Sumiko Ito Case Solution

The Harvard Business Review published a case study that primarily focuses on Sumiko Ito. The following case solution has been designed to give the reader an overview about the business world along with a clear understanding of its growth dynamics. Recently, Sumiko Ito has been subjected to strategic as well as managerial problems that require immediate attention so that they can be resolved to allow future growth, expansion, and competitive edge within the marketplace. This case study solution is being written to provide a strategic solution to Sumiko Ito using various appropriate tools and frameworks. Harvard Business Review’s case studies involve a central problem that is faced by a particular company. The problem identified involves strategic and managerial implications for the company. Therefore, it is important for readers to critically identify the problem Sumiko Ito faces. Moreover, it is also essential to highlight the key stakeholders that are impacted and influenced by the problem identified.

External Environmental Analysis

The external environment holds significant importance for Sumiko Ito to ensure that the company is able to respond to all the changes in the macro-environment. This is because Sumiko Ito cannot control the factors and thus can directly influence the company's operations (Indris & Primiana, 2015). The external environment of Sumiko Ito will be assessed using PESTLE Analysis.

Political

• A stable political environment provides a favorable market growth trend for Sumiko Ito.

• It is important for Sumiko Ito to analyze the pressure groups, and social environment activists. The company can make close collaborations with these groups to achieve company goals (Wang, Wang, & Shi, 2022).

• High restrictions on trade and high levels of taxes can contribute to the complex business environment for Sumiko Ito by impacting imports and exports.

Economic

• Sumiko Ito can benefit from wide-range opportunities in business growth by operating in developing economies (Munro, 2017).

• High GDP can determine the long-term growth strategies of Sumiko Ito, signaling the ability of consumers to spend on more products.

• Higher rates of interests can provide Sumiko Ito with more investment opportunities.

• The flexibility in the labor market allows Sumiko Ito to take advantage of higher workforce productivity.

Social

• The selection of appropriate demographic segments has allowed Sumiko Ito to select the right segments of the market that have high growth potential.

• The research on gender roles has helped Sumiko Ito to develop and align communication as well as marketing strategies accordingly.

• Sumiko Ito has been successful in understanding the norms and cultures of different countries by developing local teams and partnerships (Hueske, Endrikat, & Guenther, 2015).

Technological

• The adoption of innovative marketing techniques that involves communication technologies has allowed Sumiko Ito to collaborate successfully with consumers.

• The company has stayed ahead in the market, and can significantly increase its market share by placing its major focus on emerging technologies (Akpoviroro & Owotutu, 2018).

• Sumiko Ito should maximize its profits by investing in disruptive technologies.

Environmental

• It is crucial for Sumiko Ito to adopt effective waste management practices to reduce environmental pollution (J. K, W. J, & D., 2016).

• Sumiko Ito should adopt eco-friendly products to establish better relationships with the stakeholders.

• Sumiko Ito can take advantage of subsidies offered in renewable technologies to achieve the long-term goal of sustainability.

Legal

• Sumiko Ito should follow proper laws concerning employee health and safety, and anti-discrimination laws to effectively develop HRM.

• Consumer protection laws are also important for Sumiko Ito as it involves the consumer protection from fraudulent marketing (S. Samusenko, S. Plaskova, & A. Prodanova, 2020).

• Sumiko Ito can gain a competitive advantage, and can position itself strongly in the market by protecting intellectual property laws.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Threat of New Entrants

• It is difficult to achieve economies of scale in Sumiko Ito’s industry, making it a weaker force for new entrants.

• There are high capital requirements in the industry. This makes it difficult for new businesses to set up their companies, and compete against Sumiko Ito.

• The industry has a strong product differentiation, and heavy investment is needed for customer acquisition. Thus, Sumiko Ito can focus on innovation to differentiate itself from its competitors (H. Th. Bruijl, 2018).

• There are strict legal requirements to join the industry in which Sumiko Ito operates, making it difficult for new entrants to enter the market.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

• The bargaining power of suppliers in the industry is weak.

• Sumiko Ito operates in an industry with a higher number of suppliers. This means that suppliers do not have much control over their prices.

• Standardized products that have low switching costs are provided by suppliers allowing buyers like Sumiko Ito to easily switch their suppliers (Fabbri & F.Klapper, 2016).

• Raw materials can be purchased at lower prices by Sumiko Ito. The company can also switch suppliers for more reasonable pricing.

