Arch Coal, Inc. SWOT Analysis / Matrix

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SWOT analysis is a vital strategic planning tool that can be used by Arch Coal, Inc. managers to do a situational analysis of the company . It is an important technique to evalauate the present Strengths (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) & Threats (T) Arch Coal, Inc. is facing in its current business environment.

The Arch Coal, Inc. is one of the leading organizatations in its industry. Arch Coal, Inc. maintains its dominant position in market by carefully analyzing and reviewing the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis a highly interactive process and requires effective coordination among various departments within the organization such as – marketing, finance, operations, management information systems and strategic planning.

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The SWOT Analysis framework helps an organization to identify the internal strategic factors such as -strengths and weaknesses, & external strategic factors such as - opportunities and threats. It leads to a 2X2 matrix – also known as SWOT Matrix.

The Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis / Matrix helps the managers of the Arch Coal, Inc. to develop four types of strategies:

SO (strengths-opportunities) Strategies
WO (weaknesses-opportunities) Strategies
ST (strengths-threats) Strategies
WT (weaknesses-threats) Strategies

SWOT Matrix Strategies Objective

The core purpose of SWOT matrix is to identify the strategies that a company can use to exploit external opportunities, counter threats, and build on & protect Arch Coal, Inc. strengths, and eradicate its weaknesses.

Step by Step Guide to Arch Coal, Inc. SWOT Analysis

Strengths of Arch Coal, Inc. – Internal Strategic Factors

As one of the leading organizations in its industry, Arch Coal, Inc. has numerous strengths that enable it to thrive in the market place. These strengths not only help it to protect the market share in existing markets but also help in penetrating new markets. Based on Fern Fort University extensive research – some of the strengths of Arch Coal, Inc. are –

Read - Arch Coal, Inc. Porter 5 Forces Analysis & Industry Analysis
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Successful track record of developing new products – product innovation.
Good Returns on Capital Expenditure – Arch Coal, Inc. is relatively successful at execution of new projects and generated good returns on capital expenditure by building new revenue streams.
Reliable suppliers – It has a strong base of reliable supplier of raw material thus enabling the company to overcome any supply chain bottlenecks.
Strong distribution network – Over the years Arch Coal, Inc. has built a reliable distribution network that can reach majority of its potential market.
Superb Performance in New Markets – Arch Coal, Inc. has built expertise at entering new markets and making success of them. The expansion has helped the organization to build new revenue stream and diversify the economic cycle risk in the markets it operates in.
Highly successful at Go To Market strategies for its products.
High level of customer satisfaction – the company with its dedicated customer relationship management department has able to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction among present customers and good brand equity among the potential customers.
Highly skilled workforce through successful training and learning programs. Arch Coal, Inc. is investing huge resources in training and development of its employees resulting in a workforce that is not only highly skilled but also motivated to achieve more.

Weakness of Arch Coal, Inc. – Internal Strategic Factors

Weakness are the areas where Arch Coal, Inc. can improve upon. Strategy is about making choices and weakness are the areas where a firm can improve using SWOT analysis and build on its competitive advantage and strategic positioning.

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There are gaps in the product range sold by the company. This lack of choice can give a new competitor a foothold in the market.
The profitability ratio and Net Contribution % of Arch Coal, Inc. are below the industry average.
The company has not being able to tackle the challenges present by the new entrants in the segment and has lost small market share in the niche categories. Arch Coal, Inc. has to build internal feedback mechanism directly from sales team on ground to counter these challenges.
Days inventory is high compare to the competitors – making the company raise more capital to invest in the channel. This can impact the long term growth of Arch Coal, Inc.
The marketing of the products left a lot to be desired. Even though the product is a success in terms of sale but its positioning and unique selling proposition is not clearly defined which can lead to the attacks in this segment from the competitors.
Not highly successful at integrating firms with different work culture. As mentioned earlier even though Arch Coal, Inc. is successful at integrating small companies it has its share of failure to merge firms that have different work culture.
Investment in Research and Development is below the fastest growing players in the industry. Even though Arch Coal, Inc. is spending above the industry average on Research and Development, it has not been able to compete with the leading players in the industry in terms of innovation. It has come across as a mature firm looking forward to bring out products based on tested features in the market.

