NAME: SAYAK SINHA

REGISTRATION NO.: 21PGDM073

SECTION: ‘A’ SUBJECT: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY: INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE -
KOLKATA
DATE: 11.01.2022

1. Explain the meaning and application of uniqueness drivers.

ANS. A uniqueness driver is a catalyst that can create a strong differentiating effect.
Differentiation is about providing uniqueness. A company can deliver unique product to a
customer with everything it actually does. Uniqueness is not always found within a specific
feature or activity.
A few identifiable uniqueness drivers are
 Superior quality inputs
 Technological and innovative advancements
 Premium product features
 Investments related to production-related Retail & Development
 Regular quality improvement
 Enhancing marketing, brand promotion and employee skills
 All in all, and ready to help customer service
A Uniqueness Driver Can:
● Generate a strong differentiating effect
● Be based on physical as well as functional attributes of a firm’s products.
● Can affect more than one of the firm’s value chain activities.
● Create a perception of value (brand loyalty) in buyers where there is little reason for it to
exist.
If I want to explain application of uniqueness drivers, then I will use the example of
Manchester United’s team who use a number of such drivers to create a brand value and
experience. The features that differentiate ManUtd from others are:
1. Manchester United brand: The club is currently the richest football club with a
squad value of 683 million. Various MNC’s such as AIG, Chevrolet, TeamViewer
have marketed their brands through the club’s jerseys.
2. Old Trafford (stadium): The home stadium of Manchester is among the highest
visited tourist attractions in England and holds an emotional feeling for fans. It also
has a huge seating capacity, allowing more and more people to enjoy the game.
3. Matchday atmosphere: The club has been enjoying the highest football attendance
in England with an average crowd of 76,000 visitors per match in the 2020/21
season . The so-called ‘Sir Alex stand’ encompasses 25,000 Manchester home fans
and is the largest general admission grandstand in Europe and is said to give shivers
even to spectators sympathising with teams other than Manchester.
 4. The team and its branded footballers: Over the years, Manchester has had its good
share of football legends playing for the club, such as David Beckham, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Eric Cantona, just to name a few. The current team
includes individual brands such as Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Ronaldo, David De
Gea, and not to forget head coach Ralf Ragnick. All of the above-mentioned (as well
as many not mentioned here) enrich the club’s brand with their image and can be
perceived as a crucial feature of the product. For example, having an international star
like Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Manchester, can raise awareness and interest for
the club’s brand experience in Portugal or among consumers interested in Portuguese
football. The same can be said respectively for the likes of Paul Pogba in France and
so on.

2. Where is the McKinsey 7 S Model used and how?

ANS. From my understanding, The McKinsey 7S Model is a framework for boosting
effectiveness in an organization. It does so by taking into account the seven internal factors of
an organization that need to be corroborated and synced in order for it to be successful.
Strategy: is an organization's plan to remain competitive in the industry and market. The
ideal approach is to develop a long-term strategy that is consistent with other elements of the
model and clearly communicates the goals and objectives of the organization.
Structure: the basic organization of the company, its departments, reporting lines, areas of
expertise and responsibility (and how they inter-relate). It consists of a hierarchy of
companies and a chain of command that show how operations function and are
interconnected. In fact, it describes the management configuration and employee
responsibilities.
Systems: formal and informal procedures that govern everyday activity, covering everything
from management information systems, through to the systems at the point of contact with
the customer (retail systems, call centre systems, online systems, etc).
Skills: the capabilities and competencies that exist within the company. What it does best. It
also includes the talents and abilities of employees and managers in an organization who can
determine the services and types of work a company can perform. It may be time for a
company to evaluate the skills available and determine that changes need to be made to
achieve the goals set in the strategy.
Shared values: the values and beliefs of the company. Ultimately, they guide employees
towards 'valued' behaviour.
Staff: the company's people resources and how they are developed, trained, prepared for their
assigned tasks and motivated.
Style: The leadership approach of top management and the company's overall operating
approach. Style speaks to the examples and approaches management takes to run a business
and how it affects performance, productivity, and corporate culture.
This model is based on the theory that these seven factors are essential to the performance of
an organization. The factors need to be adjusted and mutually reinforced. Therefore, this
model may be used to identify what needs to be reoriented to improve performance or
maintain alignment and performance. Regardless of the type of change, restructuring, new
processes, organizational integration, new systems, changes in leadership, etc, this model can
used to understand how the organization is doing and how the elements can be linked
together, ensuring a greater effect of changes made in one area. The 7S model can be used to
analyse current or future situations and also help in bridging the gaps between them. Upon
reaching the desired endpoint, it is effective and effective.
The 7S framework can be used in a number of situations:
• Enhancing the performance of a company.
• Analyse the likely effects and trends of future changes within a company.
• Gather and sync departments and tasks during a merger or acquisition.
• Decide upon the best method to implement a new strategy.

