Business Strategy: SWOT Analysis of Johnson Matthey Company

This report presents a comprehensive SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of Johnson Matthey, a prominent chemical company. The analysis begins with an overview of Johnson Matthey's operations, its long history, and its adaptation to the evolving business environment. Task 1 focuses on identifying the internal and external factors impacting the company's success, including its strengths such as brand recognition, strong distribution networks, and skilled workforce, alongside its weaknesses such as limited product variation and challenges in adapting to changing market needs. The analysis also highlights opportunities like increasing demand for chemical products and technological advancements, and threats such as anti-pollution laws and increasing competition. Task 2 examines factors influencing customer purchase behavior, such as brand image, company history, competitor performance, and customer preferences. The report emphasizes the importance of brand perception, the impact of competitors, and the role of customer preferences in shaping the company's success, including the use of advertising and personal experiences. The report concludes with a discussion of the company's ethical practices and its ability to adapt to the changing business landscape.

Running head: BUSINESS ANALYSIS
BUSINESS ANALYSIS
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1BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Task 1.
The aim of this report is to discuss the operation of Johnson Matthey Company that
hails from United Kingdom and has been operating in the countries worldwide. The company
has in-depth knowledge of producing chemicals for different industries that include
manufacturing and Agriculture industries of the world. The company has successfully
operated for more than 200 years and has a legacy that regulated the demand and supply of
industrial chemicals in all over the world. despite the fact that the company only focuses on
the production of chemicals now has brought changes in product diversity e which includes
catalysts and precious metals along with the industrial chemicals . The technique of Johnson
Matthey Company has been changing for years to suit the changing climate of business.
However there are various weaknesses in the company which may lead to face threat in this
highly competitive world of chemical industry. As the company has survived for 200 years of
successful business, it has developed certain strengths which has created opportunities for
Johnson Matthey Company to survive the tremendous pressure of the world business.
The company has a reputed brand image and recognition in all over the world for its
exceptional products and their utility. In all over the world the company has a strong
distribution networks who are well connected with the operation of the company. It has
gained the support from the stakeholders like customers trusted suppliers, dependable dealers
and skilled workforce. In this company the employees are highly experienced and expert of
STEM subjects which refers to Science, Technology, Engineering and maths. The stability of
government in the United Kingdom has supported the business to flourish and get access in
other countries of the world. The administration of the government of the markets where this
company operates are quite supportive because of the high demand of industrial chemicals in
in every part of the market. The company has a strength of economic independence because

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the British law allots tax credits to this business. The company uses this fund for research and
development of the products and find out different process of utilising natural resources
wisely. The company uses technological innovation properly so that the usage of non-
renewable energy gets reduced and carbon free chemicals can be developed (Smiley and
Jackson 2016). Thus Johnson Matthey Company creates scope for sustainable development.
Among the disadvantages that can place the firm in the weaker position in the market
are as followed. First is the Limited scope for product variation. The research and
development department of this company does not initiate innovative methods to increase the
product variety rather than focusing on the production of chemicals, precious metals and
catalysts for agricultural use. The business profitability of such products is not very high
because the company cannot sell these products at high expense because of high competition
in the market. Another weakness of this company is enable to introduce business strategies
like changing organisational structure or policies according to the need of the business in
different countries (Manda et al. 2016). There is no policy to help in adopting the culture of
the market so that the employees remain motivated and workplace diversity increases.
Searching for new business process is also not present in Johnson Matthey Company because
incorporation of new employees for strengthening the departments of marketing and online
sales have not been understood. Moreover employee safety in the production of chemicals is
low for which the threats of trade unions and employee grievances incur.
Despite of having such disadvantages the firm can make greater profits in the both
internal and external attractive factors because firstly there is a scope and investment for
increasing research and development focusing on the product variation in the farm stock
secondly the demand of chemical products for the industries and Agriculture is continuously
high. This is due to the fact that industries in all over the world are increasing and the
manufacturing industry needs support from search companies for resources. In addition to

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this the usage of fertilizers in the agricultural industry in all over the world is also increasing
which may create a scope for business by Johnson Matthey Company. The advancement of
Technology can create positive aspect for product development and manufacturing part of
this company. By utilising technology the company can automate their process and thus
replace the manual labour leading cost cutting (Záhorská, Nozdrovický and Mikulášik 2016).
With the change of Business and marketing the demand of industrial chemicals is increasing
and a huge market of this product through online marketing is increasing. In such manner the
company can export their products to foreign countries through online business practice. The
score for new market and new base of customer can be beneficial for this company. The
company operates ethically in the market by obeying the environmental laws and
sustainability regulations. Therefore this can be an opportunity for or the company to enter
the market of the developed and developing Nations.
Increasing focus on the anti-pollution laws can create barrier for the successful
production of chemicals by Johnson Matthey Company. As employee safety and employee
rights have become important in this current business scenario, the company may face
problem if it does not have proper employee safety measures (Jariah 2017). Investor
Company tries to enter the foreign market it will face the threat of import export control by
the government of those markets which may include extra cost for the company. In different
countries the legislation regarding environment, technology and Society are different
therefore if the company is not ready by developing new strategies it will face the blow.
Finally the increasing competition level in the Global market in this chemical manufacturing
industry can be a robust threat for Johnson Matthey Company (Kowalik 2018).

