Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version
Hironobu Tsujiguchi, a Japanese chocolatier, had chosen an unusual path to success as a pastry chef. Instead of spending most of his time in his kitchen and focusing on one or two confectionery categories like most pastry chefs, he chose to work on diverse projects and leverage his reputation as a winning competitive chef to experiment with tastes and achieve business success. While Tsujiguchi enjoyed popularity and success in a broad array of projects, such as managing 10 brands and 26 shops across different categories, he also felt the need to reinvent his core confectionery business since not all stores of all his brands were thriving as he had wished. Equally central to the mission was the need to restructure the brand portfolio and operational model. Tsujiguchi asked himself: How can I orchestrate these efforts? Can I continue to rely on the diversification model that has led me to success so far, or should I be more focused? What should I continue, start, or stop doing to stay relevant?
Swot Analysis of "Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version" written by Boris Groysberg, Naoko Jinjo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tsujiguchi Hironobu facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Risk management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tsujiguchi Hironobu, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tsujiguchi Hironobu
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tsujiguchi Hironobu
Strengths Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tsujiguchi Hironobu in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tsujiguchi Hironobu to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tsujiguchi Hironobu to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tsujiguchi Hironobu to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tsujiguchi Hironobu in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Tsujiguchi Hironobu
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tsujiguchi Hironobu does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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.
Training and development
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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.
Weaknesses Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tsujiguchi Hironobu is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version HBR case study mentions - Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tsujiguchi Hironobu is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Tsujiguchi Hironobu needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tsujiguchi Hironobu to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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 - Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Boris Groysberg, Naoko Jinjo suggests that, Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version, in the dynamic environment Tsujiguchi Hironobu has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tsujiguchi Hironobu has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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. Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Opportunities Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version | 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Tsujiguchi Hironobu can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tsujiguchi Hironobu to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tsujiguchi Hironobu in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tsujiguchi Hironobu to increase its market reach. Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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. Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
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. Tsujiguchi Hironobu can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tsujiguchi Hironobu can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tsujiguchi Hironobu operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Threats Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version are -
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tsujiguchi Hironobu can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Tsujiguchi Hironobu
– 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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu.
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. Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tsujiguchi Hironobu needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version, Tsujiguchi Hironobu may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Tsujiguchi Hironobu 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tsujiguchi Hironobu with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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 Hironobu Tsujiguchi and His Sweet Revolution, Japanese Version 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 Tsujiguchi Hironobu needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.