In September 2015, with the peak of the holiday season only three months away, Karin Nebot, CEO and part owner of the House of Kaviari, is questioning how to sustain the growth of the company. Kaviari, with a??26m in annual sales, is a French family business trading and retailing farmed caviars, which means that they import and brand the product, and sell it to fine food stores, chefs, and wholesalers. The caviar market in France is changing in a new way due to the introduction of inexpensive brands and new retail channels for the precious grains. In recent past, major hypermarkets and supermarkets have introduced caviar with a 'downmarket' product. With the high sales season fast approaching, Nebot needs to decide whether Kaviari should maintain its current position, go mainstream and broaden its consumer base, or increase the brand visibility in its traditional luxury segment.
Authors :: Ronald G. Kamin, Eric Dolanski, Sabine Ruaud, Peter Daly
Swot Analysis of "Kaviari: Pure Caviar" written by Ronald G. Kamin, Eric Dolanski, Sabine Ruaud, Peter Daly includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kaviari Caviar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kaviari: Pure Caviar case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kaviari: Pure Caviar casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kaviari: Pure Caviar
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kaviari: Pure Caviar case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kaviari Caviar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kaviari: Pure Caviar case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kaviari Caviar
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Kaviari Caviar
Strengths Kaviari: Pure Caviar | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kaviari Caviar in Kaviari: Pure Caviar Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kaviari Caviar 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kaviari Caviar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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.
Training and development
– Kaviari Caviar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Kaviari: Pure Caviar firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kaviari Caviar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kaviari Caviar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Kaviari Caviar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kaviari Caviar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kaviari Caviar in the sector have low bargaining power. Kaviari: Pure Caviar has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kaviari Caviar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Kaviari Caviar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kaviari Caviar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kaviari: Pure Caviar are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari Caviar is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kaviari: Pure Caviar Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kaviari Caviar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kaviari: Pure Caviar are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar, is just above the industry average. Kaviari Caviar 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ronald G. Kamin, Eric Dolanski, Sabine Ruaud, Peter Daly suggests that, Kaviari Caviar 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari Caviar 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kaviari Caviar 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, Kaviari Caviar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari Caviar 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 - Kaviari: Pure Caviar should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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
– Kaviari Caviar 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kaviari Caviar products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kaviari Caviar needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kaviari: Pure Caviar HBR case study mentions - Kaviari Caviar 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Kaviari Caviar, firm in the HBR case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Kaviari: Pure Caviar | 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kaviari Caviar to increase its market reach. Kaviari Caviar 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kaviari Caviar in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kaviari Caviar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kaviari Caviar 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Kaviari Caviar 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. Kaviari Caviar 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari Caviar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kaviari Caviar 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 Kaviari Caviar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kaviari Caviar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kaviari: Pure Caviar case study. Kaviari Caviar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Kaviari Caviar can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kaviari Caviar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kaviari Caviar 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kaviari Caviar is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Kaviari Caviar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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.
Threats Kaviari: Pure Caviar External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kaviari Caviar in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kaviari Caviar 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kaviari: Pure Caviar, Kaviari Caviar may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kaviari Caviar is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Kaviari Caviar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Kaviari Caviar 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. Kaviari Caviar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Kaviari Caviar 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 Sales & Marketing 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 Kaviari Caviar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Kaviari Caviar
– 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 Kaviari Caviar.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kaviari Caviar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kaviari Caviar needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kaviari Caviar 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.
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 Kaviari Caviar.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari: Pure Caviar 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 Kaviari Caviar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.