Case Study Description of chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity
In 2013, a team led by Gopalan Sunderraman, vice president of corporate development at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.-one of the companies owned by Godrej Group, a large Indian conglomerate-was preparing to launch an innovative low-cost refrigerator. Developed expressly for the approximately 80% of Indians who lacked access to refrigeration (a market Godrej had never before targeted), the chotuKool represented a technological marvel-a small, inexpensive thermoelectric appliance powered by a rechargeable battery. The case traces chotuKool's development and evolution from an initial product concept inspired by theories of innovation and the strategic vision of Jamshyd Godrej (managing director and chairman at Godrej & Boyce Mfg.) to a promising new line of business that emerged from a process of learning and discovery through market feedback. As the company geared up for the broader rollout of chotuKool, Sunderraman and his team faced some tough questions. What was the proper target and scope for the launch? Which strategy gave them the best chance of success? Could chotuKool really redefine the company and bring refrigeration to hundreds of millions of Indians?
Authors :: Rory McDonald, Derek van Bever, Efosa Ojomo
Swot Analysis of "chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity" written by Rory McDonald, Derek van Bever, Efosa Ojomo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Godrej Chotukool facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Marketing, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Godrej Chotukool, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Godrej Chotukool 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Godrej Chotukool
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Godrej Chotukool
Strengths chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Godrej Chotukool in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Godrej Chotukool is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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.
Learning organization
- Godrej Chotukool 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 Godrej Chotukool is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Godrej Chotukool 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.
High brand equity
– Godrej Chotukool has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Godrej Chotukool to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Godrej Chotukool digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Godrej Chotukool 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Godrej Chotukool is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Godrej Chotukool is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 Godrej Chotukool
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Godrej Chotukool does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Godrej Chotukool is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Godrej Chotukool has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Godrej Chotukool 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 Godrej Chotukool has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Godrej Chotukool 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity, in the dynamic environment Godrej Chotukool has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Godrej Chotukool has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Godrej Chotukool 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Godrej Chotukool supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Godrej Chotukool vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Godrej Chotukool is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Godrej Chotukool 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Godrej Chotukool 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. Godrej Chotukool 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Godrej Chotukool 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity HBR case study mentions - Godrej Chotukool 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.
Opportunities chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity | 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Godrej Chotukool in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Godrej Chotukool 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Godrej Chotukool 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Godrej Chotukool to increase its market reach. Godrej Chotukool 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Godrej Chotukool 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Godrej Chotukool 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 Godrej Chotukool 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Godrej Chotukool can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Godrej Chotukool 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. Godrej Chotukool 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Godrej Chotukool can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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
– Godrej Chotukool can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Godrej Chotukool has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Godrej Chotukool to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity case study. Godrej Chotukool can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Godrej Chotukool can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Godrej Chotukool 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.
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.
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 Godrej Chotukool business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Godrej Chotukool in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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, Godrej Chotukool 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity, Godrej Chotukool may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Godrej Chotukool with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Godrej Chotukool needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Godrej Chotukool 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 Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Godrej Chotukool can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Godrej Chotukool 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. Godrej Chotukool can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing wage structure of Godrej Chotukool
– 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 Godrej Chotukool.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Godrej Chotukool has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Godrej Chotukool needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 chotuKool: "Little Cool," Big Opportunity 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 Godrej Chotukool needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.