Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets
The case series focuses on the diverse, innovative approaches taken by major players, domestic and foreign, to establish and grow chains of hypermarkets and supermarkets in India over the past decade, in the context of shifting FDI policies, changing consumer shopping habits, and an evolving food value chain.
Swot Analysis of "Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets" written by James Costantini includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Supermarkets Fork facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Marketing, Supply chain and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Supermarkets Fork, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Supermarkets Fork 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Supermarkets Fork
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 Supermarkets Fork
Strengths Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Supermarkets Fork in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Supermarkets Fork in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Supermarkets Fork to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Supermarkets Fork to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Supermarkets Fork has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Supermarkets Fork to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Supermarkets Fork is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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
– Supermarkets Fork 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Supermarkets Fork 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
– Supermarkets Fork is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Supermarkets Fork has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Supermarkets Fork has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Supermarkets Fork 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 James Costantini 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 Supermarkets Fork 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.
Weaknesses Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Supermarkets Fork products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Supermarkets Fork needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Supermarkets Fork 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, James Costantini suggests that, Supermarkets Fork 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Supermarkets Fork 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Supermarkets Fork 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Supermarkets Fork, firm in the HBR case study Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Supermarkets Fork 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Supermarkets Fork is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Supermarkets Fork 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 - Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Supermarkets Fork has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets | 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets are -
Buying journey improvements
– Supermarkets Fork can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Supermarkets Fork 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Supermarkets Fork can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Supermarkets Fork operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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. Supermarkets Fork can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Supermarkets Fork in the consumer business. Now Supermarkets Fork can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Supermarkets Fork 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Supermarkets Fork 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 Supermarkets Fork to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Supermarkets Fork 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. Supermarkets Fork 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.
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 Supermarkets Fork 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Supermarkets Fork 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 Supermarkets Fork to increase its market reach. Supermarkets Fork 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Supermarkets Fork is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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. Supermarkets Fork can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets are -
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. Supermarkets Fork 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. Supermarkets Fork 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Supermarkets Fork 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Supermarkets Fork with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Supermarkets Fork
– 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 Supermarkets Fork.
Regulatory challenges
– Supermarkets Fork 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
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 Supermarkets Fork 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 Supermarkets Fork 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.
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 Supermarkets Fork.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Supermarkets Fork has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Supermarkets Fork 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets, Supermarkets Fork 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Supermarkets Fork 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Development of Food Retailing in India (C): From Farm to Fork via Supermarkets 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 Supermarkets Fork needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
