Case Study Description of Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray
Incorporated in 2012, Mukunda Foods Private Limited (Mukunda) was an Indian robotics company that focused on innovative, internet-enabled smart devices for use in home and industrial kitchens. These devices could be controlled with a smartphone application. Mukunda started as the manufacturer of the DosaMatic, an automatic tabletop machine that made dosas (a popular Indian food). The machine was targeted at the industrial market. Mukunda's chief executive officer had to design the marketing strategy for the April 2016 launch of the company's range of ready-made batters aimed at the consumer market. Subsequently, the company planned to launch the consumer version of its DosaMatic machine. The chief executive officer was aware that the consumer market posed challenges different from the industrial market in terms of product and branding decisions, pricing, promotion, and distribution. He also knew that as a start-up, Mukunda could not match larger competitors in their distribution and promotional spending, especially given that Mukunda was simultaneously developing several new products (such as automated roti- and curry-making machines), which required consistent investments in research and development. What was the best strategy for Mukunda's unique circumstances? Meenakshi Nagarajan is affiliated with Goa Institute of Management. Arun Kumar is affiliated with New Delhi Instititute of Management.
Swot Analysis of "Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray" written by Meenakshi Nagarajan, Arun Kumar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mukunda Dosamatic facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mukunda Dosamatic, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mukunda Dosamatic 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mukunda Dosamatic
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 Mukunda Dosamatic
Strengths Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mukunda Dosamatic in Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Mukunda Dosamatic is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mukunda Dosamatic has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Analytics focus
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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 Meenakshi Nagarajan, Arun Kumar 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mukunda Dosamatic are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Mukunda Dosamatic
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mukunda Dosamatic does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Mukunda Dosamatic has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mukunda Dosamatic to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mukunda Dosamatic digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mukunda Dosamatic has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Mukunda Dosamatic is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mukunda Dosamatic to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mukunda Dosamatic to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray, in the dynamic environment Mukunda Dosamatic has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mukunda Dosamatic has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray HBR case study mentions - Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray, is just above the industry average. Mukunda Dosamatic needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mukunda Dosamatic needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mukunda Dosamatic is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mukunda Dosamatic, firm in the HBR case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mukunda Dosamatic is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mukunda Dosamatic products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mukunda Dosamatic needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray | 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray are -
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. Mukunda Dosamatic 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. Mukunda Dosamatic 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, Mukunda Dosamatic 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, Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mukunda Dosamatic can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Mukunda Dosamatic can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mukunda Dosamatic has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mukunda Dosamatic to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray case study. Mukunda Dosamatic can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
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. Mukunda Dosamatic can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Mukunda Dosamatic in the consumer business. Now Mukunda Dosamatic can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mukunda Dosamatic can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mukunda Dosamatic operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Threats Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray are -
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mukunda Dosamatic is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Mukunda Dosamatic
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Mukunda Dosamatic.
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. Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
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. Mukunda Dosamatic can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mukunda Dosamatic with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mukunda Dosamatic 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mukunda Dosamatic has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mukunda Dosamatic 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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 Mukunda Foods Private Limited: The Consumer Market Foray 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 Mukunda Dosamatic needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.