Case Study Description of Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain
Adani Agri Logistics Limited (AALL) was established to execute a national project for the bulk handling of food grains through a public-private partnership with the Food Corporation of India. This project involved financing, planning, designing, constructing, operating and maintaining modern infrastructure for the bulk handling, storage and transportation of grains required for the public distribution system. Although a technology-driven supply chain solution was implemented, the benefits of this innovative supply system did not come into full fruition even after four years of operation. AALL soon realized that farmers were reluctant to accept the new storage system because it was a departure from the relationship-based transactions they were used to undertaking with traditional intermediaries. In this way, the company learned that there are cultural subtleties and traditions that must be appreciated and given consideration, along with the economic justifications. How could these traditions be respected and upheld while making way for improvement and progress? Author Mohita Gangwar is affiliated with FORE School of Management. Author K.N. Singh is affiliated with the Indian Institute of Management.
Swot Analysis of "Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain" written by Mohita Gangwar, K.N. Singh, Sachinder Mohan Sharma, Puneet Mehndiratta includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aall Adani facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Operations management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aall Adani, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aall Adani 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aall Adani
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 Aall Adani
Strengths Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aall Adani in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Aall Adani is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Aall Adani has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Aall Adani 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.
High brand equity
– Aall Adani has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Aall Adani to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Aall Adani in the sector have low bargaining power. Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Aall Adani to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Aall Adani
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Aall Adani does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Aall Adani 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 Aall Adani in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Aall Adani 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain - 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
– Aall Adani is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Aall Adani is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Aall Adani 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Aall Adani 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 Mohita Gangwar, K.N. Singh, Sachinder Mohan Sharma, Puneet Mehndiratta 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.
Learning organization
- Aall Adani 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 Aall Adani is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Aall Adani is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Aall Adani needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Aall Adani to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain, in the dynamic environment Aall Adani has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Aall Adani has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Aall Adani 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Aall Adani 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Aall Adani 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Aall Adani 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Aall Adani is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Aall Adani has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain, is just above the industry average. Aall Adani needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Aall Adani 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain | 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Aall Adani 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. Aall Adani 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Aall Adani 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Aall Adani 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Aall Adani 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, Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain, 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
– Aall Adani 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Aall Adani to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Aall Adani has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Aall Adani to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain case study. Aall Adani can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Aall Adani 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Aall Adani is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Aall Adani 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 Aall Adani to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Aall Adani to increase its market reach. Aall Adani 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.
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 Aall Adani in the consumer business. Now Aall Adani can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Aall Adani 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 Aall Adani can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Aall Adani 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain, Aall Adani 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 .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Aall Adani can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aall Adani with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Aall Adani 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.
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 Aall Adani business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Aall Adani is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Aall Adani has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aall Adani needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Aall Adani 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain .
Increasing wage structure of Aall Adani
– 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 Aall Adani.
Environmental challenges
– Aall Adani 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. Aall Adani can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Aall Adani 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Adani Agri Logistics Limited: Blocking the Grain Drain 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 Aall Adani needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.