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Strategic Management Analysis:
Kingspan
Adam McCaffrey B00080634Adam Ward B00076809Niall Dowling B00082111Stuart Fitzgerald B00078508
Department of BusinessSchool of Business & Humanities
Institute of Technology BlanchardstownDublin 15.
Word Limit for Assignment: 8000 - 10500 Actual Word Count: 9664
Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Information TechnologyStrategic Management 2
25/04/2018
Table of Contents
1. Kingspan History 1
2. Strategic Position of Kingspan 3
2.1. Environment 3
2.1.1. Macro Environment 3
2.1.2. PESTEL Analysis 3
2.1.3. Industries and Sectors 4
2.1.4. Competitors 6
2.1.5. Markets 7
2.1.6. Scenario Planning 8
2.1.7. Opportunities and Threats 9
2.2. Strategic Capability 11
2.2.1. Critical Success Factors 11
2.2.2. Resources and Competencies 12
2.2.3. Distinctive Capabilities 12
2.3.3. Analysis of Financial Reports 14
2.3.4. Strengths and Weaknesses 15
2.4. Strategic Purpose 17
2.4.1. Values 17
2.4.2. Mission 17
2.4.3. Vision 17
2.4.4. Strategic Objectives 17
2.4.5. Corporate Governance, Governance Structure 18
3. Strategic Choices 21
3.1. Corporate Strategy & Diversification 21
3.1.1. Product/Market Diversity 21
3.1.2. Corporate Portfolio 22
3.1.3. Corporate Rationale 22
3.1.4. Corporate Parent 22
3.1.5. Corporate Control 23
3.2. Directions and Methods of Development 23
3.2.1. Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliances and Benchmarking 23
3.2.2. Success Criteria 24
3.3. International Strategy 25
3.3.1. International Strategies 25
3.4. Business-Level Strategy 25
4. Strategy in Action 30
4.1. Structure of the Organisation 30
5. Conclusion 31
6. Reflective Analysis 32
7. References 34
8. Appendices 37
8.1. Appendix A 37
Table of Figures
Figure 1 - Kingspan 2017 Results (Kingspan, 2018, p. 13) 3
Figure 2 – VRIO Model (FitzRoy and Hulbert, 2004) 13
Figure 3 - Kingspan BCG 23
Figure 4 – Business Level Strategy (Johnson et al., 2017) 26
Figure 5 – Generic Strategy Model (Lynch, 2012) 26
Figure 6 - Statistics (Kingspan, 2016) 27
Figure 7 - Net Zero (Kingspan, 2016) 28
Figure 8 - Thermal Performance (Kingspan, 2016) 29
1. Kingspan History
Kingspan was founded in 1965 by Eugene Murtagh as a small engineering and contracting business
that was known then as Kingcourt Construction. The company started by manufacturing steel frame
buildings and structural sections (Kingspan, 2018).
Throughout the 70’s, the company began constructing insulated panels and environmental products
such as waste disposal containers. Sec-Form was a separate company created by Kingscourt
Construction to carry out the manufacturing of the insulated panels. They introduced the first
insulated panel onto the market in 1976. Sec-Form was later turned into Shelter Insulations Ltd after
the company purchased technology to create thermal insulation boards from an American business
in 1980.
Shelter Insulation begin exporting to the UK from Castleblayney in 1984 and after 2 years, Kingscourt
Construction acquired the insulation business of Torvale Group Ltd in Pembridge, establishing a
manufacturing plant in the UK. In 1989, Kingscourt Construction is renamed Kingspan. In the same
year, Kingspan began trading on the Unlisted securities market in Dublin at a share price of 76p.
In 1990, Shelter Insulation grows with an acquisition with Plaschem from BPB and instantly becomes
the market leader. A year after another acquisition with Coolag further strengthens the business and
is renamed Kingspan Insulation. With further expansion, Kingspan establish a base of operations in
Germany and Belgium to improve their market presence in the EU. In 1995, Kingspan joins the
official lists of Dublin and London stock exchanges. There was a lot more expansion for Kingspan
throughout the EU in the 1990’s as they acquired a manufacturing plant in Czech Republic and
entering the Dutch market by purchasing a business. Ending the 1990’s, Kingspan enter the raised
access floor market through acquisition of Heweston PLC & Durabelle, which made Kingspan the
number 1 market position for raised access floors in Ireland & the UK.
Going into the 2000’s, the environmental division began to grow with a new manufacturing site in
Poland. In 2001, Kingspan acquire Tate Global Corporation, who is the leading raised access floor
company in the USA, giving Kingspan an entry into the American market. The demand for thermally
efficient products increases and Kingspan begin to focus more on areas of thermal efficiency.
Kingspan reach new heights as their EBITA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, & Amortization) exceeds
100 million euro. In 2005, Kingspan commission a new manufacturing plant in Hungary to meet the
demand for panels in the growing Central & Eastern European markets. An investment of 100m
euro is made into the Insulation division which comprises of new Kooltherm insulation board
manufacturing lines in Ireland, Holland, & the UK. Kingspan gain access to the Canadian market
through an acquisition with Zer-O-Loc in 2006, and acquiring Coldmatic Building Systems, a
manufacturing facility outside Toronto, in 2007. With the access into the Canadian markets,
Kingspan, through acquisition, acquire the second largest manufacturer of composite panels in the
US giving them unrivalled geographical reach in North America.
Into the 2010’s, Kingspan acquire the world’s leading wind energy business. In 2011, Kingspan
acquires CRH Insulation Europe, consolidating its position as Europe’s number one high performance
insulation, and providing a platform for longer-term growth in Europe. Kingspan Insulation products
are used in the construction of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in Stratford. More manufacturing
plants are established in the middle eastern parts of the world such as Dubai and India. With
innovation spreading through Kingspan, a revolutionary new vacuum insulation panel manufacturing
line is installed at Pembridge facility in the UK. In 2015, QuadCore is launched. A quantum leap in
panel insulation technology, delivers leading thermal performance, a 40-year guarantee, superior
fire protection, & enhanced environmental credentials. To further Kingspan’s geographical
expansion, they set up a manufacturing plant in Singapore in 2017 to give access to the Asian
market.
2. Strategic Position of Kingspan
2.1. Environment
2.1.1. Macro Environment
“Kingspan products are targeted at both the residential and non-residential (including retail,
commercial, public sector and high-rise offices) construction sectors. As a result, demand is
dependent on activity levels which may vary by geographic market and is subject to the usual drivers
of construction “(Kingspan, 2018, p.30). The group’s diversification mitigated the exposure to
cyclicality from a product and geographical perspective. Below is a Kingspan’s year (2017) in a
nutshell.
