard and government free trade agreement has provided Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. an opportunity to enter a new emerging market.
Economic uptick and increase in customer spending, after years of recession and slow growth rate in the industry, is an opportunity for Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. to capture new customers and increase its market share.
The new taxation policy can significantly impact the way of doing business and can open new opportunity for established players such as Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. to increase its profitability.

Threats Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. Facing - External Strategic Factors

New technologies developed by the competitor or market disruptor could be a serious threat to the industry in medium to long term future.
Rising pay level especially movements such as $15 an hour and increasing prices in the China can lead to serious pressure on profitability of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.
The company can face lawsuits in various markets given - different laws and continuous fluctuations regarding product standards in those markets.
Increasing trend toward isolationism in the American economy can lead to similar reaction from other government thus negatively impacting the international sales.
Intense competition – Stable profitability has increased the number of players in the industry over last two years which has put downward pressure on not only profitability but also on overall sales.
Liability laws in different countries are different and Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. may be exposed to various liability claims given change in policies in those markets.
The demand of the highly profitable products is seasonal in nature and any unlikely event during the peak season may impact the profitability of the company in short to medium term.
Imitation of the counterfeit and low quality product is also a threat to Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.’s product especially in the emerging markets and low income markets.

Limitations of SWOT Analysis for Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.

Although the SWOT analysis is widely used as a strategic planning tool, the analysis does have its share of limitations.

Certain capabilities or factors of an organization can be both a strength and weakness at the same time. This is one of the major limitations of SWOT analysis . For example changing environmental regulations can be both a threat to company it can also be an opportunity in a sense that it will enable the company to be on a level playing field or at advantage to competitors if it able to develop the products faster than the competitors.
SWOT does not show how to achieve a competitive advantage, so it must not be an end in itself.
The matrix is only a starting point for a discussion on how proposed strategies could be implemented. It provided an evaluation window but not an implementation plan based on strategic competitiveness of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.
SWOT is a static assessment - analysis of status quo with few prospective changes. As circumstances, capabilities, threats, and strategies change, the dynamics of a competitive environment may not be revealed in a single matrix.
SWOT analysis may lead the firm to overemphasize a single internal or external factor in formulating strategies. There are interrelationships among the key internal and external factors that SWOT does not reveal that may be important in devising strategies.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.

In light of the above mentioned limitations of the SWOT analysis / matrix, corporate managers decided to provide weightage to each internal strength and weakness of the firm. Organizations also assess the likelihood of events taking place in the coming future and how strong their impact could be on company's performance.

This method is called Weighted SWOT analysis. It is better than doing simplistic SWOT analysis because with Weighted SWOT Analysis Bellatrix Exploration Ltd. managers can focus on the most critical factors and discount the non-important one. It also solves the long list problem where organizations ends up making a long list but none of the factors deemed too critical.

Limitation of Weighted SWOT analysis of Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.

This approach also suffers from one major drawback - it focus on individual importance of factor rather than how they are collectively important and impact the business holistically.

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Example of Weighted SWOT Analysis

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SWOT Worksheet & Template

If you like to do your own SWOT analysis or want to make your own Weighted SWOT SWOT matrix then feel free to download Fern Fort University SWOT Analysis Template.

References / Citations & Bibliography

M. E. Porter, Competitive Strategy(New York: Free Press, 1980)
A. D. Chandler, Strategy and Structure (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1962)
O. E. Williamson, Markets and Hierarchies(New York: Free Press, 1975);
L. Wrigley, Divisional Autonomy and Diversification (PhD, Harvard Business School, 1970)
R. E. White, Generic Business Strategies, Organizational Context and Performance: An Empirical Investigation, Strategic Management Journal7 (1986)