SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Metkore Alloys Industries (India)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Metkore Alloys Industries is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Metkore Alloys Industries
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Metkore Alloys Industries can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Metkore Alloys Industries, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Metkore Alloys Industries can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Metkore Alloys Industries
2. Improving business portfolio management of Metkore Alloys Industries
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in India
4. Making a Iron & Steel sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Metkore Alloys Industries
Strengths of Metkore Alloys Industries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Metkore Alloys Industries are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Metkore Alloys Industries has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Metkore Alloys Industries staying ahead in the Iron & Steel industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Metkore Alloys Industries has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Iron & Steel industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Metkore Alloys Industries have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Metkore Alloys Industries is one of the most innovative firm in Iron & Steel sector.
Analytics focus
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Iron & Steel industry. The technology infrastructure of India is also helping 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 recruit top talent
– Metkore Alloys Industries is one of the leading players in the Iron & Steel industry in India. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in India. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Iron & Steel industry
– Metkore Alloys Industries has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Metkore Alloys Industries to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Iron & Steel industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Metkore Alloys Industries to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Metkore Alloys Industries in Iron & Steel industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Digital Transformation in Iron & Steel industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Metkore Alloys Industries digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Organizational Resilience of Metkore Alloys Industries
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Metkore Alloys Industries does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Metkore Alloys Industries is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Metkore Alloys Industries is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Metkore Alloys Industries emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Metkore Alloys Industries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Metkore Alloys Industries are -
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Metkore Alloys Industries, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Iron & Steel 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Iron & Steel industry, Metkore Alloys Industries 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, Metkore Alloys Industries is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Metkore Alloys Industries to provide better information regarding Iron & Steel products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Metkore Alloys Industries products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Metkore Alloys Industries needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Metkore Alloys Industries, in the dynamic environment of Iron & Steel industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Metkore Alloys Industries has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Metkore Alloys Industries supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Metkore Alloys Industries is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Metkore Alloys Industries vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Metkore Alloys Industries has some of the most successful models in the Iron & Steel industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Metkore Alloys Industries should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on Metkore Alloys Industries ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Metkore Alloys Industries still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Iron & Steel industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Metkore Alloys Industries has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ less understanding of Metkore Alloys Industries strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Metkore Alloys Industries is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Iron & Steel industry, but Metkore Alloys Industries needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Metkore Alloys Industries to focus more on services in the Iron & Steel industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Metkore Alloys Industries has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Iron & Steel industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Metkore Alloys Industries Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Metkore Alloys Industries are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Metkore Alloys Industries to increase its market reach. Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Metkore Alloys Industries has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Iron & Steel industry. This can help Metkore Alloys Industries to build a more holistic ecosystem for Metkore Alloys Industries products in the Iron & Steel industry by providing – 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, Metkore Alloys Industries can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Metkore Alloys Industries operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Iron & Steel sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Metkore Alloys Industries can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Iron & Steel 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Iron & Steel industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Metkore Alloys Industries in the Iron & Steel industry. Now Metkore Alloys Industries can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Iron & Steel industry.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Metkore Alloys Industries has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Iron & Steel sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Metkore Alloys Industries to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Metkore Alloys Industries to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Iron & Steel industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Metkore Alloys Industries 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. Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
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. Metkore Alloys Industries can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Metkore Alloys Industries in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Iron & Steel industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Metkore Alloys Industries External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Metkore Alloys Industries are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Metkore Alloys Industries in Iron & Steel industry. The Iron & Steel 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.
Increasing wage structure of Metkore Alloys Industries
– 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 Metkore Alloys Industries.
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 Metkore Alloys Industries in the Iron & Steel sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Iron & Steel industry are lowering. It can presents Metkore Alloys Industries with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Iron & Steel sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Iron & Steel industry.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Iron & Steel industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Metkore Alloys Industries has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Iron & Steel industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Metkore Alloys Industries needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Iron & Steel 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Metkore Alloys Industries may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Iron & Steel sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Iron & Steel industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Metkore Alloys Industries can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Metkore Alloys Industries.
Environmental challenges
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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. Metkore Alloys Industries can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Iron & Steel industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Metkore Alloys Industries 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Metkore Alloys Industries Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Metkore Alloys Industries 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 Metkore Alloys Industries needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
