ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia
During the summer of 2014, Alan Knight, General Manager of Corporate Responsibility at the integrated steel and mining company ArcelorMittal, observed the unfolding of an Ebola epidemic in Liberia and other countries in West Africa with great concern. On the one hand was the sheer tragedy of the calamity that struck the poverty-stricken country, recently emerged from a long and painful civil war; on the other, the fact that ArcelorMittal's mining concession in Liberia was a crucial part of the company's business going forward. How was ArcelorMittal to face the mounting crisis? What response did it owe its employees? Its shareholders? Its stakeholders? Given the low state capacity in Liberia, ArcelorMittal helped organize a private sector response to the crisis, and, as a pandemic finally was averted, he wondered what lessons to draw from the experience.
Authors :: Sophus A Reinert, Sarah Nam, Sisi Pan, Eric Werker
Swot Analysis of "ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia" written by Sophus A Reinert, Sarah Nam, Sisi Pan, Eric Werker includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Arcelormittal Liberia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Economics, Economy, Emerging markets, Ethics, Government, Personnel policies, Public relations, Strategy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Arcelormittal Liberia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Arcelormittal Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Arcelormittal Liberia
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Arcelormittal Liberia
Strengths ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Arcelormittal Liberia in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Arcelormittal Liberia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Arcelormittal Liberia in the sector have low bargaining power. ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Arcelormittal Liberia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Arcelormittal Liberia has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Arcelormittal Liberia is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Arcelormittal Liberia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Arcelormittal Liberia digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Arcelormittal Liberia 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 Global Business industry
– ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Arcelormittal Liberia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Arcelormittal Liberia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Arcelormittal Liberia in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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.
Learning organization
- Arcelormittal Liberia 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 Arcelormittal Liberia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Arcelormittal Liberia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Arcelormittal Liberia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Arcelormittal Liberia products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Arcelormittal Liberia needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sophus A Reinert, Sarah Nam, Sisi Pan, Eric Werker suggests that, Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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 Arcelormittal Liberia 's lucrative customers.
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 Arcelormittal Liberia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Arcelormittal Liberia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Arcelormittal Liberia 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. Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia, it seems that the employees of Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia HBR case study mentions - Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Arcelormittal Liberia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Opportunities ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia | 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Arcelormittal Liberia 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, ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia, 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
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Arcelormittal Liberia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Arcelormittal Liberia 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 Global Business segment.
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 Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Arcelormittal Liberia is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Arcelormittal Liberia in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business 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 Arcelormittal Liberia can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Arcelormittal Liberia can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Arcelormittal Liberia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Arcelormittal Liberia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Arcelormittal Liberia 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 Arcelormittal Liberia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Arcelormittal Liberia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Arcelormittal Liberia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia case study. Arcelormittal Liberia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Arcelormittal Liberia to increase its market reach. Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Threats ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Arcelormittal Liberia in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Arcelormittal Liberia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Arcelormittal Liberia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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. Arcelormittal Liberia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Arcelormittal Liberia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia, Arcelormittal Liberia may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
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 Arcelormittal Liberia.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Arcelormittal Liberia 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Arcelormittal Liberia is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Arcelormittal Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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 ArcelorMittal and the Ebola Outbreak in Liberia 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 Arcelormittal Liberia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