2.1.2. PESTEL Analysis
2.1.2.1. Political
● There is a lot of uncertainty in this area particularly in the non-residential segment of the
market.
● 25% of Kingspan’s trading was done in UK in 2017.
● Progressive sales expected in 2018 to protect Brexit uncertainty.
● Middle East growth slower with issues in Turkey but expected growth in 2018.
Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 - Kingspan 2017 Results (Kingspan, 2018, p. 13)
● Expanding market in Latin America (Brazil, Columbia, Mexico).
2.1.2.2. Economic
● Strong economic growth – revenue up 18%, trading profit up 11%.
● No doubt over company ability to continue in current economic conditions.
● Constant meeting over economic risk through different interest rates, taxes, etc.
2.1.2.3. Social
● Equal opportunities to employees worldwide.
● Key acquisitions in South America and Europe contributing to 9% of sales growth.
● High demand for all products worldwide.
2.1.2.4. Technological
● Relentless in development of new innovative technologies.
● Synthesia Group provides a technology platform for blended chemical technologies.
● Extensive R&D effort provided increased technologies.
2.1.2.5. Environmental
● 5% of Kingspan’s products benefit the environment (rainwater harvesting, renewable
technologies, etc.)
● Increased innovation to help the environment.
● Net Zero Energy level at 69% (goal set to be 100% by 2020).
● Moving towards a sustainable, renewable future.
2.1.2.6. Legal
● Products help meet government regulations and environmental targets.
2.1.3. Industries and Sectors
We will use Porters Five Forces framework to the industry and sector analysis to analyse the
attractiveness of the industry in which Kingspan operate. The focus of this analysis will be on
insulation and building solutions as its Kingspan’s largest business sector.
2.1.3.1. Threats of New Entrants
New entrants in construction and materials industry brings innovation, new ways of doing things
which put pressure on Kingspan Group Plc through lower pricing strategy, reducing costs, and
providing new value propositions to the customers. All these challenges must be managed by
Kingspan while also building effective barriers to safeguard its competitive edge.
How Kingspan Group Plc can tackle the Threat of New Entrants:
● By innovating new products and services. New products not only bring new customers to the
fold but also give old customers a reason to buy Kingspan Group Plc’s products.
● By Lowering the fixed cost per unit with economies of scale.
● Building capacities and spending money on research and development. New entrants are
less likely to enter a dynamic industry where the established players such as Kingspan Group Plc keep defining the standards regularly. It significantly reduces the window of extraordinary profits for the new firms thus discourage new players in the industry.
2.1.3.2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Most companies in the construction and materials industry buy their raw materials from multiple
suppliers. Suppliers in dominant positions can decrease the margins Kingspan Group Plc can earn in
the market. Powerful suppliers in Industrials sector use their negotiating power to extract higher
prices. But with the number of suppliers, the bargaining power becomes low as switching costs are
low for Kingspan.
How Kingspan can tackle Bargaining Power of Suppliers:
● Building effective supply chain with multiple suppliers
● By experimenting with product designs using different materials so that if the prices go up
with one raw material then the company can shift to another.
2.1.3.3. Bargaining Power of Buyers
Buyers want to buy the best offerings available by paying the minimum price as possible. This puts
pressure on Kingspan Group Plc profitability overall. The smaller and more powerful the customer
base is, the higher the bargaining power of the customers and higher their ability to seek increasing
discounts.
How Kingspan can tackle Bargaining Power of Buyers:
● Building a large base of customers. This will reduce the bargaining power of buyers and
provide an opportunity to the firm to streamline its sales and production process.
● By rapidly innovating new products. If Kingspan up its product development to keep up with
customer wants, they will limit the bargaining power.
2.1.3.4. Threat of Substitutes
The threat of substitutes for Kingspan are not that high. They have to worry about only a small
amount of other companies that sell the same products as them. But there are a number of tutorial
videos online that can show people how to insulate their own floors, roofs, and walls. It would not
be much of a threat as people usually prefer experts doing that work but it can be damaging.
How Kingspan can tackle Threat of Substitutes:
● By being more service oriented
● By understanding the core need of the customer rather than what the customer is buying
2.1.3.5. Competitor Rivalry
If rivalry in among existing players in an industry is intense, then it will drive down prices. Kingspan
Group is the global leader in high performance insulation panels. That does not mean they do not
have any competitors. The construction industry is very competitive with companies such as SIG
Ireland and Celotex competing with Kingspan in the insulation business.
How Kingspan can tackle Competitive Rivalry:
● Collaborate with competitors to increase the market size
● Building sustainable differentiation
2.1.4. Competitors
Kingspan are currently trading in the home heating and building supplying market which is quite a
competitive industry. Kingspan currently has a revenue of €3.67 billion (Financial Times, 2018) and a
net income of €284.3 million (Financial Times, 2018) and over 11,000 employees (Financial Times,
2018). Rockwool International is a major competitor for Kingspan particularly in Germany, Kingspan
made significant moves into the German market in 2012 with the acquisition of ThyssenKrupp
assets. Rockwool then announced a year later in 2013 that they were acquiring BASF Wall Systems
for an undisclosed sum, this acquisition was consistent with Rockwool’s strategy of developing a
presence in the external facade insulation (ETICS – External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems)
sector. It seems both Kingspan and Rockwool were becoming more and more direct competitors
with their investments in the ETICS sector (Davy Stockbrokers, Irish building Magazine, 2013).
Rockwool currently has revenues of €2.4 billion (Financial Times, 2018), a net income of €213 million
(Financial Times, 2018), also with a workforce of just over 11,000 people. It can be said that
Rockwool is a very close competitor to Kingspan by analysing its size, assets, and sectors involved in.
CRH would be considered a market leader in the building supplies sector with an estimated revenue
of €25.22 billion (Financial Times, 2018), a net income of €1.35 billion (Financial Times, 2018), and
currently employs over 85,000 people (Financial Times, 2018). Kingspan and CRH do have history
with each other, in 2010 CRH agreed to sell its European Insulation business to Kingspan for €120
million (Irish Times, 2010). This industry’s competitive structure can be described as ‘Perfect
Competition’, as there are many competitors, with a lot of different products and services that are
similar to that of their competitors.
2.1.5. Markets
Kingspan have sectors all across Europe such as, Insulation Panels, Insulation Boards, Light & Air, and
Access Floors.
2.1.5.1. Mainland Europe
2017 was a generally positive year for our Insulated Panels businesses across Continental Europe,
Insulation Boards continued to progress well across Continental Europe, for Light & Air Western
Europe performed strongly, particularly in Germany and France. Brakel will significantly complement
our presence in Western Europe, not only from its product range, but also through its Slovakian
manufacturing base which is capable of servicing much of the wider division, for Access Floors, the
recently acquired small platform in Belgium provides the division with its first step into Western
Europe and access in particular to the German market (Kingspan, 2018).
