KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD
MAY 1991. Flying back from Venice, Paul Van de Velde thought back about the strange meeting he and Enrico Boldoni had earlier that day with a potential Italian investor. Enrico, an elegant forty something Italian, was the franchising manager for a major department store chain in Italy. He strongly believed in the Kipling brand, and after opening the first Italian Kipling shop in a mall near Rome, decided to switch into a higher gear - opening the next 25 stores! Enrico had found an investor willing to stake a great deal of money in the development of Kipling's franchise concept in Italy. After a short presentation of the Kipling concept, the man confirmed his interest in investing in Kipling with a minor Italian twist; instead of becoming a Kipling franchisee, he wanted to take over the whole company and become the franchisor! He offered to pay a??3.75 million for the company. Paul took a deep breath. Was this really what he was after when he entered the Italian market? Would he have to deal with this kind of issue when internationalizing Kipling? Did they really want to depend on this type of character for the future growth of the company? Was franchising the way to go? Learning objectives: Building a brand, globalizing a startup company, professionalizing a creative startup, modes of internationalization, financing growth, managing growth, startup teams.
Authors :: Benoit Leleux, Kurt Verweire, Miguel Meuleman
Swot Analysis of "KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD" written by Benoit Leleux, Kurt Verweire, Miguel Meuleman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kipling Italian facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Globalization, Marketing and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kipling Italian, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kipling Italian 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kipling Italian
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 Kipling Italian
Strengths KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kipling Italian in KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kipling Italian digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kipling Italian has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kipling Italian has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kipling Italian 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.
Organizational Resilience of Kipling Italian
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kipling Italian does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kipling Italian 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Kipling Italian 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 Kipling Italian is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Kipling Italian is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kipling Italian in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kipling Italian is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kipling Italian to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kipling Italian to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kipling Italian 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Kipling Italian has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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.
Weaknesses KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kipling Italian 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Kipling Italian products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Kipling Italian needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kipling Italian 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD, it seems that the employees of Kipling Italian 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kipling Italian is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD, in the dynamic environment Kipling Italian has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kipling Italian has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD, is just above the industry average. Kipling Italian 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 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 Kipling Italian supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Kipling Italian vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Kipling Italian 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 Kipling Italian has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kipling Italian has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD | 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Kipling Italian 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. Kipling Italian 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 Kipling Italian can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kipling Italian to increase its market reach. Kipling Italian 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kipling Italian can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kipling Italian in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kipling Italian 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, KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD, 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 Kipling Italian 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kipling Italian 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.
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 Kipling Italian in the consumer business. Now Kipling Italian can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Kipling Italian 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Kipling Italian 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kipling Italian to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kipling Italian 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Kipling Italian 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kipling Italian 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kipling Italian in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Kipling Italian can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Kipling Italian.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Kipling Italian 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kipling Italian has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kipling Italian needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Kipling Italian business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Kipling Italian 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.
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. Kipling Italian 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 Kipling Italian
– 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 Kipling Italian.
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. Kipling Italian needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Kipling Italian 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 Kipling Italian 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 KIPLING (A): MONKEY BUSINESS - KIPLING TRIES TO CONQUER THE WORLD 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 Kipling Italian needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.