Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B
This case describes the evolution of IT management at Alcan during the period from 2006-2007. At that time, IT governance and the IT function itself were undergoing a complete transformation. The case follows the Vice-President of Corporate Information Technology from the time of his arrival at Alcan: his observations on the current state of IT management, his appointment to the position of Chief Information Officer and the development of his new strategic plan for IT management. Part A presents the main features and challenges of IT management at Alcan up until the middle of 2006. Part B continues with the main concepts and elements of the CIO's new strategic plan for IT management. Students are encouraged to reflect on the characteristics, implications and challenges represented by IT management in a large global organization.
Swot Analysis of "Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B" written by Line Dube, Carmen Bernier, Vital Roy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Alcan Management facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management, Strategy and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Alcan Management, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Alcan Management 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Alcan Management
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 Alcan Management
Strengths Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Alcan Management in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Alcan Management in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Alcan Management has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Alcan Management has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Training and development
– Alcan Management has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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.
Learning organization
- Alcan Management 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 Alcan Management is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Alcan Management is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Alcan Management 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Alcan Management is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Alcan Management in the sector have low bargaining power. Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Alcan Management to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Alcan Management has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Alcan Management to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Alcan Management 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 Alcan Management in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Alcan Management 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.
Weaknesses Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Alcan Management 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Alcan Management is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B, in the dynamic environment Alcan Management has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Alcan Management has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Line Dube, Carmen Bernier, Vital Roy suggests that, Alcan Management 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Alcan Management 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Alcan Management is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Alcan Management needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Alcan Management to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Alcan Management has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Alcan Management 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 - Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Alcan Management is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Alcan Management 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. Alcan Management 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 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 Alcan Management supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Alcan Management vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B | 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Alcan Management 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Alcan Management 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Alcan Management 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Alcan Management 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Alcan Management 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Alcan Management 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Alcan Management to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Alcan Management in the consumer business. Now Alcan Management can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Alcan Management 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, Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Alcan Management can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Alcan Management can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Alcan Management can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Alcan Management can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Alcan Management operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Alcan Management can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Alcan Management 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.
Threats Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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.
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 Alcan Management 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B, Alcan Management 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Alcan Management 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B .
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 Alcan Management business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Alcan Management can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Alcan Management 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.
Environmental challenges
– Alcan Management 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. Alcan Management can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Alcan Management needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Alcan Management.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Alcan Management in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Alcan Management is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Alcan Management has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Alcan Management 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business Context: The Alcan Case - Part B 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 Alcan Management needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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