Cliffs Natural Resources Strategy
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Project Report on Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLF) In partial fulfillment of the course Strategic Management-I Submitted to: Submitted by: Professor Veeresh Sharma Sourobh Das (15P052) Section A, PGPM 2015-17 Management Development Institute, Mehrauli Road, Sukhrali, Sector 17, Gurgaon - 122007 [Type text] [Type text] [Type text] Acknowledgements I feel obliged in submitting this report in partial fulfillment of the course Strategic Management-I. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Veeresh Sharma for his timely suggestions, help, guidance and encouragement during the project. I would also like to express my gratitude towards my institution, MDI- Gurgaon for generous access to research material that helped me carry out this in-depth analysis without which this project would not have come to fruition. I would also like to express my gratitude towards my peers whose valuable and honest opinions and inputs helped me bring this project to conclusion. Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the people who have been involved with me in the project directly or indirectly and who have supported me all throughout the course of this project. Executive Summary This report aims to unravel the corporate strategy and throw some light on the business aspects of one of the leading mining and natural resources companies in the United States, Cliffs Natural Resources. The report starts off with an overview of the company talking of its inception, the various milestones in its history, its mission and core values that help in determining what kind of company it has been over the years and where it aims to go forward. In order to further understand the company, the report delves into the organizational structure of Cliffs, investigating the various groups that constitute the company and how they work together in unison to deliver results for the company. The employees have constantly rated Cliffs as a great place to work, over the years. I have analyzed the factors that drive the corporate culture of Cliffs and make it so attractive for existing and potential employees. Next, we move on to analyze the external environment and examine the various factors that affect the performance of Cliffs. I have analyzed this keeping political, economical, environmental, social and legal factors in mind.With so many forces at play, I had to analyze them all to completely gauge the industry it is in. In addition to using various reports and making use of the data published in the journals and articles, I have also taken into account the entry and exit barriers to understand the profitability of the players of the iron ore mining industry. With so many competitors of Cliffs, it becomes imperative to do a competitor analysis to get a comprehensive picture of where such global players stand financially and strategically and what are their strengths and weaknesses compared to Cliffs. Every competitor is different in terms of size and diversification and an understanding of their position in the iron ore mining value chain and their offerings is very necessary to devise a strategy for Cliffs Natural Resources going forward. The report then analyzes the value chain of iron ore mining and beneficiation. The analysis is applicable for all players in the industry in general. We then move on to the TOWS (a variant of SWOT) analysis of Cliffs to gauge how it can use its inherent strengths to utilize the opportunities it is presented with in the current global scenario to the maximum. The next part of the report goes into the financial analysis of Cliffs, exploring the financial condition of the company and how it has been faring over the past few years. The data has been taken from the NASDAQ website and the annual reports of the company. Due to falling global demand, all the players in the industry are facing a really tough time and Cliffs is no different. The report tries to give a perspective of how the future shall unfold for Cliffs and how it needs to strategize to grow further in spite of the challenges it currently faces. Cliffs Natural Resources 3 Table of Content Acknowledgements..........................................................................................2 Executive Summary.........................................................................................3 Introduction.....................................................................................................6 Milestones [16], [17]......................................................................................................6 Vision and Mission [1]...............................................................................................7 Core Values [1].......................................................................................................... 7 Products [1]............................................................................................................... 8 Operations [1]............................................................................................................ 8 Organization Structure.....................................................................................9 Culture...........................................................................................................10 External Environment....................................................................................10 1. Political Factors................................................................................................10 2. Economic Factors............................................................................................10 3. Social Factors..................................................................................................11 4. Technical Factors.............................................................................................11 5. Environmental Factors.....................................................................................11 6. Legal Factors...................................................................................................11 Industry Analysis............................................................................................11 1. Threat of New Entrants....................................................................................11 2. Threat of Substitutes.......................................................................................12 3. Bargaining Power of Suppliers.........................................................................12 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers.............................................................................12 5. Intensity of Competitive Rivalry......................................................................12 Entry and Exit Barriers...................................................................................12 Entry Barriers........................................................................................................ 13 Exit Barriers...........................................................................................................13 Competitor Analysis.......................................................................................13 1. Vale S.A........................................................................................................... 13 2. Arcelor Mittal...................................................................................................14 3. U.S. Steel Corporation.....................................................................................14 4. Peabody Energy Corporation...........................................................................14 5. BHP Billiton Limited.........................................................................................14 6. Rio Tinto..........................................................................................................15 Internal Audit.................................................................................................15 Value Chain Analysis.............................................................................................15 Financial Analysis...........................................................................................17 Income Statement.................................................................................................17 Balance Sheet....................................................................................................... 18 Cash Flow.............................................................................................................. 19 Key Financial Ratios...............................................................................................19 TOWS Matrix..................................................................................................21 Recommendations.........................................................................................22 SPACE Matrix Analysis...........................................................................................23 Conclusion.....................................................................................................24 References.....................................................................................................25 Introduction Cliffs Natural Resources, previously known as Cleveland-Cliffs, is a business firm that specializes in the mining and beneficiation of iron ore. Its headquarters are located in Cleveland, Ohio. Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) is one of the prominent mining and