Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Australia
4. Making a Non-Metallic Mining sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd
Strengths of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in Australia. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Australia. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has one of the best training and development program in Basic Materials industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Non-Metallic Mining industry
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd staying ahead in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Non-Metallic Mining sector.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is present in almost all the verticals within the Non-Metallic Mining industry. This has provided Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Non-Metallic Mining
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in Australia. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in Australia but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Non-Metallic Mining 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.
Weaknesses of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Australia, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Non-Metallic Mining industry over the last five years. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, but Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to focus more on services in the Non-Metallic Mining industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Skills based hiring in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Non-Metallic Mining industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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
– From the 10K / annual statement of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Non-Metallic Mining industry. 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has high operating costs in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Non-Metallic Mining industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Non-Metallic Mining sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to increase its market reach. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Non-Metallic Mining sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Non-Metallic Mining industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Non-Metallic Mining industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Non-Metallic Mining 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. Now Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd are -
Environmental challenges
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry regulations.
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.
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. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Non-Metallic Mining industry are lowering. It can presents Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Non-Metallic Mining sector.
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. Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Non-Metallic Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd is facing in Non-Metallic Mining 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, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Non-Metallic Mining sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd 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 Kazakhstan Potash Corp Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.