Strategic Analysis Of Al-Ghanim Industries: SWOT, PESTLE, CPM, And Matrix Essay.

This assignment should be based on your current employer/business or a business with which you have had some recent exposure and with which you are familiar.

Your report should incorporate the following steps:

1. Identify the firm’s existing vision, mission, objectives, and strategies.

2. Develop vision and mission statements for the organization.

3. (a) Identify the organization’s external opportunities and threats.
   (b) Develop PESTEL

4. Construct a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM).

5. Construct an External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix

6. Identify the organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses.

7. Construct an Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix.

8. Recommend long-term objectives and specific strategies to achieve them. Compare your recommendations to actual strategies planned by the company.

9. Choose (any two) matrix from question 9.

Prepare a Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Matrix, Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, Boston Consulting

Group (BCG) Matrix, Internal-External (IE) Matrix, Grand Strategy Matrix, and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) as appropriate.

10. Specify how your recommendations can be implemented and what results you can expect. What Management, Marketing, Finance/Accounting, R&D and CIS issue, if any you foresee. Your recommendations to address them.

11. Recommend procedures for strategy review and evaluation.

Objectives and Strategies of Al-Ghanim Industries

Strategic management is used by the organizations for the management of resources to achieve the vision, mission and objectives (Freeman, 2010; Wheelen and Hunger, 2011; Eden and Ackermann, 2013). It is also associated with the formulation and implementation of strategies to attain the organization’s strategic intentions. In this regard, the current report is based on the strategic analysis of Kuwait based Al-Ghanim industries. In this context, environmental analysis has been carried out by using SWOT and PESTLE analysis. Further, Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM), External Factor Evaluation (EFE) and Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) matrix have been constructed with regards to Al-Ghanim industries. Apart from this, Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) and Grand strategy matrix have been applied for the entire analysis of the company. At the end, appropriate recommendations have also been provided for the growth of the businesses.

Company information

Al-Ghanim industries is the largest multinational sector of several privately-owned companies of Gulf region, Kuwait. The company is operating the businesses since 1932 in Kuwait and it has various branches in almost 40 countries. Further, Al-Ghanim industries involve in 30 types of diversified businesses such as automotive, construction, media, FMCG products, furniture etc. Moreover, it also deals in oil and petroleum, travel, retail, food and beverages, insurance, engineering and other consumer services etc. (Al-Ghanim industries, 2018). Apart from this, the company is a market leader with diversified multinational corporations and products. On the other hand, the company is offering high-quality products and different new brands in the market involving ALGO elevators, Alaska air conditioners and Wansa consumer electronics (Al-Ghanim industries, 2018). The company is affiliated with 300 international and regional brands along with brand partners involving Europcar, Honda, OREO, Palmolive, American express etc.

Vision- Vision of the company is to become more successful, victorious and affluent company in the region as well as international level (Al-Ghanim industries, 2018). In this way, the company is straightforward towards the vision by offering the diversified products.

Mission- The mission of the company is to deliver the remarkable values to stakeholders and consumers with the help of consistent quality products. Moreover, for the achievement of vision, the company is focused on empowerment, high performance and passionate teams in the industries (Al-Ghanim industries, 2018).

Objectives and strategies- The objectives are helpful to create the firm more competitive in the market (Scarborough, 2016). The Al-Ghanim has several specific objectives to achieve the success and create value which are as follows-

SWOT Analysis of Al-Ghanim Industries

To be customer centered by offering the quality products and services

To achieve the expected growth in the international market

To emphasize the empowerment and teamwork for the achievement of vision and mission

To maintain diversified and open cultural environment in the organization

Strategies- Currently Al-Ghanim is using different types of business strategies such as growth revenues and constant improvement strategy etc. to attain vision, mission and objectives of the company. Further, the company is committed towards the expansion strategy along with an aim to enhance the retail industry in Kuwait as Assima mall which is a part of Assima project and going to launch in the upcoming year (Al-Ghanim industries, 2018.).

