Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B)
The case reveals that Ford decided to open its own e-coating plant in Gujarat, India, and details how the decision was made at different organizational levels.
Swot Analysis of "Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B)" written by Juan Alcacer, Nancy Hua Dai includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Coating Gujarat facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Decision making, Global strategy, Motivating people, Organizational structure, Strategy, Supply chain and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Coating Gujarat, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Coating Gujarat 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 Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Coating Gujarat
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Coating Gujarat
Strengths Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Coating Gujarat in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Coating Gujarat 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 Coating Gujarat in the sector have low bargaining power. Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Coating Gujarat to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Coating Gujarat digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Coating Gujarat 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Coating Gujarat has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Coating Gujarat 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
- Coating Gujarat 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 Coating Gujarat is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Coating Gujarat
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Coating Gujarat does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Coating Gujarat in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Coating Gujarat is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Coating Gujarat has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Coating Gujarat has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Coating Gujarat has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) - 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 Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Coating Gujarat 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, Coating Gujarat 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Coating Gujarat has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Coating Gujarat even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Coating Gujarat has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B), it seems that the employees of Coating Gujarat don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Coating Gujarat is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B), in the dynamic environment Coating Gujarat has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Coating Gujarat has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Coating Gujarat is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Coating Gujarat has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) HBR case study mentions - Coating Gujarat takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Coating Gujarat 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.
Opportunities Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Coating Gujarat can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Coating Gujarat operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Coating Gujarat has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Coating Gujarat to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) case study. Coating Gujarat can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Coating Gujarat 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Coating Gujarat can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Coating Gujarat 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
– Coating Gujarat has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Coating Gujarat to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Coating Gujarat can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) suggest that firm 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Coating Gujarat can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Coating Gujarat in the consumer business. Now Coating Gujarat can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Coating Gujarat can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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
– Coating Gujarat 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.
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. Coating Gujarat can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Coating Gujarat 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 Coating Gujarat to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) are -
Increasing wage structure of Coating Gujarat
– 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 Coating Gujarat.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Coating Gujarat 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 prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Coating Gujarat 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.
Environmental challenges
– Coating Gujarat 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. Coating Gujarat can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Coating Gujarat can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Coating Gujarat in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Coating Gujarat 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Coating Gujarat can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Coating Gujarat business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Coating Gujarat is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Coating Gujarat has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Coating Gujarat needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
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.
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 Coating Gujarat.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) 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 the case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) 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 the Harvard case study Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) 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 Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B) is 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 Coating Gujarat needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.