Case Study Description of Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura
The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), a Bangalore-based Indian non-governmental organization, is hailed globally for running the world's largest school meal programme. It has grown from serving five schools in Bangalore in June 2000 (1,500 children) a day to its current operations of 19 locations in nine Indian states, providing lunch meals to approximately 1.5 million school children every day. This case looks at the operations of one of its larger kitchens, which is located at Vasanthapura in Bangalore. It describes the complete range of activities: procurement, pre-processing, cooking, and finally packaging and dispatch, at this center. The case is rich in data and helps generate discussions around the material planning, procurement, and production planning activities at this kitchen.
Swot Analysis of "Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura" written by Anshuman Tripathy, Kiran K includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vasanthapura Bangalore facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vasanthapura Bangalore, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vasanthapura Bangalore
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 Vasanthapura Bangalore
Strengths Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vasanthapura Bangalore in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Vasanthapura Bangalore has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Vasanthapura Bangalore has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Analytics focus
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Anshuman Tripathy, Kiran K 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Learning organization
- Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Vasanthapura Bangalore is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Vasanthapura Bangalore in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vasanthapura Bangalore is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Vasanthapura Bangalore in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vasanthapura Bangalore is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Vasanthapura Bangalore is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 - Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Vasanthapura Bangalore has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Vasanthapura Bangalore 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Vasanthapura Bangalore 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. Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vasanthapura Bangalore is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vasanthapura Bangalore is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura, it seems that the employees of Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Vasanthapura Bangalore is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Vasanthapura Bangalore needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Vasanthapura Bangalore to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anshuman Tripathy, Kiran K suggests that, Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Opportunities Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura | 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vasanthapura Bangalore is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Vasanthapura Bangalore 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, Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Vasanthapura Bangalore in the consumer business. Now Vasanthapura Bangalore can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Vasanthapura Bangalore can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Vasanthapura Bangalore operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
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. Vasanthapura Bangalore 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. Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
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 Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
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. Vasanthapura Bangalore can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vasanthapura Bangalore has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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. Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
Increasing wage structure of Vasanthapura Bangalore
– 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 Vasanthapura Bangalore.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vasanthapura Bangalore 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura .
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 Vasanthapura Bangalore.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
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.
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. Vasanthapura Bangalore can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Vasanthapura Bangalore 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.
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 Vasanthapura Bangalore business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Resource Planning at Akshaya Patra, Vasanthapura 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 Vasanthapura Bangalore needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
