Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.What is Baosteel, a top Chinese steelmaker, doing in Brazil? The company is responding to the Chinese government's "go global" policy and to the possible rise in iron ore input costs. But steel mills are complex, capital-intensive projects, and Brazil is an emerging market that poses manifold risks to foreign investors. Vale do Rio Doce, Baosteel's prospective partner, is an iron miner with little experience in steelmaking. Baosteel must evaluate whether it is choosing the right country, partner, and site for its first overseas greenfield investment.
Swot Analysis of "Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil" written by Regina Abrami, Iacob Koch-Weser includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Baosteel Brazil facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economics, Emerging markets, Global strategy, Globalization, Manufacturing, Marketing, Risk management, Strategic planning, Strategy execution, Supply chain, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Baosteel Brazil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Baosteel Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Baosteel Brazil
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 Baosteel Brazil
Strengths Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Baosteel Brazil in Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Baosteel Brazil is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Baosteel Brazil is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Baosteel Brazil is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Regina Abrami, Iacob Koch-Weser can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High brand equity
– Baosteel Brazil has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Baosteel Brazil to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Baosteel Brazil has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Baosteel Brazil 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Baosteel Brazil in the sector have low bargaining power. Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Baosteel Brazil to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Baosteel Brazil 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Baosteel Brazil 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
– Baosteel Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Baosteel Brazil 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 Baosteel Brazil in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Baosteel Brazil
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Baosteel Brazil does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Baosteel Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil - 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil, is just above the industry average. Baosteel Brazil 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil HBR case study mentions - Baosteel Brazil 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Baosteel Brazil 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 - Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Baosteel Brazil 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil, in the dynamic environment Baosteel Brazil has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Baosteel Brazil has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Baosteel Brazil is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Baosteel Brazil 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.
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 Baosteel Brazil supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Baosteel Brazil vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Baosteel Brazil 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. Baosteel Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Baosteel Brazil has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil | 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil are -
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. Baosteel Brazil can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Baosteel Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Baosteel Brazil to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Baosteel Brazil 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 Baosteel Brazil to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Baosteel Brazil has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Baosteel Brazil to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil case study. Baosteel Brazil 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. Baosteel Brazil can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Baosteel Brazil 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Baosteel Brazil 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Baosteel Brazil 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Baosteel Brazil 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Baosteel Brazil to increase its market reach. Baosteel Brazil 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.
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 Baosteel Brazil in the consumer business. Now Baosteel Brazil can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Baosteel Brazil 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Baosteel Brazil can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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.
Threats Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Baosteel Brazil is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Baosteel Brazil 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Baosteel Brazil 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Baosteel Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil .
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Baosteel Brazil with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Baosteel Brazil needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Baosteel Brazil in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Baosteel Brazil
– 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 Baosteel Brazil.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Baosteel Brazil 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 Baosteel Brazil 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.
Environmental challenges
– Baosteel Brazil 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. Baosteel Brazil can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil, Baosteel Brazil 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Heavy Metal (A): Baosteel Enters Brazil 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 Baosteel Brazil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.