On the basis of existing vision, mission and objectives, the additional vision and mission have been developed for Al-Ghanim in a strategic manner, so that company can expand the business in other countries.

New Vision- To enrich the retail industry in Kuwait, bring international brands to Assima mall along with a new vision for Arab employment.

New Mission- For the achievement of new vision, the company decided to commit the expansion strategy for the diversified industries with the involvement of a skilled workforce.

Recognizing an organization's external opportunities and threats

A SWOT analysis is used to know about the external opportunities and threats of the company which also contains to strength and weaknesses (Nikolaou and Evangelinos, 2010). External threats affect the business adversely because they are not under the control of the company. In this regard, on the basis of SWOT analysis, it has been found that Al-Ghanim industries have various opportunities and threats in the international market as follows-

Table 1: External opportunities and threats of Al-Ghanim industry

Opportunities (W) Possibility to become a major supplier of a diversified product range Coverage of entire consumer market Uses of vibrant and experienced employees for future success Attractive investment opportunities as a low-income women entrepreneur   Become a part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through a donation to Kerala relief fund

Threats (T) Availability of competitors Easy access to subsidiary goods Mis-management of retail stores all over the world

 PESTLE analysis is the framework which is used to analyze the external factors of the environment such as political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental etc. (Srdjevic, Bajcetic and Srdjevic, 2012). In this context, a PESTLE analysis has been done for Kuwait country as follows-

Political factors- There is a political disturbance in Kuwait in various political leaders because the existing conditions of the country making it closed economy; however, the other political leaders want to make it liberalized economy to derive the advantages from the foreign countries (BBC News, 2018). On the other hand, the economy of Kuwait is not vibrant enough due to which it is dealing with the issue of putting the higher prices of home-produced products. The economy of the country is based on the higher level of export of oil. Apart from this, the respective country is not following the business law which is a political issue for the country. For example- Kuwait airline was sued by an Israeli citizen because the airline does not issue a ticket to that citizen due to the absence of business law (Lucintel, 2016).

PESTLE Analysis of Kuwait

Economic factors- The economic conditions of Kuwait were strong before a century ago because the economy was based on the export of pearls. Now, the economy depends on the export of oil because it has a major contribution to the growth of GDP. Further, government income arising from the export of products which is 95% in a ratio (Business Wire Inc, 2013). Here, the government of Kuwait is emphasizing to make the country open economy by expanding the dependency of oil. On the other hand, the government of the respective country is trying to keep prices of products stable which is helpful to increase the revenue of the country. Apart from this, the current economic condition of Kuwait is not better because of reduction in GDP ratio. However, the government is putting efforts to improve the GDP in upcoming years from 0.8% to 3% p.a. which would be helpful to improve the lifestyle of people (The Heritage foundation, 2018).

Social factors- Kuwait is relatively surrounded by experienced people because of a large number of migrations from foreign countries to Kuwait. The major social factor of Kuwait is the availability of natural resources which enhances the GDP of the country. The government of the respective country is forced by the citizens to create employment opportunities for the local citizens on a primary basis and limits the number of migration ratio. Besides of these, Kuwait is dealing with the social challenges such as maximization of crime in the country which causes a higher level of corruption (Lucintel, 2016).

Technological factors- Technological factors of Kuwait are advanced in nature because the country is based on the mining of natural resources involving oil. In this context, the mining procedure is based on modern techniques which are helpful to cover the entire oil segment. The country is based on the technological projects which have a contribution to make Kuwait advanced in different types of industries (Business Wire Inc, 2013). On the other hand, the respective country has well educated and skilled workforce which is fruitful for technology-based industries to provide effective services involving an automobile, information technology, telecommunication etc. (Lucintel, 2016).

CPM is a strategic analysis which is used by the organizations to compare with major competitors of the industry (Capps and Glissmeyer, 2012; Sohel, Rahman and Uddin, 2014). In this regard, a CPM matrix has been consolidated for Al-Ghanim as per the critical external and internal environmental factors of the firm. So, the company can easily identify that the strategies are supportive or not for the critical success factors.

