DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN
Indian Foods Fermentation Limited (IFFL) was established in 1992 by Narayanan to develop an expert dosa maker that will be used in fast food restaurants, "Dosa King". According to market research carried out by IFFL in 1992, on any given day, 20 million dosas were consumed in India. Narayanan and his colleagues at IFFL decided to develop an automatic dosa delivery system that would deliver standardized dosa at an interval of 30 seconds. The system requirement was that the dosa should have the same size, color, crispiness, and taste. The project was funded by venture capitalists and Narayanan had to take several decisions during the design and development of automatic dosa delivery system. The Dosa King was intended to be a mass-distributed item, and the number of retail points across the country was meant to be in excess of 10,000 within 5 years from its launch in 1992. The IFFL realized that their largest stakeholder would therefore inevitably be the retailer or franchisee who invested in dosa machines, batter, and masala, and also interfaced with the customer. The IFFL conducted a market survey to capture the "voice of the customers" for the dosa delivery system and identified various system requirements. At various stages of product development, Narayan had to take several key decisions related to the design and development of machine, decision on inputs for preparation of dosa batter and other accompaniments, etc. In 1992, India did not have any western fast food chains. India went through a period of major economic reform in 1991 and the economy started growing much faster after the nineties. Narayanan expected the demand for fast food to grow in all major cities of India. Equipped with his experience at Coca-Cola and NestlA?, Narayanan was confident that he could change the restaurant industry in India.
Swot Analysis of "DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN" written by Unnikrishnan Dinesh Kumar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dosa Iffl facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management, Venture capital and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dosa Iffl, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dosa Iffl 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dosa Iffl
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 Dosa Iffl
Strengths DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dosa Iffl in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Dosa Iffl 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 Dosa Iffl is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dosa Iffl is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dosa Iffl has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dosa Iffl is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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
– Dosa Iffl 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 Unnikrishnan Dinesh Kumar 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Dosa Iffl is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dosa Iffl to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dosa Iffl to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Dosa Iffl 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 Dosa Iffl 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
– Dosa Iffl has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dosa Iffl 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dosa Iffl in the sector have low bargaining power. DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dosa Iffl to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Dosa Iffl is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dosa Iffl in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 Dosa Iffl 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dosa Iffl has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dosa Iffl, firm in the HBR case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN, in the dynamic environment Dosa Iffl has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Dosa Iffl 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, Unnikrishnan Dinesh Kumar suggests that, Dosa Iffl 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dosa Iffl needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dosa Iffl is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN, is just above the industry average. Dosa Iffl 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN, it seems that the employees of Dosa Iffl 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 Dosa Iffl has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Dosa Iffl 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN | 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN are -
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 Dosa Iffl in the consumer business. Now Dosa Iffl can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dosa Iffl has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dosa Iffl to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN case study. Dosa Iffl can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dosa Iffl to increase its market reach. Dosa Iffl 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
– Dosa Iffl 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dosa Iffl to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dosa Iffl can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dosa Iffl operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dosa Iffl 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
– Dosa Iffl 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dosa Iffl 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
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. Dosa Iffl can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dosa Iffl in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Dosa Iffl 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. Dosa Iffl 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dosa Iffl 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, DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Dosa Iffl has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Threats DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN are -
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. Dosa Iffl 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.
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.
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 Dosa Iffl in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Dosa Iffl
– 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 Dosa Iffl.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dosa Iffl is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Dosa Iffl 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dosa Iffl 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.
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 Dosa Iffl business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Dosa Iffl needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Dosa Iffl needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Dosa Iffl can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN, Dosa Iffl 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 .
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 Dosa Iffl.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 DOSA KING: A STANDARDIZED MASALA DOSA FOR EVERY INDIAN 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 Dosa Iffl needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.