Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work
Tamago-ya is a family-owned business located in Tokyo, Japan. The company has captured a unique position in the market of selling pre-packaged lunch boxes to business professionals by maintaining high quality and reliable delivery. In order for Tamago-ya to guarantee such a high level of customer service, it has created an operational culture wherein those who deliver orders also engage in judging customer demand and feedback, those who supply food materials must be able to respond to variation in demand on a daily basis, and those who plan the production and distribution schedule must forecast and adjust on a real-time basis. Tamago-ya competes with convenience stores, which offer less variety in their menu options throughout the month, can stock-out on popular choices, and tend to have long lines during the lunchtime rush. However, Tamago-ya is faced with many challenges--including demand forecasting, supply planning, and long-term strategic planning.
Authors :: Jin Whang, Shinya Fushimi, Jason Kaminsky, Veronica Rocha
Swot Analysis of "Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work" written by Jin Whang, Shinya Fushimi, Jason Kaminsky, Veronica Rocha includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tamago Ya facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customer service, Manufacturing, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tamago Ya, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tamago Ya 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tamago Ya
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tamago Ya
Strengths Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tamago Ya in Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Tamago Ya
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tamago Ya does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Tamago Ya has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Tamago Ya is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tamago Ya in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tamago Ya is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tamago Ya has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tamago Ya 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tamago Ya digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tamago Ya 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.
High brand equity
– Tamago Ya has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tamago Ya to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tamago Ya 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Tamago Ya is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Tamago Ya 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 Jin Whang, Shinya Fushimi, Jason Kaminsky, Veronica Rocha 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.
Weaknesses Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work, it seems that the employees of Tamago Ya 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jin Whang, Shinya Fushimi, Jason Kaminsky, Veronica Rocha suggests that, Tamago Ya 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tamago Ya is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work, in the dynamic environment Tamago Ya has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tamago Ya has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tamago Ya has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago Ya has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Tamago Ya, firm in the HBR case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tamago Ya is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tamago Ya 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 - Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tamago Ya 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.
Opportunities Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work | 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Tamago Ya can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
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. Tamago Ya can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tamago Ya can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Technology & Operations segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tamago Ya to increase its market reach. Tamago Ya 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tamago Ya 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tamago Ya to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tamago Ya 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tamago Ya has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tamago Ya to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work case study. Tamago Ya can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tamago Ya 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, Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Tamago Ya 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tamago Ya can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Tamago Ya can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tamago Ya 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 Tamago Ya to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tamago Ya 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.
Threats Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago Ya business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tamago Ya 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
– Tamago Ya 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. Tamago Ya can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tamago Ya in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
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 Tamago Ya in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Tamago Ya needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Tamago Ya 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tamago Ya 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work .
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work, Tamago Ya may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tamago Ya with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Tamago Ya 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tamago Ya 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago-ya of Japan: Delivering Lunch Boxes to Your Work 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 Tamago Ya needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.