From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

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

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: Joint ventures, Marketing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc

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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.

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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

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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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Arte Concreto 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Arte Concreto is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

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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 -

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 to strategic competitive environment developments

– As From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico HBR case study mentions - Arte Concreto 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, it seems that the employees of Arte Concreto 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.

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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico 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 Arte Concreto 's lucrative customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Myrna Comas, Circe Niezen, Julia Sagebien suggests that, Arte Concreto 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.

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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, is just above the industry average. Arte Concreto 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Arte Concreto is planning to shift buying processes online.

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.

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 Arte Concreto supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Arte Concreto vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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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 -

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.

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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Arte Concreto has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Arte Concreto to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico case study. Arte Concreto can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Arte Concreto to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Arte Concreto can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Arte Concreto can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Arte Concreto can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Arte Concreto operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.

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.

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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Arte Concreto 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 From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Arte Concreto to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Arte Concreto to increase its market reach. Arte Concreto 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.

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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 -

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study From Patrimonio Hoy to Arte en Concreto: Tailoring a Social Responsibility Program at CEMEX Puerto Rico, Arte Concreto 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 .

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.

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 Arte Concreto in the Global Business 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.

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.

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 Arte Concreto.

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.

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. Arte Concreto 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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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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