Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession
Kfar Giladi Quarries (KGQ), situated in northern Israel, faces a crisis: the national economy is in recession; the government budget for infrastructure development and construction, on which the company depends, has been reduced; transportation and distribution problems limit its ability to export (or import) cheap raw materials; and there is increasing competition in the industry. The company had recently dissolved its partnership with Malibu Israel Company Ltd., an international company that had given it access to the central part of Israel where most infrastructure and construction jobs and investments are located. The result has been loss in business and a negative cash flow. The case allows students to practise basic tools for strategic planning and permits guidance to companies hesitating over a recovery program, especially during an economic recession; companies in a reorganization phase after separation from a partner; and/or companies that have to shift their management paradigm.
Swot Analysis of "Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession" written by Sara Edom, Ilan Alon, Jennifer Dugosh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Giladi Kfar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Giladi Kfar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Giladi Kfar 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Giladi Kfar
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Giladi Kfar
Strengths Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Giladi Kfar in Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Giladi Kfar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Giladi Kfar 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 Giladi Kfar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Giladi Kfar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Giladi Kfar 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Giladi Kfar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Giladi Kfar 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Giladi Kfar 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Giladi Kfar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Giladi Kfar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Giladi Kfar 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Giladi Kfar in the sector have low bargaining power. Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Giladi Kfar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Giladi Kfar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Giladi Kfar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession, it seems that the employees of Giladi Kfar 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Giladi Kfar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession HBR case study mentions - Giladi Kfar 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Giladi Kfar 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession, is just above the industry average. Giladi Kfar 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.
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 Giladi Kfar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Giladi Kfar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Giladi Kfar 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. Giladi Kfar 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Giladi Kfar 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Giladi Kfar is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Giladi Kfar 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.
Opportunities Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession | 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Giladi Kfar can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Giladi Kfar in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Giladi Kfar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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.
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. Giladi Kfar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Giladi Kfar 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, Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Giladi Kfar can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Giladi Kfar 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Giladi Kfar 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Giladi Kfar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Giladi Kfar 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Giladi Kfar can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Giladi Kfar 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Giladi Kfar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Giladi Kfar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Giladi Kfar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession case study. Giladi Kfar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession are -
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.
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. Giladi Kfar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Giladi Kfar 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 the industry and other sectors.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Giladi Kfar in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Giladi Kfar can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Giladi Kfar
– 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 Giladi Kfar.
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. Giladi Kfar 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.
Environmental challenges
– Giladi Kfar 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. Giladi Kfar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Giladi Kfar 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Giladi Kfar is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession, Giladi Kfar may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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 Giladi Kfar in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Giladi Kfar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Giladi Kfar needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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 Kfar Giladi Quarries: Crisis During an Economic Recession 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 Giladi Kfar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.