CPM Analysis of Al-Ghanim Industries

Table 2: CPM matrix for Al-Ghanim industry

		Al-Ghanim company		Competitor 1 (Al- Mullah Automotive Company)		Competitor 2 (Behbehani Motor Company)
Critical success factors	Weight	Score	Weighted score	Score	Weighted score	Score	Weighted score
Brand reputation	0.22	4	0.88	4	0.88	4	0.88
Marketing	0.22	3	0.66	2	0.44	2	0.44
Location	0.08	3	0.24	4	0.32	3	0.24
Customer Service	0.2	4	0.8	4	0.8	4	0.8
Product quality	0.2	4	0.8	4	0.8	4	0.8
Loyalty of customers	0.08	3	0.24	3	0.24	3	0.24
Total Score	1		3.62		3.48		3.4

Key milestones of table-

Rank 4 - shows the strong position

Rank 1- displays the poor requirements

Weight has been assigned between 0 to 1

 There is a set of standards for the CPM matrix that is 2.5 average weighted score is considered as a benchmark for the analysis of competitors (Borajee and Yakchali, 2011). In this regard, on the basis of critical success factors, Al-Ghanim industries has got 3.62 average weighted score, Al-Mullah automotive scored 3.48 and Behbehani Motor Company acquired 3.4 weighted average score in the competitive matrix. Hence, it shows that all the companies are having a strong position in the marketplace because they derived higher than 2.5 set of benchmarks. However, both are the strong competitors of Al-Ghanim industries in the international market.  

EFE matrix is used to analyze the external factors of the company through opportunities and threats (Ommani, 2011). In this context, an EFE matrix has been constructed for Al-Ghanim industries as follows-

Table 3: EFE matrix of Al-Ghanim industries

	Weight	Rating	Weighted score
Opportunities Possibility to become a major supplier of diversified products Coverage of entire consumer market Uses of vibrant employees for future Investment opportunities in low-income women entrepreneurs	0.40 0.25 0.20 0.15	1 2 4 3	1.6 0.5 0.8 0.45
Threats Availability of competitors Easy access to subsidiary goods Mis-management of retail stores all over the world	0.70 0.10 0.20	1 2 3	0.70 0.20 0.60
Total weighted score			6.4

In the EFE matrix, weight has been assigned between 0 to 1 and rate has been given between 1 to 4. On the basis of EFE matrix, it has been found that the respective company is having a strong position in the competitive market because it has a better total weighted score which is more than average score (2.5) of the company (refer table 3). In this matrix, 4 displays the company’s current strategies are not powerful and have the least importance to the company whereas 1 shows the superiority of strategies as well as more significant impact on the Al-Ghanim industry.

Key points of table-

Rank 1- shows that strong threats and opportunities of the market

Rank 4- indicates the least impact of threats and opportunities on business and remaining are the average points for the company

On the basis of SWOT analysis, internal strengths and weaknesses of Al-Ghanim industries has been identified. Strengths show the internal effectiveness of the company and weaknesses indicates that the respective company is lacking in the specific sectors (Amin, Razmi and Zhang, 2011). According to table 4, it has been recognized that a company has a strong market position for being a market leader. However, the company is lacking at internal cultural environment due to the diversity of employees.  

Table 4: Internal strengths and weaknesses of Al-Ghanim industries

Strengths (S) Diversified portfolio of products and services Strong brand value Quality products Better customer services Availability of skilled workforce Focus towards communities and giving foreword aspects

Weaknesses (W) Excessive work load for employees Cultural barriers in the organization More associated with employees Do not follow the business laws

New Vision and Mission for Al-Ghanim Industries

 IFE matrix is a strategic tool of management which is adopted by organizations to evaluate the internal strengths and weaknesses (Capps and Glissmeyer, 2012).