2.1.5.2. United Kingdom (UK)
The year started well for Insulated Panels in the UK and then tapered off considerably towards year-
end. 2017 was an outstanding year for the Insulation Boards division with overall revenue ahead by
12%. For access floors, The UK continued to perform well for much of the year as we supplied
contracts awarded earlier in the year, and even some from 2016. The result was satisfactory growth
in what increasingly developed into a tougher trading environment in the UK as confidence levels
dipped and order intake followed suit (Kingspan, 2018).
2.1.5.3. Americas
For Insulated Panels, order intake by volume in the US grew by low double digit in 2017,
compensating somewhat for weaker activity in Canada, 2017 marked a step-change to our position
in Latin America where they now have a manufacturing presence in Mexico, Colombia and four
facilities across Brazil. Early indications from these partnerships in South America have been most
encouraging. For Insulated Boards, during the year their new XPS insulation facility was
commissioned in Winchester VA which doubles their capacity for this type of insulation board in
North America, the plant only came properly on stream late in the year and, as a result, revenue was
only marginally up over prior year. For Light & Air, 2017 was a milestone year for this newly formed
division as it further extended its global presence through the addition of CPI Daylighting in North
America, although, the underlying sales performance in North America was less positive as they gave
up share in western US early in the year. This pattern had been reversed by year-end and will benefit
further from site consolidation in 2018 as well as the range expansion provided by the UniQuad®
product set at CPI. For Access Floors, in North America they continued to expand the product
offering with the primary focus on pre-finished concrete access floors and the data segment product
set (Kingspan, 2018).
2.1.5.4. Asia Pacific & Middle East
For Insulated Panels, this region experienced many challenges in 2017, predictably in Turkey,
Australia was impacted by capacity expansions by competitors, the pressures from which should
ease over-time as the penetration drive towards high performance continues. The New Zealand
market continues to deliver well for Kingspan. For Insulated Boards, the market for rigid insulation in
the Middle East is relatively embryonic and, as such, has low levels of penetration (Kingspan, 2018).
2.1.5.5. Ireland
For Insulated Panels, the market in Ireland has progressed well in recent years as the economy
recovers and growth in building resumes although the non-residential sector was broadly flat year
on year. For Insulation Boards, 2017 was a positive year for Insulation Boards in Ireland as the
conversion towards higher performance insulation continued to advance.
2.1.6. Scenario Planning
With the UK making up 25% of Kingspan sales. With the uncertainties of Brexit effecting exports to
the UK should encourage Kingspan to analysis the situation and take appropriate precautions to
nullify the impact that Brexit has on the company.
Kingspan has said it expects the sharp slowdown seen in the demand for its insulated panels in the
UK to carry on because of what it termed the “Brexit quagmire”. Kingspan have reported that UK
sales have dropped by 15% from the previous year.
Although the UK makes up 25% of Kingspan’s overall sales this has fallen from 75% within previous
years. Gene Murtagh CEO of Kingspan explained, that the company has had "a very good run in
Western Europe” highlighting the Benelux countries, France and the Nordic countries. He said North
America had also grown substantially and was now 20pc of the business and Kingspan was also
seeing "encouraging signs" in Latin America after substantial investment.
Despite the concerns surrounding the UK, Kingspan have indicated that its other end markets remain
in solid shape overall. They have stated that, their new accusations should provide a counterbalance
for the loss of business within the UK.
Kingspan are using related diversification, to sustain a more profound position in the global market.
They are gaining diversification through acquisitions of various companies. For example, they have
purchased three companies involved in energy daylight solutions. This creates diversification as they
are in the light and air sector. The companies are Essman(Germany), Brakel (Netherlands),
CPI(American) the companies offer solutions in glass skylights, ventilation and related products. The
European acquisitions should provide them with opportunities throughout Europe as the European
union set policies so that Europe becomes 20% more energy efficient by 2020. They have outlined
glazed and cleverly insulated buildings as a method to achieve their 2020 goal
Kingspan continues to reduce their reliance on the UK, by strengthen their position globally. While
Brexit may have immediate short-term effect on Kingspan shares and profits, their global
developments should reduce the effects of Brexit by the years end.
2.1.7. Opportunities and Threats
2.1.7.1. Opportunities
● Lower rate of inflation: The low rate of inflation brings more market stability, enabling lower
interest rate credit to the Kingspan customers.
● New consumer behaviour trends can expand new market for the company. It offers a great
opportunity for the company to develop new revenue channels and expand into new
categories of product too.
● The new technology offers an opportunity to the company to practice differentiated pricing
procedure in the new environment. It will allow the company to keep its loyal consumers
with great service and attract new consumers through other qualities-oriented propositions.
● Depreciating transportation cost because of lower prices of shipping can also lower the cost
of the company’s products thus offering an opportunity to the firm either for the purpose of
boosting its profitability or pass on the advantages to the consumers to attain market share.
● The development in the market will cause dilution of advantages from competitor and allow
the company to improve its competitiveness in comparison to the other competitors.
● New environmental laws: The new environment will develop a level playing ground for all
the companies in the industry. It’s a symbol of a great chance for the company to drive
home its benefits in new technologies and attain market share in the new category of
product.
● The new policy of taxation can effectively impact the manner of doing business and can
develop new opportunity for dominant companies such as Kingspan to enhance its
profitability.
● Increase in customer expenditure and economic growth, after years of slow growth rate and
recession in the industry, it is a chance for the company to attract new consumers and
enhance its market share.
2.1.7.2. Threats
● Changing customer behaviour of buying from online stream could be a threat to the current
physical infrastructure driven models of supply chain.
● The firm can face lawsuits in different markets given, continuous fluctuations and different
laws regarding goods qualities in those markets.
● The highly profitable products demand is seasonal in state and any unlikely thing during the
peak days may affect the profitability of the firm in short to medium duration.
● Development of raw materials can pose a threat to the profitability of Kingspan.
● Counterfeit imitation and low-quality goods is also a threat to the products of Kingspan
especially in the developing markets and markets of low income.
● As the firm is functioning in different nations it is exposed to fluctuations of the currency
especially given the harsh political climate in numerous markets across the globe.
● Skilled workforce shortage in some global market acts as a symbol of a threat to steady
profits’ growth for Kingspan in those areas.
● Improving trend toward American economy isolationism can cause similar activities from
other government thus poorly affecting the international sales.
2.2. Strategic Capability
2.2.1. Critical Success Factors
2.2.1.1. Innovation
Kingspan have gained the edge on their competitors by continuously realising innovative products.
