Case Study Description of Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople
In April 2016, the owner of Moonka Automobile, a two-wheeled vehicle dealership for Honda Motor Company Ltd., was facing some difficult decisions regarding recruitment for Moonka Automobile's new branch in Jamshedpur, India. The owner wanted to improve the process for recruiting salespersons for this second branch. In addition to the constraints of a tight budget, limited managerial time and availability, and the need to complete the recruitment quickly, the owner's challenges included (1) identifying the knowledge, skills, and attitude he needed to look for in potential salespersons; (2) encouraging the appropriate candidates to apply for the job opening; and (3) improving the process to be followed for recruitment. The owner certainly did not want to rush things and end up recruiting unsuitable employees, which could have disastrous consequences for the business. At the same time, he needed to get sales underway in the new branch. How could the owner balance his many responsibilities while finding the right salespersons for Moonka Automobile? Atul Arun Pathak is affiliated with XLRI-Xavier School of Management. Gyanesh Mishra is affiliated with XLRI-Xavier School of Management.
Swot Analysis of "Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople" written by Atul Arun Pathak, Gyanesh Mishra includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Moonka Salespersons facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Marketing, Talent management and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Moonka Salespersons, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Moonka Salespersons
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 Moonka Salespersons
Strengths Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Moonka Salespersons in Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Moonka Salespersons is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Moonka Salespersons in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Moonka Salespersons has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Moonka Salespersons to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Moonka Salespersons has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Moonka Salespersons 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Moonka Salespersons is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Moonka Salespersons to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Moonka Salespersons to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Moonka Salespersons 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.
Training and development
– Moonka Salespersons has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Moonka Salespersons in the sector have low bargaining power. Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Moonka Salespersons to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople, is just above the industry average. Moonka Salespersons 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Moonka Salespersons 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Moonka Salespersons, firm in the HBR case study Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Moonka Salespersons 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Moonka Salespersons 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 - Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Moonka Salespersons 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople HBR case study mentions - Moonka Salespersons 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Moonka Salespersons 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Moonka Salespersons is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Moonka Salespersons 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Salespersons has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople | 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Moonka Salespersons 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. Moonka Salespersons can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Moonka Salespersons can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Moonka Salespersons to increase its market reach. Moonka Salespersons 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Moonka Salespersons 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Moonka Salespersons can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Moonka Salespersons operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Moonka Salespersons can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Salespersons 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Moonka Salespersons to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Moonka Salespersons has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Moonka Salespersons to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople case study. Moonka Salespersons can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Salespersons to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Moonka Salespersons 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. Moonka Salespersons 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople, Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Salespersons is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Moonka Salespersons business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Moonka Salespersons 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.
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. Moonka Salespersons can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Moonka Salespersons with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Moonka Salespersons 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. Moonka Salespersons can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Moonka Salespersons needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Moonka Salespersons.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Moonka Salespersons 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.
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. Moonka Salespersons 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Moonka Salespersons 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Auto: Recruiting Salespeople 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 Moonka Salespersons needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.