Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad
In a revolutionary technology plant, iron ore is converted into pure iron by hydrogen reduction. The case describes the process flow, including flow diagrams, mass balances, yields, and equipment uptimes. The case then describes the fixed and variable cost structure of labor, material and equipment, resulting in an analysis of the plant economics.
Swot Analysis of "Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad" written by Christoph H. Loch, Christian Terwiesch includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Iron Ore facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Iron Ore, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Iron Ore 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Iron Ore
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Iron Ore
Strengths Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Iron Ore in Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Iron Ore is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Iron Ore in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Iron Ore 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Iron Ore to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Iron Ore to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Iron Ore has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Iron Ore 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Iron Ore 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Iron Ore in the sector have low bargaining power. Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Iron Ore to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Iron Ore 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 Iron Ore in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Iron Ore 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 Christoph H. Loch, Christian Terwiesch 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
– Iron Ore has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Iron Ore to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Iron Ore is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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.
Weaknesses Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Iron Ore 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 - Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Iron Ore is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad, it seems that the employees of Iron Ore 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Iron Ore 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Iron Ore is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Iron Ore needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Iron Ore to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Iron Ore needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Iron Ore is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Iron Ore 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Iron Ore 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Iron Ore, firm in the HBR case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad | 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad are -
Loyalty marketing
– Iron Ore 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Iron Ore 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, Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Iron Ore can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Iron Ore 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Iron Ore can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Iron Ore operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Iron Ore 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Iron Ore in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Iron Ore can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Iron Ore 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Iron Ore can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Iron Ore to increase its market reach. Iron Ore 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Iron Ore has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Iron Ore to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad case study. Iron Ore can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Iron Ore 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Iron Ore to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad are -
Increasing wage structure of Iron Ore
– 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 Iron Ore.
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 Iron Ore in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad, Iron Ore may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Iron Ore has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Iron Ore needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Iron Ore 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Iron Ore with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Iron Ore 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.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Iron Ore business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Iron Ore 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
– Iron Ore 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. Iron Ore can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Iron Ore 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Pumping Iron at Cliffs & Associates: The Circored Iron Ore Reduction Plant in Trinidad 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 Iron Ore needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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