They pride themselves on their innovation. They have been nominated for the queen’s innovation
award on numerous occasions. They are nominated for the award this year and have being
previously nominated in 2002 for Their introduction of a continuous pipe laminator process (CPL) for
our core pipe insulation products. IT revolutionised an entire line. It slashed production waste by
over 90%.
Another example of an innovative product is their zer0 Energy Lighting system(ZEL) The solution
combines the latest in polycarbonate rooflight products, LED lighting with smart dimming controls
and photovoltaic technology to create a bespoke package that can eliminate lighting energy costs.
Kingspan encourage innovation throughout their company. The facilitate this with their national
innovation centre in Ireland, and their 13 research and development centres throughout the globe
2.2.1.2. Product performance
Kingspan is a global leader in high performance insulation, building fabric and solar integrated
building envelopes. Koolduct system is one of Kingspan’s high performance products. This cutting-
edge system comprises of premium performance Kingspan KoolDuct panels, fabrication methods,
coupling systems and a complete line of accessories to produce pre-insulated rectangular HVAC
ductwork fabricated. The Kingspan KoolDuct ® System is the only premium performance pre–
insulated ductwork in the world to be UL Listed as a Class 1 Air Duct, to Standard for Safety UL 181
(Underwriters Laboratories: Factory Made Air Ducts & Air Connectors), when fabricated to a
specification clearly defined by UL. It is Also lighter on weight so less support structures are required
to hold it making it easier to install. (Kingspan,2018)
They have numerous other high-performance products their quad core for example. Has set the
industry’s standard for insolation technology. the quad core is a chip that controls the temperature
of the insulation panels. The quadcore is yet to be matched on performance it also requires thinner
insolation boards than any other quadcore.it has a 20% terminal improvement over a standard PIR
core
Over the past five years Kingspan insulation products have helped customers cut energy
consumption by more than 600 million megawatt hours of electricity, equivalent to 372 barrels of
oil.
2.2.1.3. Customer service
Kingspan take pride into their customer satisfaction. They provide technical support throughout the
building cycle. Providing complementary services including condensation risk calculations advice on
helping with the they project specification. Their customer service is confident throughout the
development of a project. The offer free advices and provide site inspection services. There are
different services available depending on the package the customer has purchased (Kingspan, 2018)
2.2.2. Resources and Competencies
Resources are the assets that a company have or can call upon. Capabilities are how those assets are
used or deployed. A shorthand way of thinking about it is resources are ‘what we have’ (nouns) and
capabilities are ‘what we do well’ (verbs). Johnson et al. (2017) segregate these 2 components of
strategic capability into three groups; physical, financial, and human which we applied to Kingspan.
Resources Type Capability
● 101 manufacturing facilities
● 1 Global Innovation centre
● 13 R&D centres
● A range of machinery such as: storage tanks, wind turbines, off-road machinery.
Physical ● Ability to create a wide range of innovative products from operation plants
● Innovative products from their R&D centres
● Use of machinery to assist in the creation of products and to keep the plant up and running
● €284.3m profit after tax in 2017
Financial ● History of successful acquisitions of companies
● 11,000 + employees Human ● Training employees to use the machinery available
2.2.3. Distinctive Capabilities
There are many distinctive capabilities that Kingspan possess across its many business units. The
main one is there plant efficiency that they have evolved. The way they can produce products at a
rate that gives them a competitive advantage. In 2015, the roof of a factory in Pembridge UK was
transformed as 1,200 solar panels were installed without any disruption to the function of the plant.
The 300kw solar panels will provide 15% of the insulation plants annual electricity demand. We will
now go over the VRIO model in relation to Kingspan.
Figure 2 – VRIO Model (FitzRoy and Hulbert, 2004)
2.2.3.1. Value
Value creation is important in sustaining or getting competitive advantage. You want to be able to
create a product or service that is of value to customers as the customer will be happier to spend
more knowing they will get what they paid for (Hill et al., 2015). Kingspan want to increase the value
of a product by making the gap between cost and perceived value as big as possible. Kingspan focus
on differentiation rather than low cost. Their insulation panels have been developed over several
years to the point that has put them at the top. Kingspan have also manufacturer of the year in the
2015 Building Awards held in London.
2.2.3.2. Rarity
Kingspan have rare technologies and capabilities that give them an edge over their competitors. The
relentless pursuit of building better is what defines Kingspan. Kingspan is dedicated to achieving
more energy-efficient building through innovative technologies, products, and building design
techniques. Kingspan like to brag about their new vacuum insulation panel that is five times better
than commonly used insulation. This is because they created the panel to provide the highest level
of thermal efficiency with minimal overall thickness.
2.2.3.3. Inimitability
The different type of technology that Kingspan have patented over the years makes it very difficult
for a competitor to imitate. E.g. Kingspan released QuadCore, a hybrid insulation core. QuadCore has
now set the standard for the insulation core industry that raised the bar way above what it used to
be. What it achieved is 20% thermal improvement over standard insulation cores. This makes it a lot
more difficult for competitors to imitate what Kingspan are doing.
2.2.3.4. Organisational Support
The organisational structure at Kingspan has proven that managerial practices fully support their
processes and techniques. Kingspan are the number one global market leader for insulation panels.
For an organisation to be in such a high position, it requires the full exploitation of their resources
and support of their ideas by everyone at Kingspan.
2.3.3. Analysis of Financial Reports
2.3.3.1. Financial Highlights
Kingspan announced their financial results for 2017 and they were very promising. It showed that
revenue has risen from €3.11 billion in 2016 to €3.67 billion which is an increase of 18.00%.
Kingspan’s net income also increased rising from €255.40 million to €284.30 million which is an
increase of 11.32%. The operating margin is 9.88%, the operating margin is the ratio of operating
profit to revenues, expressed as a percentage (Financial Times, 2018). These improvements continue
the trend of positive year end results from Kingspan for the last couple of years, in 2013 Kingspan
ended the year with a revenue of €1.78 billion, rising to €1.89 billion in 2014, €2.77 billion in 2015,
and €3.11 billion in 2016 (Financial Times, 2018). The same can be said regarding their net income, in
2013 their net income was €87.60 million, rising to €107.20 million in 2014, €188.10 million in 2015,
and €255.40 million in 2016. All this shows in the continuous improvement for Kingspan year by year
and the prospects of continued improvement in 2018 looking promising. In 2017, cash reserves
at Kingspan Group PLC fell by €45.40 million. However, the company earned €283.60 million from its
operations for a Cash Flow Margin of 7.73%. In addition, the company used €253.30 million on
investing activities and also paid 65.60m in financing cash flows (Financial Times, 2018). Kingspan
assets rose from €3.00 billion to €3.24 billion in 2017. 2017 also saw a reduction in reported total
debt, decreasing to €662.70 from €698.40 million in 2016, this bucked the trend on yearly increases
in reported total dept that were seen since 2013.
