Nucor Driving Forces

More attention to own business than to competitors is their strategy. South magazine observed that Nucor is “stripped down, no nonsense” organization. It keeps maintaining low cost and efficiency, which is the key to making profit in steel industry, by keeping the employee force at the level it should be, empowering them, being totally honest, involving them in decision making process, and using effective incentive compensation system.

These driving forces very easily impact the steel industry’s competitive structure in a bad way. These driving forces make it very difficult for steel companies to compete in this industry.

3. Please apply Porter’s Five Forces model to the steel industry. While doing so, clearly identify who is behind each force – for instance Suppliers, Buyers, Substitutes, Competitors, etc. And what is the impact of each force on the profitability of the industry – in terms of the following levels - High/Medium/Low. At the end, also provide a summary of all the five forces and propose whether you think the steel industry is attractive industry or not an attractive industry.

What are the primary competitive forces impacting U.S. steel producers in general and the producers like Nucor that make new steel products via recycling scrap steel in particular? Please do a five-forces analysis to support your answer.

Industries will look different with all of these forces. The strategy will change based on how these forces look for the organization and industry. These concepts can be applied across the board, and they help organizations from getting trapped into the latest trends and technology out there selling solutions. This matrix really helps to

A great competitive advantage in the industry will be to have an integrated enterprise that is capable of R&D and large scale commercial manufacturing. In this context, Nucleon’s long term strategic goal should be to gain this competitive advantage by continuing to leverage its existing R&D competencies along with acquiring in-house manufacturing

What driving forces do you see at work in this industry? Are they likely to impact the industry’s competitive structure favorably or unfavorably? (Did we answer this question?)

Upon Review of Nucor Corporation’s current findings, analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as a comparative analysis at the industrial level of the steel industry, the following includes a summary of findings and recommendations for Nucor Steel Corporation:

U.S. Steel and other steel companies for decades, relied on the tried and true strategies of vertical integration and price control (Hoerr, 1988). In the 1960’s, foreign competition from developing countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil entered the market "with low material and labor costs, modern equipment, and the support of government policies" (Hoerr, 1988, p. 99). Because of lower costs and concern over supply created by constant threat of strike, many

Nucor Corporation is made up of 11,500 teammates whose goal is to "Take Care of Our Customers." We are accomplishing this by being the safest, highest quality, lowest cost, most productive and most profitable steel and steel products company in the world. We are committed to doing this while being cultural and environmental stewards in our communities where we live and work. We are succeeding by working together.

Another recommendation that I have for Nucor is instead of buying existing plant capacity, make new plants elsewhere or form a joint venture with a supplier to help save money. (Exhibit 3) This would decrease cost of supplies so they would have the extra money to build elsewhere or build a ne plant. By using the SWOT analysis (Exhibit 1) it let me break up Nucor into different parts to see what their strengths and weaknesses are. Nucor is solid with technology and treating the employees correct but the weaknesses that affect Nucor are more market based with some internal problems. Nucor has products for many different industries including automotive and housing. This can cause issues for Nucor if those industries take a fall, which they have over the last 5 years. It’s a good idea to be in these industries but Nucor has to realize what can happen to sales and revenues when one or both of those industries take a fall. Nucor has been expanding more in the United States, recently just building a plant in Louisiana (Exhibit 5). This plant will be a 750 million dollar purchase and will be a mill for pig iron. Nucor is expanding all over the United States but needs more presence internationally plan and simple. Nucor is a solid company with shareholder equity increasing each year; they have a solid stock in the NASDAQ market and continue to be a healthy steel company. They can and will

Nucor is a classic case in how a firm can develop sustainable competitive advantages through resources that fit the VRIO criteria. It is worth noting that Nucor has achieved this in an industry that few would describe as attractive.

Nucor Steel is one of the major steel producers in the world and a market leader in America that is facing a threat of competitive pressures from potential international players.

Nucor has created a company that is both internally and externally fit to the environment. The firm responds well to the driving forces of the industry and has opted to take a low-cost strategy with the relentless pursuit of innovation and strong employee productivity in order to combat the issues of the steel industry. In 2000, Nucor decided to expand its operations by acquiring new firms and new factories while continuing with its low-cost operations. The competitive strategy of Nucor has helped it become one of the leading manufacturers of steel and steel products in the United States.

So, from my perspective, these are the main trends in the strategic environment that have influenced steel company profits over the past few years. Nevertheless, the fact that most steel companies operate largely within their national or regional markets, adapting their strategies only to them, was, obviously, the primary aspect that contributed for the worsening of the situation.