Case Study Description of Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)
At the May 1996 annual shareholders meeting, Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill reported that Alcoa was making great progress toward becoming a world-class leader, both in terms of workplace safety and profitability. This validated of O'Neill's decade-long emphasis on safety as the company's leading value. Despite these achievements, O'Neill was challenged on Alcoa's treatment of employees in the company's Mexican plants. A Benedictine nun accused the company of treating its workers poorly and systematically violating its much publicized value system. Now, one month after the contentious exchange with the sister, O'Neill considers the report of an investigation team he had dispatched to the Mexican plants and the observations he made during his own visit to the factories. Builds on Workplace Safety at Alcoa (A), a case, in which students learn about Alcoa's efforts to become a safety leader and to wrestle with issues related to changing the physical work setting and the behavior and attitudes of people (employees and managers in that setting). This case is set several years later, after Alcoa has made tremendous progress in safety and profitability.
Swot Analysis of "Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)" written by Steven J. Spear includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Alcoa Safety facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Manufacturing, Personnel policies, Workspaces and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Alcoa Safety, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Alcoa Safety 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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Alcoa Safety
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 Alcoa Safety
Strengths Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Alcoa Safety in Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Alcoa Safety is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Alcoa Safety to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Alcoa Safety to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Alcoa Safety in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Alcoa Safety 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 Steven J. Spear 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
– Alcoa Safety has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Alcoa Safety to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Alcoa Safety 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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Alcoa Safety has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Alcoa Safety 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Alcoa Safety digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Alcoa Safety 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Alcoa Safety has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Alcoa Safety is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Alcoa Safety 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Alcoa Safety 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 - Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Alcoa Safety 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B), 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B), is just above the industry average. Alcoa Safety 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Alcoa Safety 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Alcoa Safety 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Alcoa Safety is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Alcoa Safety has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Alcoa Safety, firm in the HBR case study Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Alcoa Safety 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. Alcoa Safety 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.
Opportunities Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) are -
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 Alcoa Safety 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Alcoa Safety 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Alcoa Safety 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Alcoa Safety can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Alcoa Safety can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Alcoa Safety 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, Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Alcoa Safety 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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Alcoa Safety to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Alcoa Safety has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Alcoa Safety to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) case study. Alcoa Safety can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Alcoa Safety 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 Alcoa Safety to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Alcoa Safety 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Alcoa Safety can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Alcoa Safety operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Alcoa Safety to increase its market reach. Alcoa Safety 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Alcoa Safety 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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) are -
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 Alcoa Safety.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Alcoa Safety 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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B) .
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.
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 Alcoa Safety 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. Alcoa Safety 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Alcoa Safety with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Alcoa Safety 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.
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. Alcoa Safety needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Alcoa Safety 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.
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 Alcoa Safety in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Alcoa Safety 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Alcoa Safety
– 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 Alcoa Safety.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Workplace Safety at Alcoa (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 Alcoa Safety needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
