Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector
This case describes the activities and documents the challenges faced by a small-scale firm in the unorganized sector of textile wet processing industry in India. While the small scale and manual nature of operations allows firms in this industry much flexibility of accepting a wide variety of orders, in terms of size and the type of processing needed by the customers, it also poses quality and delivery related challenges that arise due to the manual nature of operations. The case therefore exposes students to the operational trade-offs between flexibility, cost, quality and delivery time and highlights the tensions between various competitive dimensions in a business scenario. The students are then provided a choice of options to choose from, which will require them to consider the pros and cons of choosing one dimension over the other, in the context a small-scale firm in an unorganized sector of an emerging market, that is constrained for resources.
Swot Analysis of "Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector" written by Haritha Saranga, Sagnik Choudhury, Agrim Gupta, Abhishek Iyer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wet Unorganized facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Product development and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wet Unorganized, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wet Unorganized 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wet Unorganized
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 Wet Unorganized
Strengths Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wet Unorganized in Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Wet Unorganized
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wet Unorganized does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Wet Unorganized 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 Haritha Saranga, Sagnik Choudhury, Agrim Gupta, Abhishek Iyer 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.
Training and development
– Wet Unorganized has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wet Unorganized digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wet Unorganized 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wet Unorganized to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wet Unorganized to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wet Unorganized 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.
High brand equity
– Wet Unorganized has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wet Unorganized to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Wet Unorganized is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Wet Unorganized is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wet Unorganized in the sector have low bargaining power. Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wet Unorganized to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Wet Unorganized in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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.
Weaknesses Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wet Unorganized is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Wet Unorganized 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wet Unorganized products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wet Unorganized needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wet Unorganized is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Haritha Saranga, Sagnik Choudhury, Agrim Gupta, Abhishek Iyer suggests that, Wet Unorganized 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wet Unorganized 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 - Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wet Unorganized 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wet Unorganized is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Wet Unorganized needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wet Unorganized to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector, is just above the industry average. Wet Unorganized 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector, it seems that the employees of Wet Unorganized don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector HBR case study mentions - Wet Unorganized 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.
Opportunities Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector | 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wet Unorganized 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 Wet Unorganized to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wet Unorganized 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wet Unorganized 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 Wet Unorganized in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Wet Unorganized 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. Wet Unorganized 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wet Unorganized can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wet Unorganized has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wet Unorganized to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector case study. Wet Unorganized can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Wet Unorganized in the consumer business. Now Wet Unorganized can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Wet Unorganized can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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 Wet Unorganized to increase its market reach. Wet Unorganized 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wet Unorganized 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Wet Unorganized can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Wet Unorganized 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wet Unorganized 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, Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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.
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.
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 Wet Unorganized business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector, Wet Unorganized 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 .
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 Wet Unorganized in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Wet Unorganized
– 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 Wet Unorganized.
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. Wet Unorganized can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wet Unorganized is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wet Unorganized 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wet Unorganized 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wet Unorganized has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wet Unorganized 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wet Unorganized 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.
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. Wet Unorganized 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 Process Improvement in Textile Wet Processing - A Case Study from the Indian Small-Scale Sector 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 Wet Unorganized needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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