A SWOT analysis of BHP's mining and petroleum operations

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Introduction to Management
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Introduction
BHP is an Anglo-Australian mining company which deals with mining of minerals and
petroleum. T is the world’s largest mining company and was previously known as BHP Billiton.
It is headquartered in Melbourne Australia and was founded in 1885. After the merger between
the Dutch company Billiton and Australian BHP, there was rapid growth and the company value
tripled be between 2004 and 2012. Fortune magazine ranked it the world’s biggest company by
capitalization and the third biggest company in Australia based on revenues received in 2017
(Ackroyd et al, 2016). The Australian based company is listed in various stock markets like the
ASX, London stock exchange and the NYSE. It is constitute of the FTSE 100. IN 2017 however,
the company scaled down from BHP Billiton to BHP and Billiton assets were rebranded to
south32. It deals with mining of major metals like copper, iron, gold, natural gas, nickel and
uranium. It is also a major contributor of drilled petroleum around the world. In 2017, the
company announced that it would sell off its US oil business as a strategy to revamp its growth
in other continents. It operates in the metals, mining and petroleum industry (Alvesson, and
Sveningsson, 2015).
Some of its well-recognized people in the management include ken Mackenzie as the
chairman and Andrew Mackenzie as the CEO. In 2017, the revenues for the mining giant was
reported as US$38.285 billion while the operating income was at $ 11.753 billion. The number
of employees and contractors working for the company is 65,000 as at December
2017(Alvesson, 2016). Also, the net income is $6.222 billion in 2017.

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Our approach
The basis of our philosophy is the safe and sustainable production of metal products. Safety of
production is an absolute priority and our goal is to become the safest steelmaking and mining
company in the world (Bolman and Deal, 2017).
Mineral Production
The company has steel mills in more than 20 countries around the world on four continents, both
in developed and developing markets for metal products. In 2012, the Company's turnover
amounted to US $ 84.2 billion in the production of steel in 88.2 million tons or about 6% of
world total production.
About 35% of metal products are produced in the Americas, 47% in Europe and 18% in other
regions, including Kazakhstan, Ukraine and South Africa (Blockeel, et al, 2016).
Mining
Mining is one of the key elements of BHP development strategy. In 2012, 55.9 million tons of
iron ore and 8.2 million tons of coal were mined. Mining has a great development potential with
an approved plan to increase the extraction of iron ore to 84 million tons by 2015 (Bohari and
Fuad, 2017).

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Currently, coal and iron ore are mined in 10 countries: Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil,
Canada, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine and the USA.
Research and Development Centers
Over 1,400 researchers work in 11 research centers. In 2011, more than US $ 300 million was
spent on R & D needs.
Organizational structure
BHP Group consists of six structural divisions: Leaf Rental America, Leaf Rental Europe,
Profile Rental America and Europe, AASGN (Asia, Africa and CIS), Mining and Distribution.
All production facilities are part of one of these units.
BHP Consultants is the leading consulting company in the mining industry, providing services
in the field of geological exploration and mining, as well as the financial sphere of mining. We
work with our clients both in the planning of new mining enterprises and in improving activities
at existing mining enterprises, focusing on achieving optimum productivity and profitability.
With more than 30 years of experience in over 8,000 projects, BHP is a recognized expert in the
mining industry. The scope of our activities includes mining, geological exploration,
geomechanics, geology, feasibility study (FS), strategy optimization, technical audits, expert
evaluation and business improvement services.
Our clients are mining companies, insurance companies, banks and investors. BHP has opened a
new branch in Russia for efficient delivery of services. BHP is a leading consulting company in
the field of mining with offices located in Australia, Canada and the UK. BHP is an independent
company, 100% owned by its employees.