Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A)
A young man follows his passion through near bankruptcy. Armed with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he shuns the path of a high-paying corporate job and instead stars a stock-broking firm. After ups and downs in several businesses, he finally decides his real fulfillment will come from producing a full-length movie - Ashta Chamma, based on the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Ernest. The case chronicles the various issues he faces: funding the production, choosing the director; choosing a story that will satisfy his requirement of family entertainment, casting the principal characters and creating a team that can bring the production to the movie theatres. The case goes behind the scenes of the film world in "Tollywood," the Teluga film industry in Andhra Pradesh, and highlights the pressures faced by an entrepreneur in the industry. Eventually, a rare combination of creativity, professionalism and good business sense bring about success for the entrepreneur. Part B of the case presents the outcome after the release of the movie.
Authors :: S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, Rajesh Chakrabarti, Hari Krishna Mulpuri, Payal Goel
Swot Analysis of "Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A)" written by S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, Rajesh Chakrabarti, Hari Krishna Mulpuri, Payal Goel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Movie Ashta facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Movie Ashta, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Movie Ashta 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Movie Ashta
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 Movie Ashta
Strengths Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Movie Ashta in Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Movie Ashta has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Movie Ashta to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Movie Ashta 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
– Movie Ashta has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Movie Ashta 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Movie Ashta 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.
Analytics focus
– Movie Ashta 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 S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, Rajesh Chakrabarti, Hari Krishna Mulpuri, Payal Goel 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)
– Movie Ashta 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Movie Ashta 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Movie Ashta to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Movie Ashta to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Movie Ashta is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Movie Ashta 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Movie Ashta is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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.
Weaknesses Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A), is just above the industry average. Movie Ashta needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Movie Ashta 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Movie Ashta is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Movie Ashta products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Movie Ashta needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Movie Ashta, firm in the HBR case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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 Movie Ashta has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Movie Ashta 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Movie Ashta supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Movie Ashta vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Movie Ashta is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Movie Ashta needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Movie Ashta to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A), in the dynamic environment Movie Ashta has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Movie Ashta has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) | 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Movie Ashta 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Movie Ashta 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Movie Ashta 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Movie Ashta 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.
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 Movie Ashta 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Movie Ashta 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.
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. Movie Ashta can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Movie Ashta 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. Movie Ashta 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Movie Ashta is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Movie Ashta 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 Movie Ashta to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Movie Ashta 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Movie Ashta to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Movie Ashta 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, Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Movie Ashta can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Movie Ashta operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Threats Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Movie Ashta with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Movie Ashta 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.
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. Movie Ashta will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Increasing wage structure of Movie Ashta
– 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 Movie Ashta.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A), Movie Ashta 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Movie Ashta 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.
Environmental challenges
– Movie Ashta 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. Movie Ashta can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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
– Movie Ashta 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Movie Ashta is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Movie Ashta 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. Movie Ashta can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Movie Ashta business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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 Ashta Chamma - The Biggest Small Movie Ever Made (A) 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 Movie Ashta needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.