Table 5: IFE matrix for Al-Ghanim industry

	Weight	Rating	Weighted score
Strengths Quality product Strong brand value Diversified portfolio of products Availability of skilled workforce Better customer services Focused towards communities	0.25 0.25 0.20 0.10 0.10 0.10	1 1 2 3 2 4	0.25 0.25 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.4
Weaknesses Excessive work load for employees Cultural barriers in the organization More associated with employees (Decentralized decision-making) Do not follow the business laws	0.20 0.30 0.30 0.20	4 3 2 1	0.4 1.2 0.9 0.6
Total weighted score			3.1

Indicates the major weakness

4- shows the minimum weakness and rest are the medium range points

 On the basis of IFE matrix, it has been identified that the company is more affected by the quality of products as well as a brand image of the company whereas less impact of communities on the business. Apart from this, the company does not follow the business laws which is the weakest point that affects the environment of business.  Besides this, Al-Ghanim industries have a strong market position because the weighted score is more than the average score of 2.5.  

Long-term objectives have been set for Al-Ghanim industries along with strategies to achieve the objectives.

Al-Ghanim industries can set the following objectives on the basis of long-term-

To maximize the sales revenue by 50% at the end of 2018

To enhance the competitive position at global market

To achieve a technology leadership in a rapid growth market

To improve the profitability ratio by 30% at the end of the 4^th quarter of 2018

To achieve the above recommended long-term objectives, Al-Ghanim industries can apply the following specific strategies are as follows-

Price-skimming strategy- Price-skimming strategy can be helpful for Al-Ghanim industries to achieve the long-term objectives. The company would set higher prices for the specific products which stand out the company in a competitive market. But, the products must possess unique characteristics so that the company can put a higher cost for those products and earn higher profits (Dolgui and Proth, 2010). For example, the company can be specific in the technological field by producing solar panel to attract a large number of customers. By this strategy, the company would be a single seller of that products and customers would be ready to pay a higher price for the unique technological product. In this manner, the sales and profitability of the company can be maximized.

Continuous improvement strategy- The company can use this strategy for the purpose of achievement of competitive advantage in the global market. For example, Al-Ghanim industries can offer updated products in the technology, furnishing and automotive sector. Moreover, it can be helpful to enhance the sales revenue of the business and can become the market leader in the technology sector. Hence, the profitability of the company will gradually be maximized. This strategy can be actioned through producing the latest technology products on regular basis.

Recommendations

Currently, Al-Ghanim industries is incorporating growth, product differentiation and expansion strategies for the growth of the company. However, the recommended strategies as price skimming and continuous improvement can create the additional value to the brand image of the company. Nonetheless, as per the actual strategies, the company is offering a variety of products but in new strategy, the company can bring the innovations in the diversified product range. On the other hand, according to expansion strategy company can emphasize on the rapid market expansion whereas in price skimming the entire specific range of products can be covered by uniqueness of Al-Ghanim industries. Therefore, the recommended strategies can be effective for Al-Ghanim industries for the attainment of long-term objectives.

To analyze the competitive position of Al-Ghanim industries in the international market, Boston Consultancy Group and Grand strategy matrix have been applied as follows-

Figure 1: BCG matrix for Al-Ghanim industries

(Source: Palia, De Ryck and Mak, 2014; Evans, 2015)

BCG matrix is used to identify the position of the company according to relative market share and market growth rate (Lindgardt, Reeves, Stalk and Deimler, 2009). On the basis of BCG matrix, it has been recognized that Al-Ghanim industries lying under the category of Stars in the automotive sector because the company has a high market share as well as higher rate of growth. Further, it reflects that the company has a strong brand image in the international market. However, the company is dealing with a variety of products in different industries, so, here is a possibility to have low market growth rate but higher relative market share which shows the category of cash cows. Moreover, this type of situation can arise in engineering and construction due to a large number of competitors. Thus, it shows that the company is lying under two categories including stars and cash cows which represents the market growth rate and market share in the international market.

