LLOYD BUSINESS

SCHOOL

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT-1

Arpit Kushwaha PGDM-SCM (2019-21)

The Case Study on COOLEX Strategic Planning:

Question 1: Address the main issues of the company along with facts of the
company.
Answer: Facts of the company:
▪ COOLEX was founded in 1965 by a group of technocrats
▪ Mr. T. R. Jagmohan is the CEO of the company
▪ Mr. Ashish Mahapatra is the Consultant/Advisor of the company
▪ Country’s largest manufacturer of Air-Conditioning & its services
▪ Manufactures Central air conditions, Unitary air conditions & Ducted
Systems
▪ Company’s present market share is 40%
▪ Its closest competitor is Airtemp with a market share of 15%
Main Issues:
▪ The major issue for the COOLEX is its closest competitor “Airtemp”, which is
carrying a steady elevating growth rate having a market share of 15% which
is growing continuously.
▪ The other issue is its decline in the market share. 14 years ago, it had 55%
share of the local central Air-Conditioning business, but at present it only
lefts with 40%.
▪ The customers of the company are becoming increasingly unpredictable.
▪ The Company follows traditional approach of strategic planning every time

Answer concluded from the 4th para, starting from “Jagmohan was only too
willing…….”

Question 2: How should Coolex evolve its strategy? Should it continue with
its conventional approach, with its focus on external environment, in the face
of potential competition?
Answer: In the above case study, the COOLEX is following the conventional approach of
strategic planning, which integrates only few concentrated works, such as the static picture
of the competition present in the markets (Airtemp), undertaking innovation practices by
configuring best business-mix, understanding the dynamism of external environment and
setting & achieving goals by focusing on two or more businesses and does not report for the
flexible resources and level of proficiencies across companies.
After studying the entire case, I concluded that COOLEX should not continue with the above
discussed conventional approach because they rigorously considering the environmental
factors and their competitors only. Rather from concerning external affairs, they should
focus on the internal environment of the company, say how to use their resources efficiently
to maximise profit and deployment of competent employees at the correct place at the
correct time, analysing their core strengths and core-competencies to tackle the upcoming
competitions of the market.
According to me, the company should formalize those strategies which focuses on the risks
that have a chance to appear rather than wait for those risks to be appeared and then
responds to them. In other words, they must be proactive rather than reactive.
Answer is concluded from the 2nd page 4th & 5th para, from the lines, "is that it relies on a
static picture of the competition, underplays the role of innovation, exaggerates the role
of the environment, and does not account for the varying resource- and competence-levels
across companies” & “Instead, move towards building and exploiting your resources.”

Question 3: Is it feasible to link strategy-based planning at Coolex to its core

competencies? Has Coolex got a grip on its core competencies at all?
Answer: According to me, Yes its is feasible to link strategy-based planning at Coolex to its
core competencies because by keeping both micro and macro environments in mind, they
can easily accomplish the risk management strategies along with the innovations and a
better research & development outputs for the efficiency and the proactiveness of the
Company. They involve the Customer’s buying behaviours, Supplier-Buyer Relationships,
studies on competitive rivalries, threat from their substitutes and satisfied stakeholders
which will surely going to help them for a long run.
“If you adopt the industry-structure approach to quality, your strategy-planning process
becomes reactive. You look at your competitors, suppliers, or customers--and react. This
approach can work as long as the going is good”
I think No, Coolex at the present stage has no grip on its core competencies at all. But, as
Mr. Jagmohan talked about their new strategies which clearly reflects that now they want
more concerned about company’s core-competencies that will look over the internal
available resources and competent more. So, by these strategies they’ll surely got their grip
in a very short period of time.

Question 4: Is there an alternative to traditional approach to strategy-

formulation?
Answer: In my opinion, yes there could be a number of approaches of strategy
Formulation.
The Company can go for the competency approach, which will consider more on the core-
competencies of different stakeholders of the company. (As discussed in the previous ans.)
Question 5: What should be the road- map for Jagmohan the CEO and its
team?
Answer: After reading the entire case, the thing that I found was absent is that their
strategies are not aligned in a proper pattern or sequence. So, I have designed a stepwise
roadmap that’ll surely lead them to their objectives in my point of view.
✔ Initiating with different products of Coolex, they have to focus more on their top
selling product amongst their product line.
✔ After aiming the vigorously selling product, segmentation is to be done. Here,
segmentation is for customers or you can say market, that which type of markets are
demanding the same product in a large number.
✔ According to STP model, after segmentation, Targeting and Positioning is to be done.
Targeting the right type of market or customers for sales and positioning of different value-
added services for customer retention.
✔ After all these research part, now the company’s goals and objectives are to be set.
✔ Analysis of Make-or-Buy Strategy is to be done for cost minimization.
✔ A team would be there for the prototyping of alternatives and the risk management.
✔ Skilled research & development department would be required for the markert
demands, that’ll inform them that how much is to be produced, when to be
produced and for whom.
✔ Cost benefit analysis would be there to keep efficiency.