From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico
This case examines how CEMEX adapted its flagship corporate social responsibility (CSR) program (Patrimonio Hoy) to the specific socio-economic realities of Puerto Rico - Fundacion Arte en Concreto (the Foundation). The Foundation was a partnership between a number of entities in the private, public and not for profit sector. For CEMEX, the main partner and founder, Arte en Concreto provided a way to promote concrete as an art form while contributing to the economic and social development of Puerto Rico. The goal of the Foundation was to rehabilitate prisoners through vocational training. The case also examines a number of external factors that affected the Foundation in 2008-09, such as global and local economic recessions, a slowdown in the construction sector, destabilizing effects for a public-private partnership of a new political party in government, and a general distrust of CEMEX's environmental record. The staff at the board of directors needed to develop a strategy that could guarantee the future of the Foundation.
Authors :: Myrna Comas, Circe Niezen, Julia Sagebien
Swot Analysis of "From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico" written by Myrna Comas, Circe Niezen, Julia Sagebien includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Arte Concreto facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures, Marketing and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Arte Concreto, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Arte Concreto 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Arte Concreto
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 Arte Concreto
Strengths From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Arte Concreto in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Arte Concreto 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Arte Concreto 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Arte Concreto is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Arte Concreto in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Arte Concreto 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 Myrna Comas, Circe Niezen, Julia Sagebien 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Arte Concreto in the sector have low bargaining power. From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Arte Concreto to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Arte Concreto has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Arte Concreto has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Training and development
– Arte Concreto has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Arte Concreto is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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.
Organizational Resilience of Arte Concreto
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Arte Concreto does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Arte Concreto is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Arte Concreto to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Arte Concreto to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Arte Concreto in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Arte Concreto 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 - From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Arte Concreto, firm in the HBR case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Arte Concreto 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, in the dynamic environment Arte Concreto has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Arte Concreto has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Arte Concreto 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Arte Concreto 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. Arte Concreto 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Arte Concreto 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Arte Concreto products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Arte Concreto needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Arte Concreto is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Arte Concreto 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.
Opportunities From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico | 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Arte Concreto 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.
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. Arte Concreto can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Arte Concreto can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Arte Concreto 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 Arte Concreto to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Arte Concreto 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Arte Concreto 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, From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Arte Concreto is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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.
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. Arte Concreto can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Arte Concreto 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.
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 Arte Concreto in the consumer business. Now Arte Concreto can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Arte Concreto can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Arte Concreto can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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
– Arte Concreto 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Arte Concreto is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Arte Concreto 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.
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 Arte Concreto business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Arte Concreto 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 Arte Concreto with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Arte Concreto has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Arte Concreto needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
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. Arte Concreto can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Arte Concreto 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. Arte Concreto can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Arte Concreto 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Arte Concreto 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.
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Arte Concreto 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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 Arte Concreto needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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