Mountain Province Diamonds (MPVD) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Non-Metallic Mining
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Mountain Province Diamonds (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Mountain Province Diamonds is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mountain Province Diamonds
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Mountain Province Diamonds can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mountain Province Diamonds, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Mountain Province Diamonds
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mountain Province Diamonds
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Non-Metallic Mining sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mountain Province Diamonds
Strengths of Mountain Province Diamonds | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mountain Province Diamonds are -
Digital Transformation in Non-Metallic Mining industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mountain Province Diamonds digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mountain Province Diamonds has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mountain Province Diamonds has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mountain Province Diamonds in Non-Metallic Mining industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Mountain Province Diamonds has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mountain Province Diamonds to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mountain Province Diamonds in the Basic Materials sector have low bargaining power. Mountain Province Diamonds has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mountain Province Diamonds to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Learning organization
- Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Mountain Province Diamonds emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mountain Province Diamonds is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– Mountain Province Diamonds has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mountain Province Diamonds to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mountain Province Diamonds to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Mountain Province Diamonds
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Mountain Province Diamonds does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mountain Province Diamonds has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Analytics focus
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry. The technology infrastructure of United States 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.
Weaknesses of Mountain Province Diamonds | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mountain Province Diamonds are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Mountain Province Diamonds products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mountain Province Diamonds needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ less understanding of Mountain Province Diamonds strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Skills based hiring in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mountain Province Diamonds 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. Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, but Mountain Province Diamonds needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mountain Province Diamonds to focus more on services in the Non-Metallic Mining industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mountain Province Diamonds is one of the leading players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Non-Metallic Mining industry in last five years.
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 Mountain Province Diamonds supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Mountain Province Diamonds is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mountain Province Diamonds vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Non-Metallic Mining industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry.
Need for greater diversity
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Mountain Province Diamonds Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Mountain Province Diamonds are -
Loyalty marketing
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
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 Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mountain Province Diamonds has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Non-Metallic Mining industry. This can help Mountain Province Diamonds to build a more holistic ecosystem for Mountain Province Diamonds products in the Non-Metallic Mining industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Mountain Province Diamonds 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. Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mountain Province Diamonds in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Non-Metallic Mining industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Mountain Province Diamonds can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mountain Province Diamonds can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mountain Province Diamonds to increase its market reach. Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mountain Province Diamonds to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mountain Province Diamonds can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mountain Province Diamonds operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Non-Metallic Mining sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry.
Threats Mountain Province Diamonds External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Environmental challenges
– Mountain Province Diamonds 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. Mountain Province Diamonds can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry.
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. Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
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 Mountain Province Diamonds business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Mountain Province Diamonds
– 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 Mountain Province Diamonds.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mountain Province Diamonds has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mountain Province Diamonds needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Non-Metallic Mining 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Non-Metallic Mining industry and other sectors.
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. Mountain Province Diamonds needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Non-Metallic Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Non-Metallic Mining industry are lowering. It can presents Mountain Province Diamonds 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Non-Metallic Mining industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mountain Province Diamonds can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mountain Province Diamonds is facing in Non-Metallic Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mountain Province Diamonds Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds 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 Mountain Province Diamonds needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.