Orocobre (OROCF) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Non-Metallic Mining
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Orocobre (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Orocobre is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Orocobre can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Orocobre, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Orocobre 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 Orocobre can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Orocobre
2. Improving business portfolio management of Orocobre
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 Orocobre
Strengths of Orocobre | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Orocobre are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Orocobre in Non-Metallic Mining industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management in the Non-Metallic Mining industry
– Orocobre 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)
– Orocobre has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Orocobre 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.
Learning organization
- Orocobre 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 Orocobre is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Orocobre emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Orocobre is present in almost all the verticals within the Non-Metallic Mining industry. This has provided Orocobre 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.
Training and development
– Orocobre 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
– Orocobre has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Orocobre to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Orocobre to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Orocobre 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.
Digital Transformation in Non-Metallic Mining industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Orocobre digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Orocobre 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.
Organizational Resilience of Orocobre
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Orocobre does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Orocobre 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Orocobre 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.
Weaknesses of Orocobre | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Orocobre are -
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 Orocobre supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Orocobre is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Orocobre vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Orocobre is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Orocobre to provide better information regarding Non-Metallic Mining products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Orocobre 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 Orocobre lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Orocobre 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.
High dependence on Orocobre ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Orocobre still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Non-Metallic Mining industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Orocobre has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Orocobre, 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Orocobre has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Orocobre needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Non-Metallic Mining industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Orocobre can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Orocobre is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Orocobre 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Orocobre products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Orocobre needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Orocobre 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.
Orocobre Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Orocobre are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Orocobre 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Orocobre 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Orocobre can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Orocobre operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Non-Metallic Mining sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Non-Metallic Mining industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Orocobre can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Orocobre 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Orocobre 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.
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. Orocobre can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Orocobre in the Non-Metallic Mining industry. Now Orocobre can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Orocobre 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.
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. Orocobre 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. Orocobre 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Orocobre 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 Orocobre to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Orocobre 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 Orocobre to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Orocobre to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Orocobre 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.
Threats Orocobre External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Orocobre are -
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. Orocobre 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Orocobre 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 Orocobre prominent markets.
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 Orocobre.
Environmental challenges
– Orocobre 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. Orocobre can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Non-Metallic Mining industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Orocobre 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.
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 Orocobre in the Non-Metallic Mining sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Orocobre 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Orocobre 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Orocobre is facing in Non-Metallic Mining sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Orocobre business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Orocobre needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Non-Metallic Mining industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Orocobre 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Orocobre Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Orocobre 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 Orocobre 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 Orocobre 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 Orocobre 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 Orocobre needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.