Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations
Kudremukh is a breathtaking mountain range in Chickamagalur District, Karnataka, India. Three rivers originate here and form an important lifeline for South India; the is ecologically very sensitive. The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) conducted prospecting surveys in 1967 and obtained a mining license from the government of Karnataka for an area of 5218 hectares. In 1969, the government of India floated a public-sector undertaking, the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL), and NMDC turned over its 30-year mining lease to KIOCL. The majority of the surrounding communities were apprehensive about the possible impacts of massive mining operations in the virgin forest area. KIOCL's mining activities flourished, making it into Asia's largest mining and pelletization company. However, in 1985, the government of Karnataka declared Kudremukh region as a National Park under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, in order to provide effective protection to the rich flora and fauna in the region. The area leased to KIOCL was an enclave within the southern half of the national park and the mining operations started witnessing opposition in 1995, with wildlife conservationists and environment protection organizations staging rallies and agitations against KIOCL's operations. Activists filed numerous petitions in the Supreme Court, asking the court to end the activities of KIOCL in order to protect Kudremukh from the ravages of mining. The case focuses on important issues relating to shareholder vs. stakeholder responsibility in the context of ongoing ecological degradation, increased environmental awareness in Indian society, and consequent changes in legislation.
Authors :: K. N. Murthy, D.V.R. Seshadri
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: International business, Social responsibility, Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations" written by K. N. Murthy, D.V.R. Seshadri includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kudremukh Kiocl facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kudremukh Kiocl, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kudremukh Kiocl
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 Kudremukh Kiocl
Strengths Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kudremukh Kiocl in Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Kudremukh Kiocl has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kudremukh Kiocl has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kudremukh Kiocl in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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 K. N. Murthy, D.V.R. Seshadri 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Kiocl in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kudremukh Kiocl is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Kudremukh Kiocl is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kudremukh Kiocl to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kudremukh Kiocl to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kudremukh Kiocl 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 - Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kudremukh Kiocl 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. Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations, in the dynamic environment Kudremukh Kiocl has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kudremukh Kiocl has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations HBR case study mentions - Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations, it seems that the employees of Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kudremukh Kiocl is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, K. N. Murthy, D.V.R. Seshadri suggests that, Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
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 Kudremukh Kiocl supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kudremukh Kiocl vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations | 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations are -
Manufacturing automation
– Kudremukh Kiocl can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Kudremukh Kiocl 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. Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Kudremukh Kiocl can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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.
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 Kudremukh Kiocl in the consumer business. Now Kudremukh Kiocl can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Kiocl to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kudremukh Kiocl has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kudremukh Kiocl to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations case study. Kudremukh Kiocl can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Kudremukh Kiocl can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kudremukh Kiocl operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kudremukh Kiocl to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kudremukh Kiocl is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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.
Threats Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations are -
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. Kudremukh Kiocl can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
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. Kudremukh Kiocl needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Kudremukh Kiocl in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
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 Kudremukh Kiocl.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations, Kudremukh Kiocl 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kudremukh Kiocl has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Environmental challenges
– Kudremukh Kiocl 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. Kudremukh Kiocl can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Kudremukh Kiocl with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kudremukh Kiocl is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kudremukh Kiocl 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations .
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. Kudremukh Kiocl 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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 Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd: The Sun Sets on Its Mining Operations 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 Kudremukh Kiocl needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.