Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Uralkali, the giant Russian potash producer, decided to stop export sales through the Belarusian Potash Company - an export cartel it had formed with Belaruskali. Uralkali planned to increase potash production and export it independently through its own trading company. This move threatened to reduce global potash prices by up to 25 per cent. Immediately, the stock prices of major potash producers around the world plummeted. This set of three cases looks at the potential competitive strategies of three key players in the industry: PotashCorp, the firm with the world's largest potash reserves; Agrium, a firm in the midst of a large potash mine expansion; and BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company planning huge potash mine development. See A case 9B14M031A and B case 9B14M031B.
Swot Analysis of "Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place" written by Mark Vandenbosch, Amit Jethani includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Potash Potashcorp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Potash Potashcorp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Potash Potashcorp 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Potash Potashcorp
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Potash Potashcorp
Strengths Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Potash Potashcorp in Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Potash Potashcorp 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 Mark Vandenbosch, Amit Jethani 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.
High brand equity
– Potash Potashcorp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Potash Potashcorp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Potash Potashcorp 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Potash Potashcorp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Potash Potashcorp 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Potash Potashcorp 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Potash Potashcorp is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Potash Potashcorp
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Potash Potashcorp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Potash Potashcorp is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Potash Potashcorp in the sector have low bargaining power. Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Potash Potashcorp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Potash Potashcorp is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Potash Potashcorp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Potash Potashcorp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Potash Potashcorp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Potash Potashcorp 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.
Weaknesses Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Potash Potashcorp 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Potash Potashcorp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Potash Potashcorp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Potash Potashcorp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Potash Potashcorp supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Potash Potashcorp vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Potash Potashcorp 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Potash Potashcorp 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Potash Potashcorp 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place HBR case study mentions - Potash Potashcorp 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place, in the dynamic environment Potash Potashcorp has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Potash Potashcorp 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 Potash Potashcorp 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 - Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place, it seems that the employees of Potash Potashcorp 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.
Opportunities Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place | 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place are -
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 Potash Potashcorp in the consumer business. Now Potash Potashcorp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Potash Potashcorp 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. Potash Potashcorp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Potash Potashcorp 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. Potash Potashcorp 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 Potash Potashcorp 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 Potash Potashcorp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Potash Potashcorp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Potash Potashcorp can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Potash Potashcorp 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Potash Potashcorp 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, Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Potash Potashcorp in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Potash Potashcorp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Potash Potashcorp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Potash Potashcorp 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Potash Potashcorp to increase its market reach. Potash Potashcorp will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Threats Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place are -
Environmental challenges
– Potash Potashcorp 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. Potash Potashcorp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Potash Potashcorp needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Potash Potashcorp can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Regulatory challenges
– Potash Potashcorp 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Potash Potashcorp 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Potash Potashcorp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Potash Potashcorp needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Potash Potashcorp 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Potash Potashcorp may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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 Potash Potashcorp in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Potash Potashcorp.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Potash Potashcorp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Potash Potashcorp 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Potash Potashcorp is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place 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 Punch Up In the Potash Industry (C): PotashCorp - Between a Rock and a Hard Place 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 Potash Potashcorp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.