Case Study Description of Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect
Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams Pvt. Ltd., a company located in Mumbai, India, manufactured and distributed ice cream under the brand Natural Ice Cream. The company specialized in using natural flavours in its products, a fact that helped it carve a niche for itself among health-conscious customers. In April 2017, after witnessing great demand for its ice cream across the country, the company's board of directors asked the director of operations to draft a plan to expand manufacturing capacity. As his first step towards this expansion, the director wanted to study the current operations and address any inefficiencies. One aspect that caught his attention was the recent delay in product delivery. Based on his experience, he did not see the company's capacity to fulfill current orders as the reason for delays. Therefore, he decided that the problem was related to the process flow. He would have to find ways to streamline the process to reduce or eliminate all delays in delivery. Amol S. Dhaigude is affiliated with T.A. Pai Management Institute. Debmallya Chatterjee is affiliated with SP Jain Institute of Management & Research.
Swot Analysis of "Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect" written by Amol Dhaigude, Debmallya Chatterjee, Saptarshi Chakrabarti includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ice Kamaths facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Manufacturing and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ice Kamaths, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ice Kamaths 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ice Kamaths
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 Ice Kamaths
Strengths Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ice Kamaths in Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ice Kamaths digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ice Kamaths 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ice Kamaths is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Ice Kamaths is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ice Kamaths has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ice Kamaths 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ice Kamaths 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Ice Kamaths 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 Ice Kamaths in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Ice Kamaths 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 Amol Dhaigude, Debmallya Chatterjee, Saptarshi Chakrabarti 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ice Kamaths 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ice Kamaths 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ice Kamaths in the sector have low bargaining power. Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ice Kamaths to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ice Kamaths is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ice Kamaths in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ice Kamaths 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 - Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Ice Kamaths has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect HBR case study mentions - Ice Kamaths 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect, it seems that the employees of Ice Kamaths 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ice Kamaths 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ice Kamaths is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect, in the dynamic environment Ice Kamaths has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ice Kamaths has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Amol Dhaigude, Debmallya Chatterjee, Saptarshi Chakrabarti suggests that, Ice Kamaths 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Ice Kamaths 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ice Kamaths 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.
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 Ice Kamaths supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ice Kamaths vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect | 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ice Kamaths 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, Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ice Kamaths can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ice Kamaths 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 Ice Kamaths to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Ice Kamaths can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ice Kamaths 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ice Kamaths can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ice Kamaths operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ice Kamaths 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ice Kamaths 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ice Kamaths to increase its market reach. Ice Kamaths 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.
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. Ice Kamaths can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Ice Kamaths 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ice Kamaths is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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
– Ice Kamaths 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ice Kamaths to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Ice Kamaths.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ice Kamaths 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ice Kamaths is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ice Kamaths 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.
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. Ice Kamaths needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ice Kamaths 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.
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. Ice Kamaths can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect, Ice Kamaths 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ice Kamaths has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ice Kamaths 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.
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 Ice Kamaths in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Ice Kamaths 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Kamaths Ourtimes Ice Creams: Eliminating the Bottleneck Effect 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 Ice Kamaths needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