• Sumiko Ito can benefit from a variety of suppliers as it can have multiple suppliers for its various geographical areas (Cho, Ke, & Han, 2019).

Bargaining Power of Buyers

• The bargaining power of buyers in the Sumiko Ito industry is weak.

• There is a high product differentiation in the industry, making it difficult for buyers to switch to alternative firms.

• Sumiko Ito can come with differentiated and innovative products to attract more buyers of the industry (Zhao, Zuo, & Wu, 2016).

• Buyers of this industry has low incomes. This means they prefer to purchase items at lower prices, making them more price sensitive. Organizations like Sumiko Ito can offer lower prices to attract customers.

Threat of Substitute Products or Services

• There are few substitute products available in the industry in which Sumiko Ito operates.

• Expensive substitutes are available in the industry of Sumiko Ito, making it difficult for buyers to switch to those substitutes (Aithal, 2016).

Rivalry Among Existing Firms

• The rivalry among existing firms is moderate to weak.

• There are few competitors in the industry in which Sumiko Ito operates.

• A large market share is enjoyed by fewer firms in the industry. This means that more competitive actions will be made to become leaders in the market (Seema, 2016).

• The industry in which Sumiko Ito operates has highly differentiated products, making it difficult for companies to win each other customers.

• Sumiko Ito can focus on making more differentiated products to gain a strong competitive edge in the market (Zhao, Zuo, & Wu, 2016).

Internal Environmental Analysis

Sumiko Ito can use internal environmental analysis to identify and evaluate the competitive positioning of a company in the business environment. This involves conducting a SWOT Analysis that can help Sumiko Ito to identify the company’s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Halmaghi, Iancue, & Băcilă, 2017).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• Sumiko Ito has a strong distribution network that has allowed it to make its products available to large customers within the given timeframe.

• A strong presence on social media platforms has allowed Sumiko Ito to have a high level of customer engagement (Rizaldi, 2015).

• Sumiko Ito has been successful in building a large product portfolio, so unique and distinctive products can be offered to consumers.

• Sumiko Ito has a strong brand image in the market.

• A low-cost structure of Sumiko Ito has allowed it to manufacture products at lower costs, so they become affordable for consumers to purchase.

• The financial position of Sumiko Ito is strong as the company has generated higher profits over the past years (Phadermrod, M.Crowder, & B.Wills, 2019).

• Sumiko Ito has invested in the training and development of its employees to keep them motivates, leading to higher efficiency and productivity.

Weaknesses

• The expenditure of Sumiko Ito on its research and development is comparatively less to other competitors of the market.

• Sumiko Ito uses a centralized decision-making process that takes time and reduces operational efficiency (Ahmadi, Dileepan, & K. Wheatley, 2016).

• There are high rental costs because Sumiko Ito operates on more of the rental properties rather than purchasing them.

• There is no workforce diversification in Sumiko Ito. This makes it difficult for the employees to adjust with the different workers who belong to different backgrounds.

Opportunities

• Since the online shopping has increased significantly, Sumiko Ito can take it as an opportunity to expand its online presence.

• Sumiko Ito can make use of social media platforms to market its products, with more customers interactions.

• Due to more technological developments, Sumiko Ito can make its operations more automated so that overall company costs can be reduced (Ahmadi, Dileepan, & K. Wheatley, 2016).

• Globalization provides an opportunity to Sumiko Ito to expand its operations in multiple countries.

• Sumiko Ito can enter in a niche market and sell distinctive products to gain a competitive advantage.

• The increase in the demand of environmentally friendly goods, Sumiko Ito, can place its major focus on making such products (E.Quezada, A.Reinao, & I.Palominos, 2019).

Threats

• In recent times, there has been an increase in the bargaining power of suppliers, making it difficult for Sumiko Ito to buy raw materials at lower costs.

• Numerous players are entering the industry, posing a major threat to Sumiko Ito.

• There has been constant pressure on Sumiko Ito to conduct frequent research to understand the changing customer tastes and preferences (Kolbina, 2015).

• Technological advancements require workforce training. This adds to the costs of Sumiko Ito.

VRIO Analysis

Sumiko Ito uses VRIO Analysis to assess and evaluate the company resources to determine the competitiveness, and strategic advantage.

Valuable

• Sumiko Ito has a strong brand image and engages in corporate social responsibility.

