SWOT Analysis of Baxter Group

Discuss about the New Enterprise Venture Development.

In the context of the project we were to prepare a detailed assessment report for the Baxter group, a UK based construction company with more than 20 years experience in the field of the construction sector with various large scale project in credit. The companies are currently looking for expanding the scope as well as dimension of projects as the company is currently looking for investment in the luxury building projects, joint ventures and commercial construction. . So we were given the task to analyze the issues that the company are currently facing and based on that we were to suggest the strategies that will help the company to overcome those issues. Additionally we were also asked to provide recommendation for dealing with the issues so that the company can increase it business performance in the construction sector. We performed a SWOT analysis on the business structure to find out the issues that have the potential to affect the business performance as well the business decision for the organization (Bull et al. 2016).  The issues that were identified with the SWOT analysis were the absence of the CRM system, absence of quality accreditation standards, absence of proper business plan and absence of brand awareness schemes. However doing the SWOT analysis was not easy at all. It required extensive analysis of the business structure not only for the company we are working for, but also needed to review the business structure of the other successful organization in the sector. As we were working in a team we decided to review the business structure of several organizations individually so that we can cover more organization in less time and it will also provide more insight about the topic. So we decided to start the work initially on individual and once we finish our research about the business structure of different company we will reflect our individual understanding about the topic, so that we can come up with more accurate solutions after integrating the individual research.

However it was quite difficult for me to carry out the research. First of all, being a citizen of India it was very natural that I did not have much information about the construction projects carried out in UK. I had to research a lot to understand various aspect of the construction project like related rules and regulations applicable to the projects. Only reading from online resources was not enough. The reading is important to understand the theoretical aspect. However it does not give a clear understanding for applying the rules in the actual projects. The practical understanding is important as the project focus on building implementation plan of business strategies for a real organization.

Risk Assessment for Baxter Group

The rules and regulation of construction project varies largely across the country and depends on the social, political and as well as economic structure which is exclusive to the country. Hence in order to have a clear idea the knowledge also needs to be updated as well and considering the context it was a major challenge for me. In order to gain practical understanding about the rules and regulations I needed to engage with the construction projects and for that I need help of local expert who could help me in that context. However it was not an easy job at all. However I was able to do that as I interacted with few companies to understand the rules and regulations more effectively. This interaction also helped me to understand how these companies make effective business strategies that ensure profits without violating applicable rules and regulation. One thing that I learned during the interaction is that in order to implement successful business strategies it is important that the strategies are compatible with the applied rules and regulation. One more thing that I learned during the interaction is that risk analysis is very important for any construction company as the projects are full of risk factor. Now in order to understand the risk factors more effectively theoretical research was not sufficient as the factors vary largely across the companies. So I reviewed case studies of various other companies and tried to compare that with the company chosen for the project.

The thorough analysis of the case studies revealed one factor that for the construction companies the liquid risk is very common for the construction companies as it involves lot of inventory and stock. However to find that whether the company is having liquidity risk or not , it is important to analyze the factors like stocks, current liabilities , current ratio which helps to find out the liquidity risk. After analyzing those data for the Baxter homes, the company considered for the project, it was find out that the organization is having liquidity risk. The risk analysis is not just about collecting the data and applying some mathematical model for calculation. In order to understand the effect of the liquidity risk it needs careful analysis of the organizational resources, market analysis of the stock in which the company has invested and how these stocks are shared between the stakeholders. However the information was not obtained easily. It required extensive review of various risk analysis models to find out the model that suits the organizational needs and the business structure. Apart from the risk analysis model, one factor that I found very common while reviewing the business model of various companies is the marketing technique. However at first I had impression that marketing does not have that much importance in the construction sector which proven to be wrong as I made progress along my research (Wrenn and Mansfield 2014). This kind of mistake is common as I did not have that much understanding about the management techniques. However I knew that marketing has an important role for product based company (Armstrong et al. 2015). Due to the limited knowledge about the marketing management I thought that it would be helpful for me to review the marketing strategy that is followed by the product based company. So I started to direct my research in that approach. However I was not sure that whether it would be effective to follow that strategy. So before proceeding with the research further, I wanted to clear my doubt. But it was difficult for me to contact with someone who would clarify my doubt. So I started to do extensive literature review, find information from online. But that information was heavily focused on the theoretical aspect of marketing, but not the justification that I will be helpful for my guide in the project.

Importance of Marketing in the Construction Sector

 One thing I learned from the review is that marketing strategies varies largely across the sectors (Brennan 2015). Then I started to visit various blogs and company pages to find out contacts so that I can get in touch with the marketing manager of those companies. However I was not able to find contacts and contacts that I found was not interested for the meeting which does not have formal and professional outlook. As I was not from any company, it was difficult for to arrange professional meetings. So I started to visit construction companies in person to meet the marketing managers, but again I was not successful as I did not have any formal appointments. The major reason is that the companies were not interested in revealing the marketing strategies which is justified as it has the chance to affect the business of the organization. When the strategies to meet the marketing manager in person did not worked, I again tried to search for online help and during that I came to know about a popular marketing site where amateur marketing aspirants have the opportunity to interact with the marketing professionals. I interacted with a professional who had 8 years of marketing experience and more importantly the professional has previously worked with various construction companies as well. Hence I thought it would be a great opportunity for me learns marketing strategies so that I can apply my knowledge for proposing marketing strategy. Although he was not previously interested in the meeting, but later agreed when I discussed my problems and was impressed with my interest to meet him person. The meeting was really very helpful, I must say. I learned a lot from the interaction. He made the thing clear that the marketing strategies vary largely according to the sectors due to various factors like business structure, market competition and most importantly the target audience.  

Customer trust is very much important irrespective of the field of business and in the construction sector the people are much more concerned with the safety and quality of the construction (Lorette 2014). The best and most widely accepted marketing strategy in the construction sector is to have the ISO standards and introduce the audience with the standards as it will increase the customer trust. In order to avoid the competition, the company might also prefer to building relation with the non-competing but related business farms for promotions through referral. This strategy is also very popular among the companies. The lack of my knowledge about the rules and regulation had made it very difficult for me to proceed with my work to review the business structure and suggest improvement strategies for the business including the strategies for improving the marketing performance for the company.

References:

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M.  Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introductory guide. Pearson Education.

Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C., Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zähringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the business  framework. Ecosystem services, 17, pp.99-111.

Lorette, K., 2014. The importance of marketing for the success of a business. Chron small business.

Wrenn, B. and Mansfield, P.M., 2014. Marketing planning guide. Routledge