Essay Example on the Competitive Advantage of Saudi Arabian Mining Company

Among the skills that will be investigated in this paper include listening and big-picture thinking, critical and creative skills, execution and collaboration skills, and planning and organizing. The analysis of the skills will be about the ability of the management to use them to gain a competitive advantage over the local and international competitors. Geissler et al. (2015) argue that an organization that goes through the strategic decision-making process has a high chance of performing better than its competitors since it comes up with innovative ways of how to conduct business. The management of an organization aims to have a reduced cost of production while having more products (Madani, 2011). This encourages the idea of having a mass production which results in reduced prices and more sales. The management at Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) understands the importance of having its leaders engaging in strategic decisions since the industry has competitors who compete for the same clientele base as they do. This necessitates the need to have regular meetings that can birth ideas on how the firm can maintain its lead in the local market and gain more customers on the international scene. The critical and creative skills come in handy when the management team needs to rebrand and position the organization in the minds of the existing and potential clients. A management team realizes the importance of doing things differently other than the conventional methods since the customer is evolving and demands more content (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2012). Customers demand more information about the products they consume which requires the producers to label their products correctly.

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On a macro-scale to understanding Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden)'s success, the exploration of the connection between strategic management and competitive advantage lies in the ability to elaborate how the leaders deploy the skills and develop a plan of success. The management team plans ahead of how it will engage the resources and employees to reach its desired state of success (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2012). This obliges the need to have an open communication channel between the management and its staffs, who then execute the action plan. The management team selects a team of individuals with the knowledge and skills who interpret the plan into an action and push towards the desired state. A management team that employs it strategic skills is visionary and focuses its attention on the output as opposed to the input (Lazzarini, 2015). The organization shifts its attention on the customers and ensures that products and services released to the market are of high quality and quantity. The organizational processes are efficient and free from any form of defect that may interfere with the needs of the customers. Furthermore, the strategic team emphasizes on the need to have the organization go through constant improvements since change is a process and takes time. hard work, commitment, and practice become the main drivers of continuous improvements from both the management team and employees.

1.1 Purpose of the Study

As a researcher, one is interested in understanding the competitive advantage that Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) has over the conventional methods of conducting business, and the extent to which such advantage has directly or indirectly affected the mining industry. The application of strategic ideas in the management process enables the leader steer the firm towards success and maintain the lead in the industry despite the high level of competition from other organizations in the same line of business (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2012). When an organization has a competitive advantage, they can focus on the production process since they incur low costs unlike their competitors who have to spend huge amounts of prices before they can reach the same level as an institution capitalizing on competitive advantage (Al-Dubaisi, 2011). According to the company website, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) started its operations in the late 1990s after a decree from the Royals who wanted to see the mining industry in Saudi Arabia to peek. The development and modernization of the infrastructure network enabled the company transport its commodities across the country to reach its customers. The government initiative allowed the public to invest in shares allowing 50% to be traded in the country's stock exchange. Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) specializes in mining gold, aluminum, phosphate, bauxite, graphite, and other precious metals. The diversification of activities has seen the company enjoy a large clientele base since it responds to the customer requests (Saudi Arabian Mining Company, 2011). The firm also partners with affiliates of the organization with an aim of reducing production costs and improving efficiency. Additionally, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) works towards expanding its business activities by making strategic decisions. For instance, the management spearheads evaluation of potential sites which can provide a rich environment for their mining activities. The firm is also seeking ways of increasing is business portfolio by engaging in dialogue with other industries that can support the firm during its expansion process. Newly discovered metals are subjected to a research process to identify their characteristics and thereafter a full venture. Some of the metals that are currently under study are zinc, copper, nickel, and lead. A team of experts lead the information-finding process which takes a limited amount of time since the project managers are aware of how crucial the information they discover is important to the management and development of the firm (Saudi Arabian Mining Company, 2011). Furthermore, the fact that such projects require the input of a strategic manager justifies the value attached to the skills and expertise of leaders who are in charge of all assignments.

The study seeks to understand the driving factors that lead the management team at Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) to consider the utilization of strategic skills and the effect it has on their ability to outdo competitors in the same line of business (Schepis, Purchase, & Ellis, 2014) s. For example, understanding how the management team goes through indoor and outdoor training to increase their knowledge in strategic management will enable the research draw implications on the perception the leaders have towards the decisions. Probably, a little narration on the development Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) has made in the last few years owing to the strategic decision-making process will make it easy to understand the value attached to strategic management skills. For instance, in 2014, the strategic team from Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) identified an opportunity and acquired Jabal Sayd, which was one of the leaders in copper production. The increase in the business portfolio enabled the management to invest more than 200 dollars with the aim of generating income in the future (Saudi Arabian Mining Company, 2011). The strategy, in this case, invested in a long-term project that would generate income and ensure that Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) had excess funds to engage in different projects. According to Al-Dubaisi (2011), most corporates and individuals prefer sourcing their products from Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) due to the concentration of the company on quality and consideration of the fair prices. The management team has also set up a team of experts who help deal with customer complaints and assure them of the high quality of products. This strategy has created confidence among the local customers who have an assurance that in case they have a genuine issue, then Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) will help solve the situation.

Moreover, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden)'s ability to provide services in many countries enables them to reach a large audience, which is to their advantage (Toledano & Roorda, 2014). It has attracted millions of customers who request its products. There are also people, who use their services, and once they get the satisfaction they needed, they become return customers. The concept of competitive advantage is also discussed in this study with its relation to the effect it has on the return on investment in an organization. Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) capitalizes on positioning its services as the best in the industry so that more customers can request their products.

1.2 Aims and Objectives

The aims and objectives provide the guiding basis for the researcher to achieve at the end of the study. They indeed cover all the important aspects of the study. They also enable the study to remain within the right framework so that they can achieve what they set out to achieve. The following are the aims and objectives of the study respectively. This research aims to establish ways in which organizations utilize their strategic management skills so that they can have a competitive advantage over their competitors. So, the specific objectives of the study are:

To find out how the strategic team at Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) uses its strategic skills

To investigate the impact of engaging strategic management skills on Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma...