Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad
Based in Saskatoon, Canada, Cameco was the world's largest uranium mining company. It had developed its policy for corporate social responsibility in northern Saskatchewan, where it had its major mining operations and where there was a large indigenous population of Cree and Dene Indians. Centers on whether the same corporate social responsibility policy can be applied to the company's joint venture with the Kyrgyzstan government to operate a gold mine in eastern Kyrgyzstan. Complicating the decision is a chemical spill that had occurred several months before; relations with citizens in nearby communities were at an all-time low. The joint venture's vice-president of human resources and corporate relations must decide which of the programs might be successfully implemented in Kyrgyzstan, what new programs might need to be developed, and how best to communicate company policy to the local community.
Authors :: Pratima Bansal, John Scarfe, Russell Johnston
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: Decision making, Government, International business, Social responsibility, Strategy, Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad" written by Pratima Bansal, John Scarfe, Russell Johnston includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kyrgyzstan Cameco facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Government, International business, Social responsibility, Strategy, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kyrgyzstan Cameco, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kyrgyzstan Cameco
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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco
Strengths Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kyrgyzstan Cameco in Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kyrgyzstan Cameco in the sector have low bargaining power. Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kyrgyzstan Cameco to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad - 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
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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
– Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kyrgyzstan Cameco to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kyrgyzstan Cameco to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Pratima Bansal, John Scarfe, Russell Johnston suggests that, Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kyrgyzstan Cameco vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kyrgyzstan Cameco products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kyrgyzstan Cameco needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 - Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad, it seems that the employees of Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad, in the dynamic environment Kyrgyzstan Cameco has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kyrgyzstan Cameco has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kyrgyzstan Cameco is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Kyrgyzstan Cameco, firm in the HBR case study Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad | 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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, Kyrgyzstan Cameco can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kyrgyzstan Cameco operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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, Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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, Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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.
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. Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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. Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco in the consumer business. Now Kyrgyzstan Cameco can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kyrgyzstan Cameco has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kyrgyzstan Cameco to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad case study. Kyrgyzstan Cameco can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kyrgyzstan Cameco can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kyrgyzstan Cameco is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad are -
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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco.
Regulatory challenges
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
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. Kyrgyzstan Cameco needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Kyrgyzstan Cameco
– 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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Kyrgyzstan Cameco can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad, Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kyrgyzstan Cameco 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Cameco in Kyrgyzstan: Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad 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 Kyrgyzstan Cameco needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
