Case Study Description of "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE
Rohan Patel was looking at the building site outside the window of his third-floor office in Westlands, the upmarket business district of Nairobi, Kenya. Although the construction work would be finished in a few weeks' time, it had taken a total of 18 months to complete and was seriously behind schedule. In early 2009, time was definitely money for Rohan's family firm, Grenadier Limited. The building was to be the first of a chain of contemporary five star hotels catering to the needs of business travelers in urban centers in Africa.The chain would be the latest addition to Grenadier's portfolio. Rohan hoped it would not be plagued by the occupancy problems that Larsens Camp was experiencing - one of the three properties that made up Wilderness Lodges, the company's other luxury hospitality business. The tourist trade in Kenya had been hit by the double whammy of political violence followed by the credit crunch and global recession, both of which had been nothing short of disastrous for the hospitality business. The tourism crisis, in turn, led to a renewal of public debate around the sustainable management of Kenya's natural resources. Some operators saw an opportunity to push for a relaxation of existing rules for establishing hotels and resorts in and around nature reserves, which would create new jobs and increase tax revenues for the state and local councils. However, nature preservationists and environmental NGOs wanted to protect the animal sanctuaries and the local communities that often lost their ancestors' lands to the nature reserves without getting much in return. In addition to getting the new venture off the ground and taking the risk of stepping on the toes of established players, Rohan needed to tackle these other challenges: How could the group rebuild a value proposition for tourists and restore occupancy rates at Larsens Camp? What was the best way to restructure the company to ensure financial stability? How could it find the proper balance between its business and the environment, thus ensuring the future of its resorts? Learning objectives: The case discusses various issues including social responsibility in the context of a hospitality business in Kenya's Samburu Nature Reserve; the heritage of the Indian diaspora in East Africa and its business activities and modus operandi; the transition of a third-generation family member who returns from Europe to join the family business; and sustainability management of the family's sprawling business empire. The case also provides an original setting for the discussion of stakeholder management (the bush).
Swot Analysis of ""LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE" written by Benoit Leleux, Aoife Hegarty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Larsens Rohan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Talent management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Larsens Rohan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Larsens Rohan 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Larsens Rohan
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Larsens Rohan
Strengths "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Larsens Rohan in "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Larsens Rohan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Larsens Rohan 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Larsens Rohan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Larsens Rohan 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.
High brand equity
– Larsens Rohan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Larsens Rohan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Larsens Rohan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 Larsens Rohan in the sector have low bargaining power. "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Larsens Rohan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Larsens Rohan 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 Larsens Rohan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Larsens Rohan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Larsens Rohan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Larsens Rohan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Larsens Rohan 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 Benoit Leleux, Aoife Hegarty 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
– Larsens Rohan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Larsens Rohan 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.
Weaknesses "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE, in the dynamic environment Larsens Rohan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Larsens Rohan 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, Benoit Leleux, Aoife Hegarty suggests that, Larsens Rohan is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Larsens Rohan 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 Larsens Rohan 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 - "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Larsens Rohan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Larsens Rohan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Larsens Rohan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Larsens Rohan is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE, it seems that the employees of Larsens Rohan 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Larsens Rohan 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 Larsens Rohan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE HBR case study mentions - Larsens Rohan 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Opportunities "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE | 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Larsens Rohan 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Larsens Rohan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Larsens Rohan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Larsens Rohan 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, "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Larsens Rohan 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Larsens Rohan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Larsens Rohan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Larsens Rohan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Larsens Rohan 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Larsens Rohan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Larsens Rohan 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.
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 Larsens Rohan in the consumer business. Now Larsens Rohan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Larsens Rohan 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 Larsens Rohan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Larsens Rohan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Larsens Rohan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE case study. Larsens Rohan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE are -
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. Larsens Rohan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Larsens Rohan 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
– Larsens Rohan 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.
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 Larsens Rohan in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Larsens Rohan
– 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 Larsens Rohan.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Larsens Rohan 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Larsens Rohan 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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 Larsens Rohan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Larsens Rohan.
Environmental challenges
– Larsens Rohan 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. Larsens Rohan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Larsens Rohan 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Larsens Rohan is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 "LARSENS CAMP: CRISIS IN KENYA'S ELEPHANT PARADISE 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 Larsens Rohan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.