Assignment-2

Given on case study

Submitted to
Mr. Md. Anamul Haque
Lecturer
Department of Management Studies
Comilla University

Submitted by
Ariful Islam
ID-11605015
Course code : HRM 521
Session : 2019-2020

Date of submission-11/05/2021
 1: Case Title: Tata Nano: Host to a Global Dream

Q:1 To analyze the reasons behind the upsurge in the market for small cars.

• One of the biggest advantages of smaller cars is their smaller engines. While they might
not be powerful enough to pull a trailer, they more than make up for it in better economy
and efficiency. Many hatchbacks get upwards of 35 or 40 miles per gallon, making them
perfect commuter cars or city runabouts.
• One of the biggest advantages of small cars is that they generally offer a very good price-
to-performance ratio. Small cars handle well and accelerate and brake quickly, claims that
many larger SUVs and trucks can't make. And considering that they're often thousands less
in price, this improved performance doesn't affect your bottom line at all.
• For a long time small cars in America had a reputation for being unsafe. Today, however,
that reputation couldn't be falser. Small cars and hatchbacks are subject to the same crash
testing and reporting as much larger vehicles, and their ratings represent how safe they
really are. Many small cars have four-star crash ratings and above, making them every bit
as safe as mid-size and large trucks and SUVs in most collisions.

B: To develop an insight into Tata motor's initiative to develop the cheapest car for the global
automobile consumer.
Increase sales: Generally international expansion is not easy as it may sound since many factors
have to be taken in to account. For example Tata motors started from India with an international
view but faced problems like political new country’s legislation and laws. For example Nano’s
launch in October maybe delayed due to political issues related to plant land. Reference Free
research report for 1Q 09 results. It should be taken in to account that Plant of Tata motors in India
would be much more cost beneficial rather than a plant in Europe as there would be a difference
in minimum wage laws. So to decide where a plant should be built lot of thinking is required.
Economic factors were also taken in to account, since different countries would have different per
annum income of the people hence to produce cars that would be affordable.

Product: Tata Motors provide many innovative features to attract car lover. One of these
innovations is the Tata Safari 4X4 Decor that has “Reverse Guide System”. A weather-proof
camera is fixed to the rear car to help the driver while reversing the car.
Pricing strategy: Giving discount every month and special promotion for certain type of vehicle
also one of the strong strategy use by Tata Motors. Discount can be made from Company’s profit
or from dealer’s profit at certain range.

Place: Tata Motors has an extensive dealer network covering Indian and International markets.
Wherever you are, there is a Tata Motors Sales and Service dealership close to you

Promotion: Sales promotion is a short term incentive to encourage the purchase or sale of a
product or service. Its purpose is to supplement and coordinate advertising and personal selling. It
is designed to persuade consumers to purchase immediately by providing special incentives to
them for example extra product, prizes or gifts. During festivals such as diwali customers are given
festive discounts.

C: To debate if the Nano had the potential to claim the global market in terms of price and
quality.

1. Safety problems of car: Because of low price of car the company was not able to give a strong
security backup .so this car was lack of safety , the car was strong enough in comparison of others
.so this is also an issue that they face because they launched the car at very low price and in that
price they couldn't offer the strong security backup.

2.looks factor: The tata nano car was very small in size and didn't look like the luxury cars and in
that price, they also couldn't offer the model like other luxury models of car .so this was also the
reason that were facing that was its very normal and non- stylish looks..
 2. Case Title: WhatsApp Acquisition by Facebook

Tasks:

A: Discuss The Reasons Behind Facebook’s Acquisition Of Whatsapp.

Facebook Messenger is widely used for chatting with your Facebook friends, and WhatsApp for
communicating with all of your contacts and small groups of people. Since WhatsApp and
Messenger serve such different and important uses, we will continue investing in both and making
them each great products for everyone.”