• Sumiko Ito has a high brand recognition because of the quality of products it offers to its customers (Ariyani & Daryanto, 2018).

• The distribution system of Sumiko Ito is valued all round the world. The company has been able to successfully establish strong relationships with its suppliers.

• Sumiko Ito focuses on continuous innovation in its business. The company has expanded this innovation in its multiple functional areas.

• There are potential growth opportunities in the market, and Sumiko Ito has been able to penetrate the market through its ability to raise large funds.

Rare

• Sumiko Ito operates globally. This global presence has allowed the company to increase its customer base (Miethlich & G. Oldenburg, 2019).

• Sumiko Ito has an organizational culture that promotes more teamwork, innovation, and creativity among its employees, that leads to a competitive advantage.

• Since Sumiko Ito has a global presence, it allows the company to easily adapt to different cultures, norms and values.

• The risk-taking ability of Sumiko Ito is strong. This provides more opportunities to the company to penetrate different markets.

Inimitable

• The inimitable resource for Sumiko Ito is its high-quality products. These products have allowed consumers to make repeat purchases.

• Sumiko Ito operates through multiple locations of stores in different companies, allowing easy access to products.

• Strong marketing communications have been used by Sumiko Ito to attract more customers.

• Sumiko Ito has been using integrated technology that has allowed it to offer competitive pricing to its customers (Ariwibowo, Saputro, & Haryanto, 2021).

• Sumiko Ito maintains an excellent customer service that has enabled it to have a high brand engagement.

Organization

• Strong financial position has allowed Sumiko Ito to explore more product development opportunities.

• Sumiko Ito is successfully maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of its business operations with the help of more integrated and advanced technology.

• Employees are given both in-house and off-the-job training opportunities by Sumiko Ito that allow more skills development (Adnan, Abdulhamid, & Sohail, 2018).

• The strong value chain and distribution network has enabled Sumiko Ito to increase its revenue through the sale of its products.

Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is needed by Sumiko Ito to formulate effective strategies to achieve the company objectives.

Product

• Sumiko Ito has five product categories. Each of these categories has a product line that involves more variety of products (Išoraitė, 2016).

• Highly differentiated products are offered by Sumiko Ito to its customers. These distinctive products are not easily available at competitors.

• The products of Sumiko Ito are of higher quality, and thus, customers pay more prices for these products.

• Sumiko Ito designs products with traditional designs giving customers more product variety.

• Sumiko Ito offers multiple sizes for its every product to make it easy for its customers to select the right product.

• Warranty and same-day delivery option if also provided by Sumiko Ito to its customers.

Price

• Sumiko Ito follows a competitive pricing strategy.

• To attract more customers, bundle pricing has also been used by the company.

• Little higher prices are charged for products that are sold online because of the delivery costs (Thabit & Raewf, 2018).

• Optional product pricing strategy is also adopted by Sumiko Ito for some of its products, such as a base product is offered for a certain price, and there are separate prices for its accessories.

• Regular promotional prices are also offered by Sumiko Ito to its customers.

Place

• Sumiko Ito uses two channels for its product distribution. This includes online selling and through own stores.

• There are more than multiple stores owned by Sumiko Ito globally. This ensures easy product availability to customers (Pogorelova, Yakhneeva, & Agafonova, 2016).

• Sumiko Ito has partnered with delivery service companies to distribute its products effectively to consumers.

• Sumiko Ito has also adopted an omni-channel distribution system.

Promotion

• Sumiko Ito uses a traditional promotional strategy that involves TV advertisements (Fan, Y.K.Lau, & Zhao, 2015).

• Social media advertisements are also adopted by Sumiko Ito to increase brand awareness.

• Sumiko Ito takes part in various events and exhibitions as a way of promoting its products.

• Large sales force is used to provide the customers with a more personal experience.

• Sumiko Ito also makes use of influencer marketing to increase the demand for its products.

• Regular content and deals are posted on the social media pages of Sumiko Ito to attract and retain customers.

Value Chain Analysis

Sumiko Ito can use Value Chain Analysis to identify and assess inter-relationships as well as interdependencies.

Primary Activities

• Sumiko Ito’s primary activities involves the production and selling of products to the final consumers (Mintz, J.Gilbride, & Lenk, 2021).

• Sumiko Ito has a strong relationship with the suppliers. This ensures that the product is received, stored, and distributed in a timely manner.

• Operational activities of Sumiko Ito are effectively aligned.