Grand strategy matrix is applied by the organizations to recognize the position of the company that where it is lying such as rapid and slow market growth, weak and strong competitive position (David, 2011).

Figure 2: Grand strategy matrix of Al-Ghanim industries

(Source: Amin, Razmi and Zhang, 2011)

On the basis of the grand strategy matrix, it has been evaluated that Al-Ghanim industry is working under the rapid market growth and strong competitive position. This category is derived by the company on the basis of diversified product portfolio and variety of businesses make it a strong competitor of relative companies. The condition displays that the company is consistently focusing on market development in several sectors involving retail, FMCG and automotive industry along with strong competitors. On the other hand, Al-Ghanim company is also acquiring a competitive position in rapid market growth due to product development and related diversification such as travel, consumer products, food and beverages etc. Hence, it reflects that the out of four quadrants, Al-Ghanim is having the position of strong market leader along with rapid growth in the market due to diversification.

Al-Ghanim industry is focusing on the innovations in the products range and offering quality products. However, in the global market, the sales revenue of the company may be low due to less awareness in public regarding new and automatic products. Further, the issue arises due to lack of marketing skills and inappropriate market research which shows the inability of the R&D department. It indicates management may be lacking somewhere  so that marketing and R&D department might not be working in an appropriate manner. In this context, few recommendations have been provided to resolve the related issues as follows-

Training and development- To enhance the marketing skills, the management should provide the required training which can be helpful for marketing people to treat with customers. In this regard, with additional skills and talent, marketing management can easily deal with customer expectations and create awareness regarding updated products. Hence, it would have a major contribution to profitability and sales revenue.

Involvement of skilled people in R&D department- The R&D department should employ the skilled workforce for the better analysis of results which are derived by the market research so that Al-Ghanim industries would be able to know about the reasons that why sales is decreasing in several sectors. Hence, through effective R&D department, the company will be able to achieve the specific results and improve the sales revenue as well as profitability by proper research.

Effective management- It is not necessary that the company will be able to perform better in all fields of the businesses. This issue arises due to ineffective management of retail stores all over the world. In this context, it has been recommended that Al-Ghanim industries can hire the qualified and experienced people in the management team so that all the departments such as R&D, marketing and finance of the company can be managed effectively. This thing would take place through the proper structure of management in a hierarchical manner.

 A strategy can be reviewed and evaluated on the basis of several aspects such as internal and external analysis, environmental analysis, cultural barriers, customer insights etc. (Holland, 2010).

Internal analysis- Strategy can be evaluated on the basis of internal factors of the organization. In this context, before the implementation of strategies, the internal environment of the company should be observed that the strategies are favorable or not for the employees and management. Further, on the basis of internal conditions, it should be assumed that the long-term objectives of the company can be easily achieved.

External analysis- Strategies can be evaluated on the basis of external factors involving customer’s expectations, competitors, stakeholders, technological factors etc. In this context, strategies should be reviewed as per the customer’s requirements that if the company would apply the new strategy then it can be favorable to meet the customers demands. On the basis of these, the strategy would be evaluated and final implementation can take place after the external environmental analysis.

Identification of cultural barriers- Cultural factors should be analyzed before the execution of strategy because the strategies are associated with the fulfillment of customer's demand; however, it is not possible for the company to implement the strategy in a diversified cultural environment. In this regard, the strategy should be evaluated as per the cultural requirements and then implement it in the international marketplace to attract a large number of customers.

Conclusion

On the basis of the report, it has been concluded that Al-Ghanim industries have a competitive position in the global market which is identified according to CPM matrix. Moreover, as per the EFE matrix, it has been summarized that Al-Ghanim has a strong position in the competitive market because the weighted score of the company is higher than the average score. Besides of these, on the basis of BCG and growth strategy matrix, it has been concluded that Al-Ghanim industry is a strong market leader in diversified businesses. However, on the basis of recommendations, it has been concluded that management can focus on training and development, involvement of skilled people in R&D department for the achievement of long-term objectives.

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