In response Nucor¡¦s management has embarked on a growth strategy in the course of a shakeup of the management structure through the adding of outside directors to the board as well as a centralization of the organisation¡¦s procedures. Nucor hopes that this growth strategy will have a positive impact on the future profitability and help realize its goal of becoming the largest steel maker in the United States.

The industry is not only fragmented but the boundaries of its various sub-parts are vague and overlapping. Steel products are marketed principally through in-house sales forces. The principal competitive factors are price and service.

The company is not the strongest, but it can defend itself from stronger rivals and capita

Service centers are also playing an increased role in the industry, acting as major distributors and wholesalers for finished steel products to steel consumers (construction firms, shipbuilders, machine fabricators, etc.). With the exception of the auto and auto part manufacturers (who contract directly with producers), most finished steel is delivered to end users is via the steel service center, moving some of the inventory management burden to the service centers for a marginal mark-up to the end user. This presents a forecasting complication to planners and strategists as all demand for steel is a derived demand, the forecaster must be able to look into the macro forces affecting an economy and project steel's role in the broader economic system from which a consumer demand pattern could be ascertained.

Nucor¡¦s success is heavily dependant on integrating its co-producers. Its competition has yet to perfect this coordination, thus give Nucor a competitive edge.

In the industry, the ¡§product¡¨ it served requires the coordination of a lot of individual contributors through the use of strategic alliances and cooperative arrangement.

Some topics in this essay:
ANALYSIS Nucor, Steel Alliance, Complementors Porter¡¦s, INTRO Nucor, Power Suppliers, Competitor Considerable, Forces Rivalry, Substitute Nucor, Power Customers, Antidumping Rulings, bargaining power, demand steel, local market, local market nucor, service centers, finished steel, steel producers, steel industry, foreign competitors, growth strategy, bargaining power suppliers, bargaining power customers, nucor¡¦s success,