3. Carry out an analysis of the mobile payments industry in India. You may
choose to use any applicable model.
ANS. In recent years, Indian payment methods have reflected development compared to the
global level, although with a time lag, for digital payments. Some might say that digital
payments in India are a recent phenomenon, but this trend shows the country's exponential
growth in digital payment.
India is currently one of the largest market opportunities for payments service. With a
population of over 1.3 billion who want to participate in rapid development. Advances in this
technology will make India and "Bharat" up to date.
A mobile wallet / E - wallet is a virtual wallet that stores payment card information on a
mobile device. Also known as digital wallets, they are a simple way for a customer to make
purchases in-store and can be used by traders listed with the mobile wallet service provider.
M-wallet is a sort of pre-paid account wherein a person can keep money for any future online
transaction. An e-pocket is included with a password. With the help of an e-wallet, you
possibly can make bills for groceries, online purchases, and flight tickets, among others.
M-Wallets fall into three categories:
1. Closed Wallets: Not widely accepted; it can be used only in a few establishments and their
partners. For example - Ola money
2. Open Wallets: Open wallets are the ones that allow you to buy goods and services,
withdraw cash at ATMs or banks and transfer funds. These can only be opened by a bank, in
a joint or independent effort. For example - M-Pesa
3. Semi-Open Wallets: Paytm is a semi-open wallet. These give the user more options, such
as the ability to transfer funds back to the bank account as well as freely spend at merchant
stores. However, there is no support for cash withdrawal.
Strengths
1. Ease of use
Payments can be verified using security measures such as PINs and fingerprints on the
smartphone. Helps reduce the complexity of repeatedly entering bank information for small
business transactions. Scanning the QR code with the smartphone's camera also guarantees
high speed secure payments within seconds. It's really a more convenient platform for
customers to make all kinds of payments.
2. Safety
Online payments rely heavily on the Unified Payments Interface infrastructure (UPI) of
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). If you want to use the UPI platform, you
need to get approval from the competent authority. This guarantees the screening of
malicious companies and contributes to the well-being of consumers. Also, the reserve bank
of India is proposing to establish a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO). Also improved
security and customer protection.
3. Business transparency
Guaranteed to use online payments, especially through infrastructure developed by the
Government (UPI) The government has better access to financial transactions that occur
throughout the country this way. Frauds of tax can be eliminated somewhat.

Weaknesses
1. High Cost
Internet charges are still not cost-effective for a large economic stratum of the Indian
population. Moreover, additional surcharges on e-payments at points of sale such as petrol
filling further detriment potential consumers from entering the market. Finally, the
technology required to make your own digital payment interface also requires heavy capital
expenditure, and involves a long waiting period for seeking any returns on investment.
2. E-illiteracy
Computer penetration and awareness of the online ecosystem has remained fairly low in the
rural to semi-urban districts of India. There also exists a deep-seated phobia among many
adults in the country about the complexity of the internet and worrying due to rising reports
of fraudulent transactions in online payments. Government has to undertake huge awareness
and sensitization campaigns to fully utilize the potential of this industry.
3. Lack of Suitable Infrastructure
Many individuals still do not have access to basic banking facilities in the country. This with
low internet penetration and lack of regular power supply, and there exists a significant
roadblock for online payment companies to make their operations profitable.
4. Convenience of Cash
Cash is still the most convenient form of payment within the country, due to low internet
penetration and its obvious mass acceptance. Many consumers feel more comfortable keeping
cash on themselves and using that to make day-to-day payments, rather than relying on their
smartphones and online payments to fuel their livelihood.