2.3.3.2. Operational Highlights
Insulated panel sales grew by 17% in 2017. With positive results from Continental Europe and a solid
outcome from North America, these positive drove this figure upward despite the sharp downturn in
the UK towards the end of the year. The UK market suffered towards the year end in many different
sectors due to the growing economic and political uncertainty made itself increasingly evident in
market activity, with order intake weakening sharply towards year-end, largely in the non-residential
segment. Insulation Board sales grew by 12% in 2017, Light and Air sales of €205 million in its first
full year of trading for this division. To conclude this financial analysis, 2017 was a significant year for
Kingspan which, despite its challenges, was a record period for the Group (Kingspan).
2.3.4. Strengths and Weaknesses
2.3.4.1. Strengths
As one of the top companies in its sector, Kingspan has different strengths that assists it to grow and
develop in the market sector. These strengths not only assist the company in market share
protection but in existing markets but also assist in new market penetration.
● Product innovation: successful track record in new products development.
● Strong Free Cash Flow: the company has strong free cash flows that offer resources
provision in the company’s hand to expand into new dimensions.
● Workforce that is highly skilled through successful learning and training programs: The
company is investing a lot of resources in development and training of its employees leading
to a workforce that is motivated to achieve more and not only highly skilled.
● Strong distributor society: it has created a culture among distributors where the distributors
not only promote products of the company but also make investment in training the sales
team to elaborate to the consumer how they can extract out of the products the maximum
benefits.
● Capital Expenditure: the company is relatively prosperous at execution of new ideas and
produced on capital expenditure with good returns by new revenue streams building.
● New markets: the company has developed expertise at going to new markets and making a
fortune from them. The growth has assisted the organization to grow new revenue channel
and an economic cycle risk diversification in the markets it takes part in.
● Activities automation brought consistency of quality to the company’s products and has
allowed the company to scale down and scale up based on the condition of demand in the
market.
● Reliable Suppliers: the company has a reliable supplier strong base of raw material thus
allowing the company to conquer any bottlenecks of supply chain.
2.3.4.2. Weaknesses
The weakness is a section where Kingspan can enhance upon. Strategy is all about choices making
and weakness are the sectors where a company can grow applying SWOT analysis and develop on its
strategic positioning and competitive advantage.
● Need for more new technologies investment: Given the expansion scale and different
geographies the firm is strategizing on expanding into, Kingspan needs to set aside more
funds in technology for process integration across the board. Currently, the technologies
investment is not at par with the company’s vision.
● Financial planning is not carried out efficiently and properly: The liquid asset ratios and
current asset ratio indicate that the firm can use the money more productively than what it
is doing currently.
● Not highly triumphant at integrating companies with different work environment. Even
though the company is victorious at integrating small firms it has its failure of share to merge
companies that have different work environment.
● Fairly average at forecasting product demand leading to notable rate of missed
opportunities in comparison to its competitors. One of the causes why the day’s inventory is
higher in comparison to its competitors is that the company is fairly average at demand
forecasting thus lead to maintaining higher inventory both in channel and in-house.
● Research and Development investment is not at par with the fastest growing firms in the
industry: Although the company is spending more on the industry average on Development
and Research, it has not been in a position of competing with the leading firms in the
industry in innovation terms. It has come out as an experienced firm looking forward in
bringing out goods based on market tested features.
● The firm has not been in a position of tackling the problems present by the new entrants in
the industry and has missed in the niche categories small market share. Kingspan has to
develop a mechanism for internal feedback directly from sales department on ground to
tackle these issues.
● Workforce has high attrition rate: compared to other companies in the industry Kingspan
possess a higher rate of attrition and must deplete a lot more in comparison to its
competitors on development and training of its employees.
2.4. Strategic Purpose
2.4.1. Values
● Sustainable environment: Kingspan is aware of its input globally in moving away from fossil
fuels thus it is important for them to be able to run their operations sustainably. They want
to be a fully sustainable and hope that by these actions other companies will follow in their
example.
● Renewable energy: Kingspan’s main focus us to have products using renewable energy to
reduce their clients carbon footprint. They are aware of the importance on renewable
products and how interested customers will be in this from an investment and
environmental perspective.
● Smart building: Kingspan value smart building systems as a way of the future. Their goal to
provide building with smart systems to help save money, help the environment, and
streamline systems is how modern building should be done and Kingspan holds this value
highly.
● People: Kingspan values its staff very highly and its aim to keep them constantly learning by
investing heavily and providing staff training regularly to develop its personnel. Also,
Kingspan are aware of its influence on market conditions and aims to recruit local people to
bolster economic welfare.
2.4.2. Mission
Kingspan’s mission statement is:
“Kingspan Insulation will be the premium quality producer and supplier of non–fibrous thermal
insulation whilst keeping people, the environment and the future success of the company at the
forefront of its activities” (Kingspan.com, 2011, p.6)
2.4.3. Vision
Kingspan’s vision is “to lead the way in creating energy efficient buildings” (Kingspan.com, 2018)
To achieve this goal, they aim to:
● By 2020, renewable energy will run all energy needs on all their sites;
● Be fully sustainable.
2.4.4. Strategic Objectives
The main strategic objectives for Kingspan in 2018 are:
● Be the leader in high performance insulation globally with proprietary and differentiating
technologies;
● Be the world’s leading provider of low energy building envelopes;
● Greater geographic reach: focus on The Americas, Continental Europe and developing
markets;
● Net Zero Energy: Set out in 2011, the objective is to have fully sustainable sites;
● 20% Return on Investment.
2.4.5. Corporate Governance, Governance Structure
The Board of the Company is responsible for the leadership, strategic direction and overall
management of the Group. It sets the Company’s strategic aims, establishes the Company’s values
and standards, and monitors compliance within a framework of effective controls.
The Board currently consists of 11 directors, five of the directors are executives, and six, including
the Chairman, are non-executive directors. Each of the executive directors has a combination of
general business skills, and experience in the construction materials market. The non-executive
directors represent a diverse business background complementing the executive director's skills.
The names and other details of the members of Board are available below.
