Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business
Amarnath Gupta and Sons was a distributor of lubricants and owner of a petrol pump based in Alwar, Rajasthan, India. The business was originally set up as a family-owned single petrol pump in 1953. The family member currently in charge of daily operations had expanded the business significantly, especially since the entry of new multinational players in the Indian lubricant market. In 2013, this owner-partner was looking at ways to involve his children-one of whom had finished college (a son), one of whom was in college (a daughter), and one of whom was about to start college (a son)-in the family business. Should three businesses be established for each of the three children, or should they all be part of the same business? How could the next generation enter the business successfully? Professors Rajesh Panda, Pooja Gupta and Madhvi Sethi are affiliated with Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru (A constituent of Symbiosis International University, Pune).
Swot Analysis of "Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business" written by Rajesh Panda, Pooja Gupta, Madhvi Sethi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gupta Amarnath facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gupta Amarnath, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gupta Amarnath 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gupta Amarnath
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 Gupta Amarnath
Strengths Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gupta Amarnath in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gupta Amarnath is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Gupta Amarnath is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gupta Amarnath has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gupta Amarnath 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gupta Amarnath to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gupta Amarnath to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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.
Training and development
– Gupta Amarnath has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Gupta Amarnath in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gupta Amarnath digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gupta Amarnath 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gupta Amarnath 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Gupta Amarnath 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 Gupta Amarnath is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Gupta Amarnath 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 Gupta Amarnath in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gupta Amarnath in the sector have low bargaining power. Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gupta Amarnath to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gupta Amarnath is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Gupta Amarnath 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 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 Gupta Amarnath supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gupta Amarnath vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gupta Amarnath 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 - Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Gupta Amarnath 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Gupta Amarnath 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gupta Amarnath is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Gupta Amarnath needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gupta Amarnath to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gupta Amarnath 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Gupta Amarnath has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business, in the dynamic environment Gupta Amarnath has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gupta Amarnath has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business | 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gupta Amarnath 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 Gupta Amarnath to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Gupta Amarnath 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gupta Amarnath to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gupta Amarnath can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gupta Amarnath operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Gupta Amarnath can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gupta Amarnath 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gupta Amarnath 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gupta Amarnath 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.
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. Gupta Amarnath can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gupta Amarnath 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, Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gupta Amarnath 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 Gupta Amarnath to increase its market reach. Gupta Amarnath 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.
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 Gupta Amarnath in the consumer business. Now Gupta Amarnath can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Gupta Amarnath 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gupta Amarnath 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business .
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. Gupta Amarnath can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Gupta Amarnath business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Gupta Amarnath needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Gupta Amarnath 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 Gupta Amarnath
– 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 Gupta Amarnath.
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 Gupta Amarnath in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gupta Amarnath has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gupta Amarnath 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business, Gupta Amarnath 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gupta Amarnath 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.
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 Gupta Amarnath.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gupta Amarnath 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Amarnath Gupta and Sons: The Family Business 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 Gupta Amarnath needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.