Noma: A Lot on the Plate SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Noma: A Lot on the Plate
In 2014, the restaurant Noma, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was considered to be amongst the best restaurants in the world, and its co-founder, co-owner and chef, RenA? Redzepi, among the most influential chefs. The restaurant was also leading the new Nordic food movement, a movement focused on rediscovering Nordic cuisine and ingredients, which had helped increase the popularity of Danish cuisine. Since 2013 Noma had a new investor, the American Marc Blazer, who joined to help Redzepi increase the restaurant's margins to make it a more sustainable business. But the question was-how? What options really were available?
Swot Analysis of "Noma: A Lot on the Plate" written by Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Noma Redzepi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Noma: A Lot on the Plate case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Noma: A Lot on the Plate casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Noma: A Lot on the Plate
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Noma: A Lot on the Plate case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Noma Redzepi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Noma Redzepi 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Noma: A Lot on the Plate case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Noma Redzepi
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Noma Redzepi
Strengths Noma: A Lot on the Plate | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Noma Redzepi in Noma: A Lot on the Plate Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Noma Redzepi 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 Noma Redzepi in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Noma Redzepi 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Noma Redzepi 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 Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Noma Redzepi has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Noma Redzepi 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.
High brand equity
– Noma Redzepi has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Noma Redzepi to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Noma Redzepi 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Noma Redzepi
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Noma Redzepi does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Noma Redzepi is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Noma: A Lot on the Plate are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Noma Redzepi in the sector have low bargaining power. Noma: A Lot on the Plate has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Noma Redzepi to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Noma Redzepi is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Noma Redzepi 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 Noma Redzepi is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Noma: A Lot on the Plate Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Noma Redzepi is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Noma: A Lot on the Plate Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Noma: A Lot on the Plate | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Noma: A Lot on the Plate are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Noma: A Lot on the Plate, it seems that the employees of Noma Redzepi don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Noma Redzepi is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Noma: A Lot on the Plate can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Noma Redzepi, firm in the HBR case study Noma: A Lot on the Plate needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Noma Redzepi supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Noma: A Lot on the Plate, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Noma Redzepi vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Noma: A Lot on the Plate HBR case study mentions - Noma Redzepi 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Noma: A Lot on the Plate 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Noma Redzepi is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Noma Redzepi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Noma Redzepi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Noma Redzepi to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Noma Redzepi 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Noma Redzepi 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 - Noma: A Lot on the Plate should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Noma Redzepi 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi suggests that, Noma Redzepi 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.
Opportunities Noma: A Lot on the Plate | 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Noma Redzepi to increase its market reach. Noma Redzepi 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Noma Redzepi can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Noma Redzepi 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Noma Redzepi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Noma Redzepi 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Noma Redzepi 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. Noma Redzepi can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Noma Redzepi can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Noma Redzepi has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Noma Redzepi to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Noma: A Lot on the Plate case study. Noma Redzepi can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Noma Redzepi can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Noma Redzepi 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 Noma Redzepi to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Noma Redzepi 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Noma Redzepi 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Noma Redzepi 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Noma Redzepi 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, Noma: A Lot on the Plate, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Noma: A Lot on the Plate External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Noma: A Lot on the Plate are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Noma: A Lot on the Plate, Noma Redzepi may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Noma Redzepi has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Noma Redzepi needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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. Noma Redzepi 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.
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 Noma Redzepi.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Noma Redzepi 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate .
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. Noma Redzepi needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Noma Redzepi can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Noma Redzepi in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Noma Redzepi
– 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 Noma Redzepi.
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
– Noma Redzepi 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Noma Redzepi with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Noma: A Lot on the Plate 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate 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 Noma: A Lot on the Plate 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 Noma Redzepi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
