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 - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption,
increasing commodity prices, 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 -
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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rel Jewellery to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rel Jewellery to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rel Jewellery 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 Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Rel Jewellery
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Rel Jewellery does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rel Jewellery is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Analytics focus
– Rel Jewellery 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 Arpita Agnihotri, Saurabh Bhattacharya 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.
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 -
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.
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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer, is just above the industry average. Rel Jewellery 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, Arpita Agnihotri, Saurabh Bhattacharya suggests that, Rel Jewellery 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 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer 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 Rel Jewellery 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Rel Jewellery supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Rel Jewellery vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Rel Jewellery 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. Rel Jewellery 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rel Jewellery is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Rel Jewellery 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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rel Jewellery 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Rel Jewellery in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Rel Jewellery to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Rel Jewellery 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. Rel Jewellery 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.
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.
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.
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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rel Jewellery can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rel Jewellery has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rel Jewellery to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rajesh Exports: Gold Trader to International Jewellery Retailer case study. Rel Jewellery can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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 Rel Jewellery business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rel Jewellery has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rel Jewellery needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Rel Jewellery 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.
Increasing wage structure of Rel Jewellery
– 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 Rel Jewellery.
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.
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.
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.
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.