As the board members consist of six non-executive members, it means that the executive members
can’t not manipulate the system so that they have over all control to seek benefits for themselves
rather than the company as a whole
Members of the board
● Eugene Murtagh is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Group. Skills & experience: He
founded Kingspan in the 1960’s and, as CEO until 2005
● Gene Murtagh is the Group Chief Executive. He was appointed to the Board in 1999. Skills &
experience: He was previously the Chief Operating Officer from 2003 to 2005
● Geoff Doherty is the Group Chief Financial Officer. He joined the Group, and was appointed
to the Board, in January 2011. Skills & experience: Prior to joining Kingspan he was the Chief Financial Officer of Greencore Group Plc
● Gilbert McCarthy is Managing Director of the Group’s Insulated Panels businesses in the UK,
Ireland, Western Europe and Australia. He was appointed to the Board in September 2011. Skills & experience: He has been with the Group for over 13 years, and was previously managing director of the Off-site division
● Russell Shields is president of the Group's Access Floors and Insulated Panels businesses in
North America. He was appointed to the Board in 1996. Skills & experience: He was previously managing director of the Group’s Building Components and Raised Access Floors businesses in the UK
● Michael Cawley was appointed to the Board in May 2014.
Skills & Experience:Michael is a chartered accountant, and was formerly Chief Operating Officer & Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair
● John Cronin was appointed to the Board in May 2014.
Skills & Experience:John is a qualified solicitor, and chairman and partner of McCann FitzGerald. He has many years’ experience in banking
● Helen Kirkpatrick was appointed to the Board in 2007.
Skills & Experience:She is also a non-executive director of UTV Media Plc and of a number of private and not for profit companies, and was formerly a non-executive director of the International Fund for Ireland,
● Bruce McLennan was appointed to the Board in June 2015.
Skills & Experience: Bruce is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Advisory at Gresham Advisory Partners Limited, a leading independent Australian mergers and acquisitions advisory business
● Dr Jost Massenberg was appointed to the Board in February 2018.
Skills & Experience:
He was Chief Executive Officer of Benteler Distribution International GmbH, and was formerly the Chief Sales Officer and a member of the executive board of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG
● Lorcan Dowd was appointed Group Company Secretary in 2005.
Skills & Experience:He qualified as a solicitor in 1992. Before joining the Group, he was Director of Corporate Legal Services in PricewaterhouseCoopers in Belfast, having previously worked in private practice.
The Board meets formally 9 times during the year, as well as informally as and when required. The
Board reserves for itself a formal schedule of matters on which it takes the ultimate decision. These
include adopting the Group’s rolling 5-year strategic plan and the annual budget, approving all major
capital expenditure and material contracts, acquisitions and disposals of businesses and other
assets, and appointment of senior executives and succession planning, reviewing management’s
corporate and financial performance, and overall review of the Group’s internal controls. Certain
other matters are delegated to the Board committees
The Board has established an Audit Committee to monitor the integrity of the Company's financial
statements, and the effectiveness of the Company’s internal financial controls. The members of the
Audit Committee bring considerable financial and accounting experience to the committee’s work,
and the chairman of the Audit Committee, Michael Cawley, has appropriate recent and relevant
financial experience. The Board considers that the combined qualifications and experience of the
members give the committee collectively the financial expertise necessary to discharge its
responsibilities.
The members of the audit committee
● Michael Cawley (Chair),
● Linda Hickey,
● John Cronin.
The Nominations Committee assists the Board in ensuring that the composition of the Board and its
committees is appropriate for the needs of the Group. The committee meets at least once a year,
and additionally if required, to consider the Board’s membership, to identify any additional skills or
experience which might benefit the Board’s performance and recommend appointments to or,
where necessary, removals from, the Board.
The members of the nominations committee
● Eugene Murtagh (Chairman),
● Gene Murtagh, Linda Hickey,
● Helen Kirkpatrick,
● John Cronin.
The Remuneration Committee has responsibility for setting remuneration for all executive directors
and for the Chairman, including pension contributions and any compensation payments. The
committee also monitors the level and structure of remuneration for senior management.
Members of the remuneration Committee
● Helen Kirkpatrick\ (Chair)
● Michael Cawley,
● Linda Hickey.
3. Strategic Choices
3.1. Corporate Strategy & Diversification
3.1.1. Product/Market Diversity
Kingspan Group is a well-diversified organisation in that there are eighteen different sub-groups in
which they operate. These groups are:
● Access Floors
● Architectural Façades Systems
● Coldstore and Cleanroom Systems
● Data Centre Systems
● Daylight & Lighting Solutions
● Diesel, AdBlue & Oil Tanks
● Ducting
● Engineered Timber System
● Hot Water Cylinders
● Insulated Panel Systems
● Insulation
● Protective Packaging
● Renewable Technologies
● Retrofit
● Service and Telemetry
● Smoke Management Systems
● Structural Steel Solutions
● Wastewater Management
As seen from this diverse list of products and systems, Kingspan have their ‘finger in all holes’ when
it comes to environmental systems for different types of building. Their main product group,
Insulated Panel Systems, leads the industry in terms of thermal-efficiency, fire-safety, and durability.
They have panels for all types of builds in varying environments and climate conditions and are
constantly innovating to come up with new technologies to improve their products. As of 2017,
Insulated panels covered 63% of their sales in comparison with their other products. Kingspan’s
second best-seller, Insulation, with 21% of sales is a product group that Kingspan are a market leader
in where they provide a high performance, high standard of insulation for businesses to use whether
it be on a roof, wall, or floor. Some insulation products Kingspan have are Optim-R, Kooltherm,
Aerobord, Therma, and Styrozone. Each insulation product is considered a price of art in keeping the
cold out and the heat in with the focus being on having a low Lambda value. Another product
Kingspan offers are Access floors which cover 5% of their sales. These floors allow businesses to not
only optimize their energy efficiency but also to reduce noise and allow easy access for upgrades or
maintenance to electricity and gas works.
3.1.2. Corporate Portfolio
The corporate portfolio of Kingspan is a wide-range of diverse product groups which form a core
portfolio. The main product groups are insulation panel systems, insulation, light & air, access floors,
and environmental. Also, as shown in the previous section while there are many different product
groups they all still have the same category of product which are working towards the same vision of
creating energy efficient buildings. The corporate portfolio covers product groups which have the
ability to build an entire building. While the corporate portfolio is wide ranging with plenty of
different product groups, it is essential for Kingspan to keep innovating to come up with new more
energy efficient ways to build residential or corporate buildings that fit into their core competencies
of the corporate portfolio.
3.1.3. Corporate Rationale
The corporate rationale for Kingspan was effectively to work in insulated panels which covered the
outside of the building then then moved inside starting from the roof down to the to the insulation
of the shelter then to access flooring for ease of cable work and pipe work throughout the building.
The corporate rationale is quite simple for Kingspan in that they just have to move throughout the
building inside and outside and keep innovating constantly to streamline the efficiency of energy
usage of the building.
