Case Study Description of The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter
The inventor of the Kinkajou, a portable glass bottle cutter, has successfully completed a crowd-sourced financing campaign. His funding goal of $75,000 was considered to be quite ambitious and the timeframe in which he aimed to secure the funding was only 30 days. He managed the campaign impressively and exceeded his goal on the last day of the campaign. At this point in his business development, this entrepreneur has secured an offshore manufacturer, all backers have received their products and he has resolved a number of technical and operational problems. With so many challenges behind him, he now faces questions of future distribution through multiple wholesalers and is considering the opportunity of joining with a major international retailer. Laurentian University
Swot Analysis of "The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter" written by Ron Mulholland includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kinkajou Cutter facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kinkajou Cutter, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kinkajou Cutter 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kinkajou Cutter
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 Kinkajou Cutter
Strengths The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kinkajou Cutter in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Kinkajou Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Kinkajou Cutter 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 Ron Mulholland 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kinkajou Cutter 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.
High brand equity
– Kinkajou Cutter has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Kinkajou Cutter to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Kinkajou Cutter has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kinkajou Cutter is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Kinkajou Cutter is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Kinkajou Cutter
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kinkajou Cutter does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kinkajou Cutter has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Learning organization
- Kinkajou Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Kinkajou Cutter is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter, in the dynamic environment Kinkajou Cutter has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kinkajou Cutter has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Kinkajou Cutter has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Kinkajou Cutter even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kinkajou Cutter 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 - The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ron Mulholland suggests that, Kinkajou Cutter 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter HBR case study mentions - Kinkajou Cutter 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kinkajou Cutter 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kinkajou Cutter is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter | 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kinkajou Cutter 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kinkajou Cutter to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Kinkajou Cutter in the consumer business. Now Kinkajou Cutter can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kinkajou Cutter can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kinkajou Cutter 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.
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 Kinkajou Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kinkajou Cutter to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter case study. Kinkajou Cutter can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Kinkajou Cutter 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. Kinkajou Cutter can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kinkajou Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kinkajou Cutter 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, The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter are -
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. Kinkajou Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter, Kinkajou Cutter 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Kinkajou Cutter
– 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 Kinkajou Cutter.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kinkajou Cutter has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kinkajou Cutter 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kinkajou Cutter 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.
Environmental challenges
– Kinkajou Cutter 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. Kinkajou Cutter can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kinkajou Cutter 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.
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 Kinkajou Cutter in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline 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 Kinkajou Cutter.
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 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.
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 Kinkajou Cutter business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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 The Kinkajou Bottle Cutter 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 Kinkajou Cutter needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
