Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment
Ina Food Industry Co. Ltd. ("Ina Food") is situated in the city of Ina, Nagano Prefecture, and surrounded by the soaring mountains of the Japanese Alps. Hiroshi Tsukakoshi, Ina Food's 75-year-old chairman, has led the company through an incredible 55 years of continuous revenue and profit growth. The company is a leading manufacturer of powdered agar, a traditional gelatin product derived from seaweed. In the summer of 2012, Tsukakoshi is looking through the windows of his office in Ina City. He is thinking about how he aims for his company to be a corporation that is conscious of the global environment. He feels he has done a good job so far. The business has prospered and does not present any urgent problems. However, he also feels that he should not simply sit back and savor his success. He is facing his retirement and has concerns about the long-term growth of the company. He is thinking it might be the right time to introduce some new marketing strategies for the company. There is also another reason for concern: Japan's deflationary environment, persistent for 20 years now. He is interested in increasing sales volume and profit by raising prices when most other companies are lowering theirs under deflation. In this environment, even keeping prices constant means a relative increase of price. Tsukakoshi believes that, in essence, as long as a company is confident in the competitiveness of its products, there are always methods to raise prices and increase profits. The key is raising the prices of merchandise and services in a way that the customers can accept. Raising prices in a difficult economic climate is a risky decision. Nevertheless, the company is successful in raising the price under deflation. While the Japanese economy faces serious difficulties, the company has obtained successful results thanks to marketing, producing, financing, and allocating resources.
Swot Analysis of "Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment" written by Mitsuru Misawa includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ina Tsukakoshi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ina Tsukakoshi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ina Tsukakoshi
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 Ina Tsukakoshi
Strengths Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ina Tsukakoshi in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ina Tsukakoshi is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment - 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
- Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Tsukakoshi is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Mitsuru Misawa 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Tsukakoshi in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ina Tsukakoshi digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ina Tsukakoshi is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Tsukakoshi in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ina Tsukakoshi in the sector have low bargaining power. Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ina Tsukakoshi to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Tsukakoshi 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ina Tsukakoshi has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Ina Tsukakoshi even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment, in the dynamic environment Ina Tsukakoshi has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ina Tsukakoshi has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ina Tsukakoshi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ina Tsukakoshi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ina Tsukakoshi to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment, is just above the industry average. Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ina Tsukakoshi 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 - Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Tsukakoshi has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment | 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ina Tsukakoshi to increase its market reach. Ina Tsukakoshi 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. Ina Tsukakoshi can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ina Tsukakoshi 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, Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Ina Tsukakoshi can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Ina Tsukakoshi can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ina Tsukakoshi can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ina Tsukakoshi can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ina Tsukakoshi operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Tsukakoshi to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ina Tsukakoshi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ina Tsukakoshi has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ina Tsukakoshi to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment case study. Ina Tsukakoshi can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
Threats Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ina Tsukakoshi is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Ina Tsukakoshi
– 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 Ina Tsukakoshi.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ina Tsukakoshi has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
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 Ina Tsukakoshi.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment, Ina Tsukakoshi may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Environmental challenges
– Ina Tsukakoshi 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. Ina Tsukakoshi can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Ina Tsukakoshi business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ina Tsukakoshi 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.
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. Ina Tsukakoshi can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Food Industry (2): Marketing Strategies in a Deflationary Environment 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 Ina Tsukakoshi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.