3.1.4. Corporate Parent
Kingspan is the corporate parent over Kingspan Insulated Panels, Kingspan Insulation, Kingspan Light
+ Air, Kingspan Environmental, Kingspan Access Floors, Tate. Kingspan Industrial Insulation, and
Kingspan Timber Solutions. Kingspan does not intervene much as a corporate parent and thus has
reaped the rewards of this decisions as Kingspan Group's net income for 2017 was €285 million
which has increased from the previous year as mentioned above in the financial section. This shows
that their businesses are relatively self-sufficient in the sense that they are continually making profit
and do not need help or interventions from their corporate parent to achieve this.
Figure 3 - Kingspan BCG
3.1.5. Corporate Control
Kingspan Group stakeholders and shares are primarily owned by Eugene Murtagh with 16.2% of the
shares. Allianz Global Investors own the second most shares with 6.01% and third most ownership is
Threadneedle Asset Management Ltd. With 5.98%. 81.6% of shares are floated onto the stock
exchange with every sharing meaning 1 vote. Kingspan is constantly improving year on year with the
focus being on the environment and this being a massive issue in the 21st century this should mean
that shareholders of Kingspan should be able to make a profit off their marginal improvements in
revenue year upon year as they are one of the market leaders in this sector.
3.2. Directions and Methods of Development
3.2.1. Mergers, Acquisitions, Alliances and Benchmarking
Kingspan put a lot of focus into acquisitions, with a long history of making big purchases of other
companies. Just last year Kingspan spent a total of over €620 million on acquisitions (Kingspan,
2018), with the latest one being a Barcelona based Synthesia group, for a total of €295 million
(Financial Times,2018). This acquisition continues a trend of Kingspan acquiring companies that are
performing very well, with Synthesia boasting sales of €275 million, and another group that has an
acquisition deal announced with Kingspan is Polish Insulation company Balek Metal who had
revenues of €160 million in 2016 (Irish Times,2017), with another company in Holland, Brakel Group
also in agreement of an acquisition with Kingspan, the company announcing revenues of €300
million (Irish Times,2017). The strategic motives behind this string of acquisitions were to “further
our strategic development”, also after the acquisition of Synthesia CEO Gene Murtagh stated that
this acquisition gives Kingspan a “leading position in both insulated panels and insulation boards on
the Iberian Peninsula”. Gene Murtagh was also quoted “The latest three acquisitions mark a
significant strategic step forward for Kingspan. They are a perfect fit for our existing businesses and
geographic footprint and, in addition, provide a technology platform that will complement our
ongoing innovation pipeline and the development of next generation insulation.” (Kingspan, 2018).
This shows that there are more strategic motives than financial motives behind these acquisitions,
the strategic motives are, extension; as they are improving their international reach with the
acquisitions of these foreign companies, consolidation; they are also acquiring companies that are in
the same industry as Kingspan, improve strategic capabilities; Kingspan is acquiring companies that
are performing well so they must be doing something really well, so by acquiring these companies
Kingspan will be improving their technology and their research & development. Financial motives
can also be a factor, with the companies acquired producing outstanding revenues which will have
caught the eye of Kingspan.
The European Commission has its own rules and procedures regarding mergers that Kingspan must
adhere to; “The Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies
with a turnover above certain thresholds and to prevent concentrations that would significantly
impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it” (The
European Commission, 2015). Kingspan is in alliance with many other companies around Europe
with the common goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below the 1990 levels, and to
reduce the 36% of Co2 that is directly from buildings (Kingspan, 2018).
By making numerous acquisitions Kingspan have eliminated the need for Benchmarking, if they see a
company doing well and producing good revenue they tend to attempt an acquisition, that is why
they commit a lot of money at the start of the year with the intention of making acquisitions
throughout the year.
3.2.2. Success Criteria
The three evaluation criteria that are going to be used to assess the strategic development are,
Suitability, Acceptability, and Feasibility.
3.2.2.1. Suitability
By making acquisitions of many different companies in many different markets has allowed Kingspan
gain a bigger share of that market which is a major advantage.
3.2.2.2. Acceptability
Acceptability is judged on the 3 R’s, Returns, Risk, and Reactions. The companies that Kingspan has
acquired already have good profitability so that in turn will provide a good return of profit for
Kingspan. For Risk, there has been a good robustness of strategy, their strategy of making plenty of
acquisitions has yielded good results. Stakeholder reactions are generally in favour of making
acquisitions.
3.2.2.3. Feasibility
Kingspan set aside a budget every year specifically for acquisitions, so they make sure that they do
not spend beyond their means.
3.3. International Strategy
3.3.1. International Strategies
As mentioned throughout the report Kingspan have established a global presence as they have
operations in Singapore Asia, USA, and 22 organizations throughout Europe. They use acquisitions
of large companies to gain a dominant presence throughout the globe such as the acquisition of
Synthesia. Sysnthesia operates under 3 different companies Synthesia International, Poliuretanos
and Hurre. Poliuretanos and Hurre supply the Iberian Peninsula and it has strengthen Insulated
Panels Presence in central and south America. Kingspan have plants throughout the globe which
gives them logistic advantages as they have a plant relatively close to most of their consumers
(Robinson, 2017). They have identified the desire to grow in USA Asia and Australia they have
purchased plants in them contents this year it is presumed that their acquisitions in Singapore is
there method of entry into Asia. They are likely to expand their Asian market in the coming further
(Coonan, 2017).
3.4. Business-Level Strategy
For generic competitive strategies, Kingspan focus their business strategy on differentiation and how
they will continue to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Kingspan’s strategy is also
about being low-cost production though the industry that they are in make it difficult to achieve.
Kingspan can be classified as a Hybrid level strategy company but with more emphasis towards
differentiation. The green dot in the graph below signifies where Kingspan are in terms of business
level strategy. The next section will explain why Kingspan leans towards a differentiated strategy and
a low-cost strategy.
Figure 4 – Business Level Strategy (Johnson et al., 2017)
Figure 5 – Generic Strategy Model (Lynch, 2012)
3.4.1. Cost Leadership
Kingspan have made a commitment to reaching Net Zero Energy by 2020. This means the total
amount of energy used by the plant on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable
energy created on site. Kingspan believe that it is crucial to minimise energy use as a first step in the
process and have invested in energy efficiency sites. The optimum energy saving solution is often a
combination of employee awareness, energy metering, building management systems, lighting
upgrades, motor replacements, compressed air system, and process heat recovery equipment. ISO
50001 energy management systems have been implemented across several Kingspan sites. The use
of renewable energy rose from 9% in 2012 to 57% in 2016. Increasing deployment of on-site
renewable energy generation capacity is a key priority for Kingspan’s cost strategy. Some projects
Kingspan have completed to prove they stand by what they say are: Installation of Solar PV systems
at sites in the UK, Netherlands, and Australia; Biomass boiler installed in Pembridge UK to provide
renewable energy for their Kooltherm manufacturing operations.