Opportunities for Arch Coal, Inc. – External Strategic Factors

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Lower inflation rate – The low inflation rate bring more stability in the market, enable credit at lower interest rate to the customers of Arch Coal, Inc..
The new taxation policy can significantly impact the way of doing business and can open new opportunity for established players such as Arch Coal, Inc. to increase its profitability.
Opening up of new markets because of government agreement – the adoption of new technology standard and government free trade agreement has provided Arch Coal, Inc. an opportunity to enter a new emerging market.
New environmental policies – The new opportunities will create a level playing field for all the players in the industry. It represent a great opportunity for Arch Coal, Inc. to drive home its advantage in new technology and gain market share in the new product category.
Organization’s core competencies can be a success in similar other products field. A comparative example could be - GE healthcare research helped it in developing better Oil drilling machines.
Economic uptick and increase in customer spending, after years of recession and slow growth rate in the industry, is an opportunity for Arch Coal, Inc. to capture new customers and increase its market share.
The market development will lead to dilution of competitor’s advantage and enable Arch Coal, Inc. to increase its competitiveness compare to the other competitors.
Government green drive also opens an opportunity for procurement of Arch Coal, Inc. products by the state as well as federal government contractors.

Threats Arch Coal, Inc. Facing - External Strategic Factors

Intense competition – Stable profitability has increased the number of players in the industry over last two years which has put downward pressure on not only profitability but also on overall sales.
New technologies developed by the competitor or market disruptor could be a serious threat to the industry in medium to long term future.
Increasing trend toward isolationism in the American economy can lead to similar reaction from other government thus negatively impacting the international sales.
The demand of the highly profitable products is seasonal in nature and any unlikely event during the peak season may impact the profitability of the company in short to medium term.
Imitation of the counterfeit and low quality product is also a threat to Arch Coal, Inc.’s product especially in the emerging markets and low income markets.
The company can face lawsuits in various markets given - different laws and continuous fluctuations regarding product standards in those markets.
New environment regulations under Paris agreement (2016) could be a threat to certain existing product categories .
Rising pay level especially movements such as $15 an hour and increasing prices in the China can lead to serious pressure on profitability of Arch Coal, Inc.

Limitations of SWOT Analysis for Arch Coal, Inc.

Although the SWOT analysis is widely used as a strategic planning tool, the analysis does have its share of limitations.

Certain capabilities or factors of an organization can be both a strength and weakness at the same time. This is one of the major limitations of SWOT analysis . For example changing environmental regulations can be both a threat to company it can also be an opportunity in a sense that it will enable the company to be on a level playing field or at advantage to competitors if it able to develop the products faster than the competitors.
SWOT does not show how to achieve a competitive advantage, so it must not be an end in itself.
The matrix is only a starting point for a discussion on how proposed strategies could be implemented. It provided an evaluation window but not an implementation plan based on strategic competitiveness of Arch Coal, Inc.
SWOT is a static assessment - analysis of status quo with few prospective changes. As circumstances, capabilities, threats, and strategies change, the dynamics of a competitive environment may not be revealed in a single matrix.
SWOT analysis may lead the firm to overemphasize a single internal or external factor in formulating strategies. There are interrelationships among the key internal and external factors that SWOT does not reveal that may be important in devising strategies.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Arch Coal, Inc.

In light of the above mentioned limitations of the SWOT analysis / matrix, corporate managers decided to provide weightage to each internal strength and weakness of the firm. Organizations also assess the likelihood of events taking place in the coming future and how strong their impact could be on company's performance.

This method is called Weighted SWOT analysis. It is better than doing simplistic SWOT analysis because with Weighted SWOT Analysis Arch Coal, Inc. managers can focus on the most critical factors and discount the non-important one. It also solves the long list problem where organizations ends up making a long list but none of the factors deemed too critical.

Limitation of Weighted SWOT analysis of Arch Coal, Inc.

This approach also suffers from one major drawback - it focus on individual importance of factor rather than how they are collectively important and impact the business holistically.

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Example of Weighted SWOT Analysis

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SWOT Worksheet & Template

If you like to do your own SWOT analysis or want to make your own Weighted SWOT SWOT matrix then feel free to download Fern Fort University SWOT Analysis Template.

References / Citations & Bibliography

M. E. Porter, Competitive Strategy(New York: Free Press, 1980)
A. D. Chandler, Strategy and Structure (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1962)
O. E. Williamson, Markets and Hierarchies(New York: Free Press, 1975);
L. Wrigley, Divisional Autonomy and Diversification (PhD, Harvard Business School, 1970)
R. E. White, Generic Business Strategies, Organizational Context and Performance: An Empirical Investigation, Strategic Management Journal7 (1986)