The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational
The case discusses the story of the IOI Group, one of the largest palm oil players in Malaysia, which has seen rapid growth in the past two decades. Family-controlled since 1982, the IOI Group's main businesses initially were property and palm plantations. As a relative latecomer in the palm oil industry, it grew both organically and through acquisitions, and, in 2010, had sales of about US$4.3 billion and employed 30,000 people. Over the years, the IOI Group moved away from producing crude palm oil (CPO), a key commodity, and pursued a strategy of vertical integration by moving into downstream activities such as food ingredients manufacturing and oleochemicals. This transformed IOI from a Malaysian plantation company to a global ingredients manufacturer, making IOI a good example of a so-called "emerging market multinational." The case takes the point of view of the second generation family leader who is currently in charge of the downstream businesses, and discusses three challenges he faces in IOI's transformation process: 1) the issue of optimizing and integrating the global value chain; 2) the most suitable way to coordinate a multinational company with substantial global sales and operations; and 3) adaptation to changing needs of global customers. All this is supported by extensive information on the changing dynamics in the palm oil industry, where emerging market players are moving up the value chain, snapping up manufacturing assets from global fast-moving consumer goods companies, such as Unilever, while the latter increasingly focus on branded goods and seek to exit the lower margin and capital intensive manufacturing of ingredients. Students are asked to analyze the changing industry dynamics and provide recommendations given the goal to make IOI a leading palm oil player.
Swot Analysis of "The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational" written by Marleen Dieleman, Megha Mittal includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ioi Palm facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ioi Palm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ioi Palm 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ioi Palm
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 Ioi Palm
Strengths The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ioi Palm in The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ioi Palm has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ioi Palm 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ioi Palm
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ioi Palm does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ioi Palm is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ioi Palm are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ioi Palm 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 Ioi Palm 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
– Ioi Palm 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)
– Ioi Palm 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ioi Palm is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Ioi Palm 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 Ioi Palm is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ioi Palm 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ioi Palm in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ioi Palm digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ioi Palm 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.
Weaknesses The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational, is just above the industry average. Ioi Palm 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational, in the dynamic environment Ioi Palm has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ioi Palm has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational, 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.
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 Ioi Palm supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ioi Palm vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ioi Palm products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ioi Palm needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ioi Palm 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ioi Palm is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ioi Palm needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ioi Palm to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ioi Palm 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Ioi Palm 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational HBR case study mentions - Ioi Palm 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marleen Dieleman, Megha Mittal suggests that, Ioi Palm is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Opportunities The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational | 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Ioi Palm 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 Ioi Palm 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ioi Palm 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, The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ioi Palm to increase its market reach. Ioi Palm 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ioi Palm 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.
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. Ioi Palm can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ioi Palm 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ioi Palm to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ioi Palm 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ioi Palm 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ioi Palm has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ioi Palm to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational case study. Ioi Palm can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Ioi Palm can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ioi Palm can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Ioi Palm 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.
Threats The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ioi Palm 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ioi Palm 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.
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 Ioi Palm in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Ioi Palm needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ioi Palm 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ioi Palm with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ioi Palm 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.
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. Ioi Palm can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Ioi Palm 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
– Ioi Palm 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. Ioi Palm can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing wage structure of Ioi Palm
– 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 Ioi Palm.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational 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 The IOI Group: Creating a Malaysian Palm Oil Multinational 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 Ioi Palm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.