The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough?
This case discusses the evolution and dynamics of the Indian sugar industry. It provides a detailed analysis of various factors that impact the structure and attractiveness of the industry in India. It further explains how the global industry scenario is developing and has an influence on the advancement of the industry in India. It throws light on various aspects, such as government regulations, geographical differences, technological trends, availability of substitutes, barriers for exit, lack of sufficient focus on by-products, demand and supply forces, change in global practices and guidelines from international agencies such as WHO, that influence the elevation and future of this industry. In a scenario where sugar producers persistently face high inventory situation, high cost of production, exit restrictions and stiff government regulations, along with other global factors such as excess supply and stagnant consumption growth, innovative players are also struggling to maintain profitability, can Indian sugar manufacturers find ways to sustain their business? Would complete deregulation, backward or forward integration, further diversification into by-products, moving into multiple geographies, changing the source of sugar or strategic partnerships with other global companies be good enough options to turnaround the situation?
Swot Analysis of "The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough?" written by Manoj Arkadi, Maya Nair, Rathnakar Samavedam, Chetna Sharma includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sugar Industry facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sugar Industry, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sugar Industry 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sugar Industry
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sugar Industry
Strengths The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sugar Industry in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sugar Industry 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Sugar Industry has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sugar Industry 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Sugar Industry 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 Sugar Industry is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sugar Industry is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Sugar Industry is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sugar Industry digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sugar Industry 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 Strategy & Execution industry
– The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sugar Industry to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sugar Industry to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sugar Industry 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 Sugar Industry in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sugar Industry has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sugar Industry 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sugar Industry in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sugar Industry 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Manoj Arkadi, Maya Nair, Rathnakar Samavedam, Chetna Sharma suggests that, Sugar Industry 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sugar Industry has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sugar Industry is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 Sugar Industry 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sugar Industry 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. Sugar Industry 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sugar Industry 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 - The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? HBR case study mentions - Sugar Industry takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sugar Industry, firm in the HBR case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sugar Industry is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough?, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Opportunities The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? | 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sugar Industry 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sugar Industry 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Sugar Industry can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sugar Industry 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, The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sugar Industry can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sugar Industry 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 Sugar Industry to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sugar Industry is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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
– Sugar Industry 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sugar Industry to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sugar Industry can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Sugar Industry in the consumer business. Now Sugar Industry can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sugar Industry can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sugar Industry operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sugar Industry 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. Sugar Industry 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sugar Industry 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.
Threats The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sugar Industry with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sugar Industry 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sugar Industry 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? .
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 Sugar Industry.
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 Sugar Industry in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough?, Sugar Industry may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sugar Industry 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sugar Industry in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sugar Industry has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sugar Industry needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sugar Industry 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Sugar Industry can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Sugar Industry
– 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 Sugar Industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 The Indian Sugar Industry: Is it Sweet Enough? 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 Sugar Industry needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.