Not only have Facebook bought WhatsApp, they have also acquired Instagram, Friendster, Beluga,
MailRank, Friend.ly and Face.com to name only a few. Facebook means business and buying
WhatsApp is another step to challenging Google in the race for acquisition success.

B: Examine the synergies and strategic fit of WhatsApp with Facebook’s overall strategy.

Strategy Worx CEO, said the acquisition represents a direct threat to local chat application Mxit.
'WhatsApp's growth potential in emerging markets is much higher than Facebook's because it is
already integrated into feature phones and even semi-feature phones, and is fast replacing SMS as
the messaging option of choice.

WhatsApp was attractive as a company by itself, and as a strategic fit with Facebook. 'The reality
is that there are very few services that reach a billion people in the world. They are all incredibly
valuable, much more valuable than that,' the report quotes Zuckerberg as saying. He added that
when he and WhatsApp founder Jan Koum shared a vision of connecting everyone in the world to
the Internet, delivering development benefits and, in the longer term, profits too.
 3. Case Title: Starbucks in US: Too Much Coffee Spilling All Over?

Tasks:

A: To understand how a premium brand can be created around a commodity item.

In order to market your products and services well, your brand strategy should be strictly aimed
towards your target audience only. This way, you will save time, money, and energy by not wasting
your resources in the attempt to reach consumers who don’t find your value relevant to their lives.

The more knowledge you have about your audience the more possibilities you get to optimize your
products. You do that by making your products stand out. You adopt out-of-the-box marketing
strategies that no one has ever used before, you make your product extremely unique, and you
keep it all simple in the meanwhile.

The brand that states a clear mission and then follows through with the promise is likely to overstep
any form of competition. Therefore, define your company’s objectives and direct all of your
actions towards achieving that goal. Let’s not forget about the importance of exposure. You may have
the best product in the world. If you can’t properly market it, you’ll fail to sell it.

B: To understand Starbucks’ growth strategy and debate whether growth and over
expansion have led to the commoditization of the niche brand.

Starbucks aims to open more stores in countries where the business has a weak presence, such as
in Africa and the Middle East. However, the company needs to overcome regulatory and
sociocultural challenges in these coffee markets. Starbucks’s Marketing Mix or 4Ps support the
market penetration intensive growth strategy, especially when it comes to expanding the
company’s presence through strategic locations and promotions. In market development, intensive
growth opportunities are exploited by strategically growing the company’s consumer base, which
equates to a larger volume of sales of food, beverages, and other merchandise. A more detailed
strategic analysis of Starbucks Corporation should consider how to support continuous growth and
expansion by strengthening competitive advantages in relation to the current broad differentiation
generic strategy of the company. Also, Starbucks could apply other generic competitive strategies
together with its current one in order to maximize actual growth and competitiveness. Also,
Starbucks has intensive growth opportunities in countries where the company’s coffeehouses are
not yet common, such as in Africa and the Middle East. A possible approach in these countries is
to employ market development along with aggressive marketing campaigns to attain the customer
base size needed to support business expansion within these local coffeehouse markets.

C: To debate whether premium brands can grow big and ubiquitous without
hurting their brand image.

Like blogging, social media allows you to keep your brand in touch with your audience on a day-
to-day basis, plus it helps you greatly expand the reach of your ever-improving brand image.
Becoming a thought leader can be critical stepping stone toward building trust within your market.
Educating your customers and prospects regularly through blogging allows your brand to keep in
touch with them more often—through more than just selling. Inbound marketing is data-driven
and allows you to predictively build a successful brand by monitoring brand image metrics, such
as website visits, social media engagement, email performance, search engine presence, inbound
links, and much more. In a digital landscape, branding and inbound marketing go hand in hand.
Building your brand’s image online means you must use inbound marketing tactics because forcing
your brand into conversations doesn’t work. In a digital landscape, branding and inbound
marketing go hand in hand. Building your brand’s image online means you must use inbound
marketing tactics because forcing your brand into conversations doesn’t work.

