Case Study Description of Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma
Bimbra 4x4 was established in 2010 as an after-market customization service providing aesthetic and functional modifications for off-road vehicles. The platform of choice was a utility vehicle called the Mahindra Thar, popular for its bare-bones design that allowed for a wide range of modifications. Bimbra 4x4 adopted a buffet-like approach to its business, where customers were able to pick and choose options to completely customize their vehicles according to their taste and budget. The customer service, quality, and quick turnaround time made this service a preferred choice among off-road enthusiasts. Competition came from two very different segments. The first was local garages offering rudimentary vehicle modifications; the second was the vehicle manufacturer itself. Bimbra 4x4 needed to stabilize and grow based on an understanding of the competitive forces. Was the orientation toward the Mahindra Thar justified or was it a narrow dependence on a single platform? How could the business grow from a one-platform, one-location business into a sustainable multi-location company? Sunil George Mathew is affiliated with Management Development Institute.
Swot Analysis of "Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma" written by Sunil George Mathew, Kirti Sharma includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bimbra 4x4 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, International business, Supply chain and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma casestudy better are - – technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bimbra 4x4, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bimbra 4x4 operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bimbra 4x4
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bimbra 4x4
Strengths Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bimbra 4x4 in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bimbra 4x4 digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bimbra 4x4 has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bimbra 4x4 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Bimbra 4x4
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bimbra 4x4 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bimbra 4x4 has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Bimbra 4x4 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Bimbra 4x4 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bimbra 4x4 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bimbra 4x4 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Bimbra 4x4 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High brand equity
– Bimbra 4x4 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bimbra 4x4 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bimbra 4x4 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bimbra 4x4 has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Learning organization
- Bimbra 4x4 is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Bimbra 4x4 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bimbra 4x4 has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bimbra 4x4 has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sunil George Mathew, Kirti Sharma suggests that, Bimbra 4x4 is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bimbra 4x4 is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Bimbra 4x4 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Bimbra 4x4 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bimbra 4x4 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bimbra 4x4 has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Bimbra 4x4 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma HBR case study mentions - Bimbra 4x4 takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma, in the dynamic environment Bimbra 4x4 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bimbra 4x4 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bimbra 4x4 can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bimbra 4x4 can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bimbra 4x4 can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bimbra 4x4 to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bimbra 4x4 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bimbra 4x4 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bimbra 4x4 to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Bimbra 4x4 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bimbra 4x4 in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Bimbra 4x4 has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Bimbra 4x4 in the consumer business. Now Bimbra 4x4 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bimbra 4x4 to increase its market reach. Bimbra 4x4 will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bimbra 4x4 can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Bimbra 4x4 can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bimbra 4x4 can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Bimbra 4x4 can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma are -
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Bimbra 4x4 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Bimbra 4x4 needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bimbra 4x4 high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Bimbra 4x4.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Bimbra 4x4 will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bimbra 4x4 can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bimbra 4x4 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma, Bimbra 4x4 may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bimbra 4x4 is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bimbra 4x4 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bimbra 4x4 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bimbra 4x4 needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Environmental challenges
– Bimbra 4x4 needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Bimbra 4x4 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Bimbra 4x4: The Growth Dilemma is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Bimbra 4x4 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.