Barak Valley Cements Ltd (BAVA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Construction - Raw Materials
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Barak Valley Cements Ltd (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Barak Valley Cements Ltd is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Barak Valley Cements Ltd
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Barak Valley Cements Ltd can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barak Valley Cements Ltd, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barak Valley Cements 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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Barak Valley Cements Ltd
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barak Valley Cements Ltd
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Construction - Raw Materials sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Barak Valley Cements Ltd
Strengths of Barak Valley Cements Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barak Valley Cements Ltd are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Barak Valley Cements Ltd in the Capital Goods sector have low bargaining power. Barak Valley Cements Ltd has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Barak Valley Cements Ltd to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Construction - Raw Materials industry
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barak Valley Cements Ltd to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Construction - Raw Materials industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barak Valley Cements Ltd to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Construction - Raw Materials
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd is one of the leading players in the Construction - Raw Materials industry in India. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Construction - Raw Materials industry in India but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Barak Valley Cements Ltd in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Construction - Raw Materials industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Barak Valley Cements Ltd digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Barak Valley Cements Ltd 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Barak Valley Cements 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
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd is one of the most innovative firm in Construction - Raw Materials sector.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Barak Valley Cements Ltd comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Construction - Raw Materials 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Construction - Raw Materials industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Barak Valley Cements Ltd have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management in the Construction - Raw Materials industry
– Barak Valley Cements 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Barak Valley Cements Ltd in Construction - Raw Materials industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd has one of the best training and development program in Capital Goods 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.
High brand equity
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Barak Valley Cements Ltd to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses of Barak Valley Cements Ltd | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Barak Valley Cements Ltd are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Barak Valley Cements Ltd is one of the leading players in the Construction - Raw Materials industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Construction - Raw Materials industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Barak Valley Cements Ltd needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Construction - Raw Materials industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Barak Valley Cements Ltd can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Barak Valley Cements Ltd is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Barak Valley Cements Ltd, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Construction - Raw Materials 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Barak Valley Cements Ltd is just above the Construction - Raw Materials industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Barak Valley Cements Ltd, in the dynamic environment of Construction - Raw Materials industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Barak Valley Cements Ltd has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Barak Valley Cements Ltd is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Construction - Raw Materials industry, but Barak Valley Cements Ltd needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Barak Valley Cements Ltd to focus more on services in the Construction - Raw Materials industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of India, Barak Valley Cements Ltd needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring in Construction - Raw Materials industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Barak Valley Cements 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Construction - Raw Materials industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in India, Barak Valley Cements Ltd 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 Construction - Raw Materials industry.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Barak Valley Cements Ltd is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Barak Valley Cements Ltd to provide better information regarding Construction - Raw Materials products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Barak Valley Cements Ltd has high operating costs in the Construction - Raw Materials industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Barak Valley Cements Ltd lucrative customers.
Barak Valley Cements Ltd Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Barak Valley Cements Ltd are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Barak Valley Cements Ltd can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Barak Valley Cements Ltd operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Construction - Raw Materials sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd can develop new processes and procedures in Construction - Raw Materials 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Construction - Raw Materials industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Barak Valley Cements Ltd can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Barak Valley Cements 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Construction - Raw Materials 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Barak Valley Cements Ltd is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Barak Valley Cements Ltd can utilize new technology in the field of Construction - Raw Materials industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Barak Valley Cements 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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Barak Valley Cements Ltd 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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Construction - Raw Materials sector. 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Barak Valley Cements Ltd 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 Construction - Raw Materials industry.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Barak Valley Cements Ltd has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Construction - Raw Materials sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Barak Valley Cements Ltd to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Barak Valley Cements Ltd to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Barak Valley Cements Ltd can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Barak Valley Cements Ltd has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Construction - Raw Materials industry. This can help Barak Valley Cements Ltd to build a more holistic ecosystem for Barak Valley Cements Ltd products in the Construction - Raw Materials industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Barak Valley Cements Ltd External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Barak Valley Cements Ltd are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barak Valley Cements Ltd in Construction - Raw Materials industry. The Construction - Raw Materials industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Construction - Raw Materials industry are lowering. It can presents Barak Valley Cements Ltd with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Construction - Raw Materials sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Barak Valley Cements 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 Construction - Raw Materials industry regulations.
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.
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. Barak Valley Cements 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.
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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd.
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. Barak Valley Cements Ltd needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Construction - Raw Materials industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Construction - Raw Materials industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Barak Valley Cements Ltd can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd in the Construction - Raw Materials sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Barak Valley Cements 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 Construction - Raw Materials industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Barak Valley Cements 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 Construction - Raw Materials sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Barak Valley Cements Ltd Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Barak Valley Cements 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 Barak Valley Cements 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 Barak Valley Cements 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 Barak Valley Cements 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 Barak Valley Cements Ltd needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.