Figure 6 - Statistics (Kingspan, 2016)
Figure 7 - Net Zero (Kingspan, 2016)
3.4.2. Differentiation
“Pushing performance is something we thrive on. Developing a product and seeing how far we can
take it. Why do we do this? 2 reasons: we exist to make life better for our customers; and we don’t
believe in sitting around waiting for the competition to catch up” (Kingspan, 2018). Kingspan’s main
strategy to achieve competitive advantage is to differentiate itself from other competitors. They do
this to provide a product valued by their customers at a price premium. One of the prime examples
of Kingspan’s innovative products is the QuadCore. QuadCore technology is Kingspan’s next
generation of self-blended hybrid insulation cores. The release of the QuadCore in 2015 represented
a game-changing step forward in the thermal and fire performance of insulated panels. It delivers
unrivalled thermal efficiency, has superior fire protection, enhanced environmental credentials, and
a longer performance. The graph below compares the thermal performance of QuadCore with other
insulating materials.
Figure 8 - Thermal Performance (Kingspan, 2016)
The market that Kingspan is in is highly competitive. Other competitors are not going to let the
market leader stay at the top, they will try innovating in their own way. Therefore it is important for
Kingspan to focus a lot on a differentiated strategy.
4. Strategy in Action
4.1. Structure of the Organisation
Planning systems plan and control the allocation of resources and monitor their utilization. The focus
is on the direct control of inputs. These might be for financial inputs, human inputs, or long-term
investments (Johnson et al., 2017) Kingspan adopt a strategic control style as their strategic plan
developed between the corporate centre and the business units. Stakeholder expectations are of
importance to Kingspan as they operate areas that require a strong relationship with stakeholders in
order for a successful business operation. The corporate centre of Kingspan act as a coach to
business unit managers helping them to see and seize opportunities as a supportive manager.
Kingspan set specific financial targets each year of where they want to position themselves for that
coming year. They would set aside money specifically for when they want to make an acquisition of
another company. These targets are measured to ensure competitive advantage against their
competitors. Kingspan are measured based on their key performance indicators and their financial
state relative to their competition. As the industry that Kingspan operate in relies heavily on
acquisitions, it is difficult for the financial state after each trading year to be accurate as Kingspan
spend millions of euro each year to acquire organisations and improve their market share.
Kingspan has a multidivisional structure, they have their main office and then divided up into
divisions of their different business products, such as, Kingspan Insulated Panels, Kingspan
Insulation, Kingspan Light + Air, Kingspan Environmental, Kingspan Access Floors, Kingspan Century,
and Kingspan Protective Packaging, this shows the vast amount of divisions that Kingspan currently
have. Kingspan Insulated Panels is a €1.5bn division within Kingspan Group, a global manufacturer of
innovative building products for a low energy future, Kingspan divide up their business into these
divisions for concentration on the business area.
Having a multidivisional structure provides flexibility as they can add divisions quite easily, as they
make a lot of acquisitions this is a perfect structure to support that strategy. Although there are
some downsides to this structure, there could be a danger of loss of central control, there could be a
duplication of central and divisional functions.
5. Conclusion
This report has concluded that Kingspan have a strong strategic position in Europe. It has also
displayed potential to be a global leader with the opportunities currently arising in the USA and Asia.
Their position has been established through strategic acquisitions. Acquisitions is almost seen as part
of the culture in Kingspan as they reserve profits every year, so they can expand their market.
Acquisitions have been a means of gaining larger shares of existing markets and allowed them to
enter new markets. There is little competition that Kingspan should see as a threat as their
competitors lack the level of economies of scale Kingspan have. They thrive on innovation and
product performance.
It is evident that Kingspan have the capabilities with approaching concerns of Brexit. They have
successfully alternated their market shares to reduce their dependencies on the UK.
However, after reviewing the corporate structure of Kingspan we would suggest that they review the
members of their nominations committee as one of the members is CEO Gene Murtagh and the
other member is Eugene Murtagh Sr, the founder of the company. Both members are on the board
and in the nominations committee. As the nominations dictate the members of the board which
creates options for corruption amongst the board members using the company for their own
beneficial gain. We would also suggest that the board is reanalysed as it is supposed to have less
non-executive members on it than executive members. Technically this is the case but one of the
non-executive members is Eugene Murtagh Sr this would suggest that the decisions made are
coming form an ex-board member making it easy for corruption to take place.
6. Reflective Analysis
This project was a great learning experience for all our group members. We got the opportunity to
apply knowledge and techniques that we learned from a real-world organisation. We found the
project to be a bit of a challenge as it required us to decide which information is the most useful to
write about and which information was not. We started out by looking into the history of Kingspan
to get a better understanding of who the company is. Luckily, the company website had extensive
information on its own history.
The material in the report by each team member was included after extensive research, discussion
and listening to what each team member said. This was to avoid having team members using the
same material in different sections.
Our approach to this project was simple and made the most sense to us. We each took on sub
headings in each topic, e.g. Competitors & Markets as a sub heading of the Environment. Once we
felt comfortable with the headings we chose, we divided each member to a topic. This person would
act as a reviewer for that topic when any members want to add work. Adam Ward oversaw the
Strategic Capabilities topic, so he would review work by members who want to add to that topic and
put all the work together. We did this to help with our management of the project and top be on
schedule.
We feel the project as a whole went well and we were happy with the final piece of work. There was
a good number of material online that we were able to find on Kingspan which really made it helpful
to put together. Even though there was good information online, there was still times we found it
hard to get the right information. For the resources and capabilities, we found it difficult to find out
what machines Kingspan use. There was other material that made it difficult to get relevant
information, so we would have to make assumptions instead.
When it came to make the presentation for the project, we discussed between us about which areas
we would want to present on. When we were all happy with what areas we were going to present
on, we started on making the slides and gave ourselves a lot of time to practice. We felt confident as
we have done many presentations in the past.
We learned a lot this project as a group, including how to manage our time efficiently, how to
approach such a big project whilst strictly adhering to the word limit, and how to discuss our views
and opinions on each topic. We felt comfortable working together on this project and feel that each
member pulled their weight. All of us had different opinions on what we should include or what area
was relevant and what are wasn’t etc. This helped us to gain a better understanding of Kingspan and
the strategic motives they undertake on a daily basis.
6.1.
7. References
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8. Appendices
8.1. Appendix A
