Case Study Description of Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global
This case tracks Jerome Chouchan's strategies and execution for a successful turn around of Godiva Japan's operations which was experiencing a decline in sales when he became the managing director of the company in 2010. Through various initiatives and innovations, Godiva Japan had targeted a variety of demographic segments in different sales points, acquired new customers and created a moment of luxurious consumption for all ages. Accordingly, within Godiva's global enterprise, Godiva Japan had become number two in terms of worldwide sales and number one in terms of profits. It exported made-in Japan products and concepts to Godiva's other markets. How could Chouchan keep the momentum and sustain Godiva Japan's top-line and bottom-line growth going forward? Would he be able to keep the balance between aspirational and accessible? How much of the success in Japan might contribute to the growth of Godiva's global sales?
Swot Analysis of "Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global" written by Rohit Deshpande, Esel Cekin, Akiko Kanno includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Godiva Godiva's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Customers, Product development, Strategy execution, Talent management and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Godiva Godiva's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Godiva Godiva's 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Godiva Godiva's
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 Godiva Godiva's
Strengths Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Godiva Godiva's in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Godiva Godiva's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Godiva Godiva's 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Godiva Godiva's has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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.
Learning organization
- Godiva Godiva's 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 Godiva Godiva's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Godiva Godiva's is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Godiva Godiva's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Godiva Godiva's is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Rohit Deshpande, Esel Cekin, Akiko Kanno can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Training and development
– Godiva Godiva's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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.
High brand equity
– Godiva Godiva's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Godiva Godiva's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Godiva Godiva's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Godiva Godiva's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Godiva Godiva's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Godiva Godiva's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Godiva Godiva's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global, it seems that the employees of Godiva Godiva's don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Godiva Godiva's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Godiva Godiva's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Godiva Godiva's has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Godiva Godiva's, firm in the HBR case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Godiva Godiva's has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global HBR case study mentions - Godiva Godiva's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Godiva Godiva's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Godiva Godiva's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Godiva Godiva's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Godiva Godiva's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global | 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Godiva Godiva's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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. Godiva Godiva's 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. Godiva Godiva's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Godiva Godiva's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Godiva Godiva's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Godiva Godiva's 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, Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Godiva Godiva's to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Developing new processes and practices
– Godiva Godiva's can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Godiva Godiva's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Godiva Godiva's has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Godiva Godiva's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Godiva Godiva's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Buying journey improvements
– Godiva Godiva's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Godiva Godiva's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Godiva Godiva's 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 Godiva Godiva's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Godiva Godiva's 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.
Threats Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Godiva Godiva's in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Godiva Godiva's can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Godiva Godiva's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Godiva Godiva's 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Godiva Godiva's in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Godiva Godiva's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Godiva Godiva's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global, Godiva Godiva's 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Godiva Godiva's 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. Godiva Godiva's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Godiva Godiva's demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
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. Godiva Godiva's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Godiva Godiva's.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Godiva Godiva's is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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 Godiva Japan: Think Local, Scale Global 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 Godiva Godiva's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.