UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety
UltraTech Cement Limited was a global leading producer of cement that had implemented best-in-class safety practices at all of its units. Despite this, the company's Rawan Cement Works plant in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India, had witnessed some serious safety incidents in the past, and these had resulted in lowered employee morale. A close analysis revealed that un-safe conduct by employees was partly responsible for the accidents, and that there was a strong need to bring about behavioural modification among employees in order to avoid such accidents in the future. In 2015, the chief operating officer and executive president of the Rawan Cement Works plant faced the challenge of managing the crisis that had engulfed the unit and looked for ways to effect a transition from a process-centric approach to a people-centric approach. Servjaeta Verma is affiliated with Institute of Management Studies Ghaziabad.
Swot Analysis of "UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety" written by Servjaeta Verma, Ravi Kant Dubey includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cement Rawan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Leadership, Manufacturing, Personnel policies and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cement Rawan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cement Rawan 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cement Rawan
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cement Rawan
Strengths UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cement Rawan in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Cement Rawan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cement Rawan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cement Rawan 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cement Rawan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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.
Training and development
– Cement Rawan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cement Rawan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cement Rawan 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Cement Rawan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cement Rawan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cement Rawan 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.
Learning organization
- Cement Rawan 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 Cement Rawan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cement Rawan in the sector have low bargaining power. UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cement Rawan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Cement Rawan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cement Rawan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cement Rawan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Cement Rawan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cement Rawan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Cement Rawan 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cement Rawan, firm in the HBR case study UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 Cement Rawan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety, is just above the industry average. Cement Rawan 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety HBR case study mentions - Cement Rawan 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cement Rawan 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.
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 Cement Rawan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cement Rawan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety, in the dynamic environment Cement Rawan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cement Rawan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cement Rawan 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. Cement Rawan 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cement Rawan is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety | 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Cement Rawan can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
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 Cement Rawan 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cement Rawan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cement Rawan 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cement Rawan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cement Rawan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cement Rawan 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 Cement Rawan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cement Rawan to increase its market reach. Cement Rawan 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cement Rawan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Cement Rawan in the consumer business. Now Cement Rawan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Cement Rawan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cement Rawan 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
– Cement Rawan 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cement Rawan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cement Rawan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cement Rawan in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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. Cement Rawan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Cement Rawan 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
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 Cement Rawan in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cement Rawan 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.
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. Cement Rawan 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety, Cement Rawan may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cement Rawan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cement Rawan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cement Rawan 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cement Rawan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cement Rawan needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 UltraTech Cement: A Transition Towards Behaviour-Based Safety 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 Cement Rawan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
