Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business
Ina Food Industry Co. Ltd was situated in Ina, Nagano Prefecture, and surrounded by the soaring mountains of Japan's Alps. Amidst this idyllic setting, Mr. Hiroshi Tsukakoshi, Ina Food's 68-year-old chairman, had led the company through an incredible 48 years of continuous revenue and profit growth. The company was a leading manufacturer of powdered agar, a traditional gelatin product derived from seaweed. In 2005, news about the medicinal benefits of agar led to a boom in demand, but Tsukakoshi felt that this was an unfortunate event and believed that if management was not preoccupied purely with revenue, and instead focused on establishing steady growth, the company would continue to exist for a long time. This in turn would please everybody who was directly or indirectly associated with the company. He was confident that Ina Foods was a new model for Japanese small- and medium-sized businesses under a new management philosophy that brought happiness to employees and community. He felt he had done a good job so far. The business had prospered and did not pose any urgent problems. But he also felt that he should not simply sit back and savor his success. There were tremendous growth opportunities and he knew operations should be improved before those opportunities could be targeted.
Swot Analysis of "Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business" written by Mitsuru Misawa includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ina Agar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Labor, Leadership, Managing people, Marketing and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ina Agar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ina Agar 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ina Agar
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 Ina Agar
Strengths Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ina Agar in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Ina Agar 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 Ina Agar is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ina Agar in the sector have low bargaining power. Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ina Agar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ina Agar has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Ina Agar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Ina Agar 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 Mitsuru Misawa 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ina Agar 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 Ina Agar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ina Agar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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
– Ina Agar 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ina Agar 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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
– Ina Agar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Ina Agar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ina Agar 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business HBR case study mentions - Ina Agar 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ina Agar is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ina Agar 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ina Agar is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ina Agar needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ina Agar to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Ina Agar 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ina Agar 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. Ina Agar 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ina Agar 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 - Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Ina Agar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ina Agar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business, it seems that the employees of Ina Agar don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ina Agar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business | 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business are -
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 Ina Agar 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.
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. Ina Agar 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. Ina Agar 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ina Agar 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ina Agar can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ina Agar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ina Agar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ina Agar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ina Agar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ina Agar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business case study. Ina Agar 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 Ina Agar 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 Ina Agar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ina Agar to increase its market reach. Ina Agar 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.
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. Ina Agar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Ina Agar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ina Agar 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, Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ina Agar 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ina Agar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business are -
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 Ina Agar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Ina Agar in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ina Agar 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ina Agar 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ina Agar 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ina Agar with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ina Agar is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ina Agar 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business .
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. Ina Agar can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ina Agar 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ina Agar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ina Agar 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Food Industry: A New Management Philosophy for Japanese Business 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 Ina Agar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.