Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program

A family-owned business, Acindar was one of the most important steel companies in Argentina. After the 2001-2002 Argentine economic crisis, it yielded its controlling stake to a new investor--Belgo Mineira, a Brazilian company of Austrian origin. Arturo Acevedo Jr., the founder's grandson, kept his managerial position as company CEO and president. Acindar Foundation, through the initiative of the company's founder Arturo Acevedo (grandfather) and in its capacity as corporate social policy enforcer, engaged in comprehensive educational, health, and environmental activities for 40 years. Depicts the changes resulting from the incorporation of the new shareholders to the company and how they reflected on the foundation's management and the corporate HR area. The triggering factor was an initiative to develop a corporate volunteer program similar to the one Belgo Mineira had implemented in Brazil--a project that integrated foundation, corporate, and HR management efforts at each production plant.

Authors :: Ariel Kievsky, Victoria Corti Maderna, Ruth Szvarc, Gabriel Berger

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Competitive strategy, Human resource management, Social enterprise, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program" written by Ariel Kievsky, Victoria Corti Maderna, Ruth Szvarc, Gabriel Berger includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Acindar Acevedo facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Human resource management, Social enterprise and Organizational Development.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, 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, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Acindar Acevedo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Acindar Acevedo 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Acindar Acevedo
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 Acindar Acevedo

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Strengths Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Acindar Acevedo in Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program Harvard Business Review case study are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Acindar Acevedo in the sector have low bargaining power. Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Acindar Acevedo to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Acindar Acevedo has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Acindar Acevedo 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.

Training and development

– Acindar Acevedo has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program 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.

High brand equity

– Acindar Acevedo has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Acindar Acevedo to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Acindar Acevedo in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Learning organization

- Acindar Acevedo 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 Acindar Acevedo is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Acindar Acevedo is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Acindar Acevedo 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry

– Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Acindar Acevedo to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Acindar Acevedo to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field

– Acindar Acevedo is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Acindar Acevedo in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Acindar Acevedo 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Acindar Acevedo has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

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Weaknesses Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Acindar Acevedo 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Acindar Acevedo, firm in the HBR case study Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program, is just above the industry average. Acindar Acevedo 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Acindar Acevedo 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. Acindar Acevedo 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Acindar Acevedo has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Acindar Acevedo is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Acindar Acevedo needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Acindar Acevedo to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

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 Acindar Acevedo supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Acindar Acevedo vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program, it seems that the employees of Acindar Acevedo 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Acindar Acevedo products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Acindar Acevedo needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Need for greater diversity

– Acindar Acevedo 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Acindar Acevedo 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 - Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

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Opportunities Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program | 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Acindar Acevedo 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Acindar Acevedo to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Acindar Acevedo 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 Organizational Development segment.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Acindar Acevedo has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Acindar Acevedo to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program case study. Acindar Acevedo can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Loyalty marketing

– Acindar Acevedo 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Acindar Acevedo 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 Acindar Acevedo to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Acindar Acevedo to increase its market reach. Acindar Acevedo 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Acindar Acevedo 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.

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 Acindar Acevedo 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Acindar Acevedo can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Acindar Acevedo can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Acindar Acevedo can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Acindar Acevedo can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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. Acindar Acevedo can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Acindar Acevedo in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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Threats Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program are -

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Acindar Acevedo has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Acindar Acevedo 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Acindar Acevedo 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.

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. Acindar Acevedo needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development 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, Acindar Acevedo 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program .

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program, Acindar Acevedo may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Acindar Acevedo 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

– Acindar Acevedo 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. Acindar Acevedo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.

Increasing wage structure of Acindar Acevedo

– 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 Acindar Acevedo.

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 Acindar Acevedo in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Acindar Acevedo is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Acindar Acevedo 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.

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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program 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 Acindar and Its Corporate Volunteer Program 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 Acindar Acevedo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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