Opportunities
Digitization of payments makes it easier to track personal receipts and expenses. This helps
the government ensure proper tax collection for everyone. Online transactions can generate a
paper trail of the following amounts for senders and recipients: It can be used to simplify tax
obligations with the help of additional software-based solutions. This is especially important
given the new GST implementation.
Threats
Indian consumers and their smartphones lack adequate protection against these agents, and
they thus need to be sufficiently informed of the risks involved in the process of moving
towards a digital-payment based economy. Using digital transactions implies that there would
exist a digital trail of spending habits for every Indian consumer. Many users may not be
comfortable with giving the government this much control over their consumption patterns,
and hence may resist opting into the digital payment platform. Although a far-fetched take, if
Indian citizens were to shift rapidly towards not carrying cash and using digital payments, the
poorest Indians who comprise of beggars and the homeless, will be hit the hardest. They rely
on daily donations and the availability of cash to fend for their very lives, and it will be a long
time before they too can access the benefits of a smartphone.

4. What is your advice to Paytm while revisiting its strategy for

maintaining its position in the Indian mobile payments industry? Will
Strategic Group Mapping be useful?
ANS. I do not think strategic group mapping will be useful for Paytm. Paytm has succeeded
in making Indian’s dependent on the use of cash in their daily work. Instead, people in the
country prefer digital payments for such transactions.
The primary objective of using the Broad Differentiation strategy is to preserve the market
leadership position. I personally feel they are well on track with this strategy. The company
was the first ever to come up with a mobile-only marketplace, with over 120 million buyers
and 2 million daily transactions that are mostly prepaid. Revenue is generated through
commissions and fees through sellers. The RBI approved the 'payments bank’ license for
Paytm. The bank will sell products such as loans, wealth management and insurance to drive
revenues. Whereas, other payments banks are not allowed to lend themselves. Online
businesses have an edge as payment solutions allow them to accept several payments through
Paytm. The setup comes with no fee, on the other hand, the Company charges about 1.99%
commission on each transaction. This strategy allows Paytm to expand the market share by
targeting the middle class, which makes the largest proportion of the overall consumer market
mix in most of the countries. Middle-class consumers generally place high importance on the
value proposition being offered. Other than charging low prices Paytm frequently offers
discounts and coupons to achieve sales targets and handle the competitive pressure by its
closest rival. The intended outcome of these discount and promotional campaigns is to
increase brand popularity and encourage consumption.
Paytm focuses on affordability and easy accessibility of its products across the globe, which
leads towards high brand awareness and high sales growth and provides a strong competitive
advantage basis. Being an experienced brand with a strong foothold, the company uses
differentiation as a tool to reduce the pressure by other brands. Heavy investment in
marketing, advertisement and celebrity endorsement is made just to differentiate the Paytm
from other brands. The company was able to create itself as a household name with
campaigns having catchy phrases such as "Paytm Karo". Besides the campaigns, the
company has involved itself in sponsoring events and competitions, which has further helped
in enhancing its brand recognition. Sponsoring events is a good way to earn recognition, I
feel. Paytm has partnered itself with the Indian cricket league, which helped in its publicity.
The vendors of several stores that accept Paytm have placards and wall hangings which serve
as a way of recognition for the company. Paytm strategic objective of using this strategy is to
differentiate by embedding the innovation and address the consumers’ growing health
concerns. For example, Paytm has extended its product line after studying the consumers’
changing interests to differentiate itself from competitors and expand the scope of
opportunities within the industry.

Penetration and Diversification are two strategies that the company has followed for a long
time now. Market Penetration, on the Ansoff Matrix, concerns itself with increasing its
market share in a position that the company is providing existing products and services in a
market where these products are already present, whereas Horizontal Integration is concerned
with seeking ownership and control over the competitors of the firm to establish its own
dominance. The choice of each growth strategy is dependent on the level of competition,
target market characteristics and unique organizational growth objectives.
Through on-going investment in research and development, the company continuously
expands the distribution network to reach every corner of the world, particularly in
developing countries where the presence is currently weak. However, a company is
already entered in most of the markets all over the world; market development now only acts
as a supporting strategy and has secondary importance.