Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania
It is year-end 2013 and management at Gabriel Resources, a Canadian junior mining corporation, is attempting to handle investor relations and political tensions surrounding its Rosia Montana mine project in Romania. Recently, the Romanian Parliament voted overwhelmingly against granting the final permit for the gold and silver mine until a more thorough environmental and legal framework is established. Although the company promises that its project will bring significant financial benefits to the state and needed infrastructure improvements and employment in the region, both national and international civilian and non-governmental organizations have protested vociferously against a development that they see harming not only the fragile geographic ecosystem but also historical artifacts that have been a major tourist draw. The draft bill was set to allow the company to begin work on developing the potentially lucrative mine, which has been 15 years in the making and has not yet generated any revenues. Investors are worried and the company's share price is sinking. How can the company calm shareholder panic and negative stock price movement? What can it do to persuade the Romanian government and people to support the mine?
Swot Analysis of "Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania" written by Craig Dunbar, John Peloza includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mine Gabriel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Risk management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
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, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mine Gabriel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mine Gabriel 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mine Gabriel
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mine Gabriel
Strengths Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mine Gabriel in Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mine Gabriel 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Mine Gabriel is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Mine Gabriel is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mine Gabriel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mine Gabriel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Mine Gabriel 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 Craig Dunbar, John Peloza 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mine Gabriel 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania - 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
– Mine Gabriel is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mine Gabriel 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
– Mine Gabriel has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mine Gabriel 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mine Gabriel digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mine Gabriel 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mine Gabriel
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mine Gabriel does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mine Gabriel is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mine Gabriel is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Mine Gabriel needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mine Gabriel to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Mine Gabriel 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mine Gabriel 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania, is just above the industry average. Mine Gabriel 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mine Gabriel, firm in the HBR case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania, in the dynamic environment Mine Gabriel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mine Gabriel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mine Gabriel 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 - Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mine Gabriel 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mine Gabriel has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Opportunities Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania | 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania are -
Buying journey improvements
– Mine Gabriel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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
– Mine Gabriel 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mine Gabriel can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mine Gabriel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mine Gabriel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mine Gabriel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mine Gabriel 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mine Gabriel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Mine Gabriel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mine Gabriel 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mine Gabriel in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Mine Gabriel 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mine Gabriel can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mine Gabriel to increase its market reach. Mine Gabriel 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mine Gabriel 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, Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Mine Gabriel.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mine Gabriel 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mine Gabriel
– 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 Mine Gabriel.
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. Mine Gabriel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mine Gabriel with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Mine Gabriel in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mine Gabriel is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mine Gabriel 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mine Gabriel 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.
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 Mine Gabriel business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Mine Gabriel 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Gabriel Resources: Foreign Direct Investment in Romania 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 Mine Gabriel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.