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Task 2.
As the company plans to grow and expand the operation in different parts of the world
it needs to understand the market condition. There are factors that manipulate the purchase
behaviour of the customers which include brand name, history of the company, competitors
and customer preferences. For the companies irrespective of their size and experience
become the part of market equation therefore brand perception is essential to understand what
the consumers are thinking about the culture of the company. It is also important because the
customers if formulate a perception in their Minds about the company whether positive or
negative is hard to change within a short period of time (Karunaratna and Kumara 2018).
This is why the company must work hard to measure the brand perception on its own. Is the
companies operating for 200 years it has a strong brand image present in the market which it
must utilise while entering a new market in any part of the world.
Secondly the image and the history of the company matters for gaining successful
customer perception (Esa et al. 2017). The more time the company has spent in the market for
serving the needs of the customers the more it gains experience about the factors related to
the success of the business. The customers believe on the products and services of those
companies which have spent years of service in different zones. in case of Johnson Matthey
Company gaining customer trust is easy because it has completed 200 years of customer
satisfaction this is why it has sustained for such a long time and doing business successfully
till present.
Thirdly the performance of the competitors decide whether the company will game
customer support or not. From this perspective the overall reliability that includes product
service delivery and price of the products are the factors of judgement by the customers. The
customers test the relative brand power of the company and feel connected to the forms brand

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as opposite to the competitors (Karunaratna and Kumara 2018). It is the question of reliability
and responsiveness which create differentiation among the companies operating in the same
business industry. The competitors if show more responsiveness to the customers along with
the high quality of product and services they are chosen by the customers immediately.
Finally the customer preferences allow the company be easily found out overcoming
the competition. Perception of the festivals encompasses their impression on awareness and
consciousness about the offering of the company which give competitive advantage and
allow scope for improvement of the company’s business (Mahar, Salzarulo and Wright
2018). Company that has more customer preference is able to attract new customers based on
the same factors does create a base of loyal clients for a long period of time. The customers
now it is not only think about the good quality of the product but also the after purchase
service. Whenever the company e fails to meet this demand it loses the customer preferences.
The companies in this digital Era mainly influence the perception through proper advertising
method to detail the product specifications and utilise the capability of the influences who
have massive impact on the purchasing decision of the customers. Finally the company tries
to gain customer perception through providing them score for personal experience which is
the first hand experience regarding the quality of product or service which one wins the other
potential buyers to make Purchase Decision.

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References:
Esa, M.M., Zainon, R., Muhamad, N. and Rahman, M.F.A., 2017. A Literature Review Of
Customer Preferences Towards Private Brands. Journal of Business Innovation, 2(1), pp.42-
52.
Jariah, N., 2017. Design of Knowledge Sharing Strategy with Structural Equation Modelling
Method and SWOT Analysis (Case Study: Chemical Industry). JIEMS (Journal of Industrial
Engineering and Management Systems), 6(2).
Karunaratna, A.C. and Kumara, P.A.P., 2018. Determinants of customer loyalty: A literature
review. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 17(1-2), pp.49-73.
Kowalik, M., 2018. Profitability and Financial Liquidity of the Chemical Industry
Companies. Finanse, Rynki Finansowe, Ubezpieczenia, 91(1), pp.47-58.
Mahar, S., Salzarulo, P.A. and Wright, P.D., 2018. Simultaneous use of customer, product
and inventory information in dynamic product promotion. International Journal of
Production Research, 56(12), pp.4283-4299.
Manda, B.K., Bosch, H., Karanam, S., Beers, H., Bosman, H., Rietveld, E., Worrell, E. and
Patel, M.K., 2016. Value creation with life cycle assessment: an approach to contextualize the
application of life cycle assessment in chemical companies to create sustainable
value. Journal of cleaner production, 126, pp.337-351.
Smiley, R.A. and Jackson, H.L., 2016. Chemistry and the chemical industry: a practical
guide for non-chemists. CRC press.
Záhorská, R., Nozdrovický, L. and Mikulášik, Ľ., 2016. ImplementatIon of StatIStIcal
methodS and SWot analySIS for evaluatIon of metal WaSte management In engIneerIng
company. Acta Technologica Agriculturae, 19(4), pp.89-95.

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Appendix:
SWOT analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
 Reputed brand image
 successful track record for 200 years
 strong distribution networks
 highly skilled workforce expertise in
the STEM subjects
 benefit of tax credit supported by
British Law
 strong connection with dealers and
trusted suppliers
 technological innovation educing
usage of non-renewable energy
 Strategies to cut cost to face global
recession.
 Over use of natural resources
 Limited product segment
 Ineffective business strategies to
adapt the changing nature of global
business.
 Low business profitability
 Inadequate investment in increasing
marketing and infrastructure
 Not highly successful in integrating
firm culture with those of the other
countries
 Investment in the employee safety is
low
 Searching for new business process
is not present
Opportunities Threats
 Scope for research and development
 High demand of the products
 Advancement of technology to
support automaton of production
thus cost cutting
 New customers based from online
channels
 Opening scope for new markets
 Opportunity to utilise ethical
business process
 Increasing focus on anti-pollution
law can affect the business
 Pressure of trade unions in different
market
 Export import control in foreign
countries are different from that of
UK
 Changing legislation regarding
employee rights, environmental and
CSR policies
 Increasing competition in the global
market