D: To understand Starbucks’ position vis-à-vis its competitors and the brand dilemmas it
faces.

So, it can be said that Starbucks positioned itself as a technologically equipped coffee store where
people can sit, relax, chat with people over a cup of coffee and also surf internet or do their
important work by utilizing internet facility. They literally hear their customer suggestions and
implement them.

The major challenge that Starbucks is dealing with is the current financial crisis in the world
economy forcing them to call closures of many stores around the world. Starbucks also does not
emphasize on distributing their products to supermarket because of being concerned with the
quality of the coffee; if the coffees were packaged into plastic bags.
Also Starbucks policy of not franchising can be a cause of concern for the firm. Franchising would
allow the company to open many new stores with less risk, and make considerable profits in doing
so. Because of this the firm’s research and development costs would fall making use of the
franchisee knowledge of the local market in terms of geographic, , psychographics, demographics,
and the local country regulations.

4. Case Title: PepsiCo: Breeding Reverse Innovation in India.

Tasks:

A: To understand the changing role of emerging economies as drivers of innovation for

MNCs and discuss the emerging concept of reverse innovation and innovation strategies of
MNCs.

The purpose of innovation is to come up with new ideas and technologies that increase
productivity and generate greater output with the same input. If we look at the transformation
of the US, once a largely agrarian economy that advanced from emerging nation status in the mid-
19th century to an industrial economy by the First World War, we can see that the agricultural
innovations and inventions were actually one of the largest factors that helped bring about the
Industrial Revolution. Vast improvements in agricultural productivity had already previously
transformed the way people work in Europe, releasing farmers for other activities and allowing
them to move to the city for industrial work. The shift from hand-made to machine-made products
increased productivity, directly affecting living standards and growth.

Reverse innovation is the process whereby goods developed as inexpensive models to meet the
needs of developing nations, such as battery-operated medical instruments in countries with
limited infrastructure, are then repackaged as low-cost innovative goods for Western buyers. The
process of reverse innovation begins by focusing on needs and requirements for low-cost products
in countries like India. Once products are developed for these markets, they are then sold elsewhere
– even in the West – at low prices which creates new markets and uses for these innovations.

Innovation strategies of MNCs: Generational innovation = Intermediate phase where both

market and technology are going through continuous changes.
Radical innovation = Fundamental changes that represent revolutionary changes in technology.
They represent clear departures from existing practice.

Incremental innovation = Other changes which are insignificant, minor, or do not involve a
sufficient degree of novelty.

B: To understand the expansion of PepsiCo’s product profile over the decades and the way
R&D has been organized and reorganized and how the organization structure has been
adapted.

Pepsi has been repeatedly criticized by environmentalists for its relationship to

negative environmental impacts of agriculture in its supply chain, such as palm oil-related
deforestation and pesticide use, its use of water resources, and the negative impacts of its
packaging. PepsiCo’s R&D organization is comprised of experts that drive science, technology
and innovation thought leadership, allowing R&D to deliver on today’s business and market
priorities, as well as the sustainable growth opportunities of tomorrow.

PepsiCo’s case, the organizational structure enables control over the expansive reach of the
company around the world, considering significant differences among market conditions.
PepsiCo’s organizational structure’s characteristics are based on the company’s approach to
maximize its control of the business while continuing to grow internationally.

PepsiCo’s strategies are also manifested in how its organizational structure supports international
growth. A firm’s organizational structure defines the system and design of business components,
and how these components interact to fulfill the firm’s mission and vision. PepsiCo’s strategies are
also manifested in how its organizational structure supports international growth. A firm’s
organizational structure defines the system and design of business components, and how these
components interact to fulfill the firm’s mission and vision.

C: To discuss about PepsiCo’s reverse innovation and analyze how India became an
innovation hub.

