Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer
Rajesh Exports Limited (REL), founded by Rajesh Mehta in the 1980s and based in India, was the world's largest, lowest cost gold jewellery manufacturer. REL derived more than 90 per cent of its total revenue from exporting gold jewellery to more than 60 countries; but, in 2017, REL set a goal of increasing the portion of revenue contributed by the retail segment to 90 per cent by 2030-an increase from the current contribution of 10 per cent. REL had initiated strategies to differentiate itself in the retail jewellery segment; nonetheless, analysts were skeptical about REL's ability to achieve its revenue goal. They pointed to the hindrances of severe competition in the global retail jewellery market; REL's lack of experience in retail jewellery; and the perception of low quality associated with products produced in India. Was Mehta's vision to establish REL's presence in the retail segment appropriate, and if so, how could REL overcome the barriers and establish its identity in the international retail jewellery market? Arpita Agnihotri is affiliated with Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg. Saurabh Bhattacharya is affiliated with Newcastle University.
Swot Analysis of "Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer" written by Arpita Agnihotri, Saurabh Bhattacharya includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rel Jewellery facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Mergers & acquisitions and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rel Jewellery, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rel Jewellery 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rel Jewellery
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Rel Jewellery
Strengths Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rel Jewellery in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Rel Jewellery 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 Rel Jewellery in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Rel Jewellery 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rel Jewellery 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Rel Jewellery has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rel Jewellery to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Rel Jewellery has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Rel Jewellery 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rel Jewellery 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rel Jewellery is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Rel Jewellery digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Rel Jewellery 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rel Jewellery has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rel Jewellery 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.
Learning organization
- Rel Jewellery 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 Rel Jewellery is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer are -
Need for greater diversity
– Rel Jewellery 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer, in the dynamic environment Rel Jewellery has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Rel Jewellery has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Rel Jewellery is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Rel Jewellery needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Rel Jewellery to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer, it seems that the employees of Rel Jewellery 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rel Jewellery 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rel Jewellery 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 - Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer HBR case study mentions - Rel Jewellery 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rel Jewellery has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Rel Jewellery 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Rel Jewellery, firm in the HBR case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rel Jewellery is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer | 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rel Jewellery can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Rel Jewellery 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.
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 Rel Jewellery in the consumer business. Now Rel Jewellery can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rel Jewellery 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.
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. Rel Jewellery can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Rel Jewellery can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Rel Jewellery to increase its market reach. Rel Jewellery 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Rel Jewellery is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rel Jewellery 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rel Jewellery to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rel Jewellery can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rel Jewellery operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Rel Jewellery 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 Global Business segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Rel Jewellery can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rel Jewellery 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 Rel Jewellery to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer are -
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rel Jewellery in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer, Rel Jewellery may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
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. Rel Jewellery needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rel Jewellery 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Rel Jewellery can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rel Jewellery 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Rel Jewellery 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 Rel Jewellery.
Regulatory challenges
– Rel Jewellery 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Rel Jewellery is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rel Jewellery with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rel Jewellery 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rel Jewellery needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