• For inbound logistics, after the arrival of raw material, the company processes it to manufacture the final product (Hasan, Nekmahmud, & Yajuan, 2019).

• In terms of outbound logistics, Sumiko Ito has been able to set up optimal costs as well as efficient delivery processes to deliver the product on time.

• Sumiko Ito invests in its sales and marketing activities to build relationships with customers.

• Marketing funnel approach is used by Sumiko Ito to effectively devise and build sales and marketing activities.

• Sumiko Ito offers both pre-sale and post-sales services to its customers.

Secondary Activities

• Sumiko Ito has an effective infrastructure that has allowed the company to successfully optimize its value chain.

• The competitive pressure in terms of employee skill development, motivation, and commitment is reduced as Sumiko Ito has developed a strong HRM (Linkov, Carluccio, Pritchard, & Bhreasail, 2020).

• Sumiko Ito uses a cost minimization approach to reduce its costs by analyzing the costs associated with training and hiring the employees.

• Sumiko Ito has been using integrated technology in its value chain activities. This includes technological customer support, research and data analytics concerning product design, and automated software.

• The procurement activities of Sumiko Ito are effectively optimized with its inbound, outbound, and operational activities (Maheswari, Yudoko, & Adhiutama, 2019).

Market Penetration Strategies

• Sumiko Ito can increase the capacity of its production so it can reach more of the customers in its existing market.

• Sumiko Ito can focus on controlling the overhead costs so that it can offer competitive pricing that can attract customers of the market (Dawes, 2018).

• Investments can be made by Sumiko Ito in marketing and sales activities to increase the chances of successful market penetration.

• Sumiko Ito can design and develop a content that increases customer engagement within a particular marketplace.

• Sumiko Ito can assess and identify more enhanced distribution networks (Radpour, Mondal, & Kumar, 2017).

• Improved distribution systems and supply chains can improve the product accessibility for the customers, making it easier for Sumiko Ito to penetrate the market.

• Sumiko Ito can adopt price cuts in its products to compete in the market. This will give a company a competitive edge over its competitors.

• Sumiko Ito can plan strategies where it can focus on acquiring the leading players of the market. Such acquisitions will give the company an opportunity to reach more customer segments.

• Strategic partnerships and joint ventures agreements can be signed by Sumiko Ito to mitigate the risk factors, and to gain customer groups of the market.

• Sumiko Ito can come up with new and innovative features in its already existing product for the market (Daouda, Barth, & T. M. Ingenbleek, 2019).

Market Development Strategies

• It is important for Sumiko Ito to invest in the research and development department so potential markets can be identified (Hilman, Bohari, & Abdullah, 2018).

• Regional expansion strategy can be used by Sumiko Ito for growth purposes. This will also take into consideration the cultural differences.

• Sumiko Ito should also consider to expand its business operations in the international market. This will allow access to a larger customer base.

• New customer groups and segments should be explored by Sumiko Ito.

• Sumiko Ito should also invest in brand-building activities as it will give an opportunity to reach more potential customers (C. Koks & M. Kilika, 2016).

• Sumiko Ito should consider the market education in terms of its product. The company can significantly increase its sales by giving product awareness to new segments.

Product Development Strategies

• Sumiko Ito can come up with new improvements and modifications in the existing products to attract the market.

• Sumiko Ito should undergo the NPD process, so the company is able to assess and identify new points for its customers.

• Regular investments in the research and development will help Sumiko Ito to develop something new and innovative that can give a competitive advantage (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020).

• Sumiko Ito can develop new products by getting into more strategic partnerships.

Diversification Strategies

• Sumiko Ito can adopt vertical diversification to develop business. This can be done by adding more products to the existing portfolio (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020).

• Horizontal integration can also be adopted by Sumiko Ito, where the company can enter into a completely new product development phase that does not exist in the current product line.

• Sumiko Ito can also consider to conglomerate by starting a different business.

Conclusion

Based on all the models and frameworks discussed above, it is concluded that Sumiko Ito should focus on widening the existing product portfolio. Moreover, the psychological pricing strategy can be adopted. Sumiko Ito should also maintain close relationships with its suppliers to benefit from lower prices. Similarly, Sumiko Ito should develop more integrated outbound logistics for its perishable items. It is also important to continue producing quality and innovative products, so Sumiko Ito is less affected by the new emerging competition in the industry.

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