Global soft drinks and snacks major PepsiCo today said its innovations in India are being adapted
for the firm's other international markets with the products gaining interest from overseas.
Snacks like Kurkure and Aliva, and lemon-flavoured drink Nimbooz are some of the successful
innovations in India that have attracted attention from outside. Global soft drinks and snacks major
PepsiCo today said its innovations in India are being adapted for the firm's other international
markets with the products gaining interest from overseas. Snacks like Kurkure and Aliva, and
lemon-flavoured drink Nimbooz are some of the successful innovations in India that have attracted
attention from outside. While Pepsico India said these "products are not being exported to other
countries", company insiders said 'Nimbooz' and 'Aliva' are finding their way to Middle-Eastern
and Western markets.

5. Case Title: Toyota Product Recall: Does Quantity and Quality Go Hand-in-
Hand?

A: To get an insight into the growth and evolution of Toyota Motor Corporation as a
leading manufacturer of cars.

By the 1950s Toyota’s automobile production factories were back in full operation, and to gain
competitiveness the company began a careful study of American automobile manufacturers, owing
to perceived U.S. technical and economic superiority. Toyota executives toured the production
facilities of corporations, including the Ford Motor Company, to observe the latest
automobile manufacturing technology and in turn implemented it in their own facilities, yielding
a nearly immediate increase in efficiency. In 1957 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., was
established, and the following year the company released the Toyopet sedan, its first model to be
marketed in the United States; it was poorly received because of its high price and lack of
horsepower. The Land Cruiser, a 4 × 4 utility vehicle released in 1958, was more successful. In
1965 the Toyopet, completely redesigned for American drivers, was re-released as the Toyota
Corona, marking the company’s first major success in the United States.

The company continued to thrive in the American market as well, gaining a reputation for its low-
cost, fuel-efficient, and reliable vehicles such as the Corolla, which was released in the United
States in 1968. The company took its present name in 1982, when Toyota Motor Company was
merged with Toyota Motor Sales Company, Ltd. Two years later Toyota partnered with General
Motors Corporation in the creation of New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., a dual-brand
manufacturing plant in California, where Toyota began U.S. production in 1986. The company
experienced significant growth well into the 21st century, with innovations such as its luxury
brand, Lexus (1989), and the first mass-produced hybrid-powered vehicle in the world,
the Prius (1997).

B: To understand the quality problems faced by Toyota.

Toyota’s quality problems in the United States were signaled with the initial recall in late 2009 for
problems with floor mats, but they didn’t end there. Over the next four months, the company
recalled 3.4 million more vehicles in three separate recalls over and above the initial 3.8 million,
for a total of more than 7 million. There were several issues: potentially sticky gas pedals, pedal
entrapment and software glitches that affected braking on some models.

A Gallup national survey in late February 2010 found that 31% of Americans believed Toyota
vehicles were unsafe; the percentage among Toyota owners was only 14%, but for non-Toyota
owners the figure shot to 36%.2 Even if the media exaggerated the seriousness of problems and
politicians politicized them, customer perception is the final arbiter.

Automotive News reported that more than 20 million Toyota vehicles had been recalled since
autumn 2009.

C: To analyze whether quality and quantity go hand-in-hand.

It’s time to shift this mindset and look at both metrics as critical to success. While there will always
be a trade-off when deciding which metrics to focus on, it’s important to remember that one cannot
function without the other. Attracting more leads will always be a prerequisite to increasing the
number of sales conversions, and prioritizing lead quality becomes a necessity once business
operations achieve a certain level of maturity. Doing so becomes an effective tactic to reduce
overhead costs and improve ROI in the long term. Sales and marketing teams must form a unified
front to achieve the right balance between lead quantity and quality. We’ve already established
that high lead quantity provides the best opportunity for collecting customer data, which can be
used to gain insight into customer behavior and provide a clearer picture of who your target
audience should be. These accounts not only provide a steady revenue stream for an extended
period but also help spread the good word about your brand and help improve your company
reputation once they become brand advocates.