Swot Analysis of "Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD" written by Bruce McKern includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lafarge Fleuret facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Leadership development, Mergers & acquisitions, Operations management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lafarge Fleuret, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lafarge Fleuret 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lafarge Fleuret
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 Lafarge Fleuret
Strengths Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lafarge Fleuret in Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lafarge Fleuret has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lafarge Fleuret is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lafarge Fleuret 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
– Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lafarge Fleuret to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lafarge Fleuret to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Lafarge Fleuret has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lafarge Fleuret to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Lafarge Fleuret 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 Lafarge Fleuret in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lafarge Fleuret in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lafarge Fleuret is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lafarge Fleuret 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Lafarge Fleuret
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lafarge Fleuret does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Lafarge Fleuret 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 Lafarge Fleuret digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Weaknesses Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Lafarge Fleuret has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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 Lafarge Fleuret 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lafarge Fleuret 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 - Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD, in the dynamic environment Lafarge Fleuret has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lafarge Fleuret has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lafarge Fleuret products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lafarge Fleuret needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lafarge Fleuret 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. Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD, is just above the industry average. Lafarge Fleuret 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.
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 Lafarge Fleuret supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lafarge Fleuret vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD, 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.
Opportunities Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD | 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD are -
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. Lafarge Fleuret 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. Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lafarge Fleuret 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 Lafarge Fleuret to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lafarge Fleuret to increase its market reach. Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lafarge Fleuret 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lafarge Fleuret to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Lafarge Fleuret 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.
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. Lafarge Fleuret can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Lafarge Fleuret in the consumer business. Now Lafarge Fleuret can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lafarge Fleuret is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lafarge Fleuret can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lafarge Fleuret operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Threats Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lafarge Fleuret
– 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 Lafarge Fleuret.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lafarge Fleuret with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lafarge Fleuret 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.
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 Lafarge Fleuret in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Lafarge Fleuret needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lafarge Fleuret 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lafarge Fleuret is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lafarge Fleuret has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lafarge Fleuret 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.
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.
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 Lafarge Fleuret.
Environmental challenges
– Lafarge Fleuret 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. Lafarge Fleuret can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD, Lafarge Fleuret 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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 Lafarge: Market Entry Into Romania, (Video) DVD 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 Lafarge Fleuret needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.