Godrej Chotukool: A Cooling Solution for Mass Markets

Description

Godrej, a fast-moving commercial goods (FMCG) company in India that was historically known for its refrigerators in the Indian market, contemplated launching a new product for rural markets. Chotukool was an unconventional cooling solution targeted at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) segment in India. More than 80 per cent of the Indian population did not own a refrigerator and 50 per cent earned less than US$2 per day. The study tracks Godrej’s journey of disruptive innovations from the conception of the idea to the marketing challenges faced by the company. It also focuses at length on how the organization planned to execute two parallel business models, with one aimed at the consumers of traditional refrigerators and the other simultaneously targeting current non-consumers. The case focuses on the management challenge of innovating across the value chain in order to succeed at social innovations.

Learning Objective

·To understand disruptive innovations like Chotukool, and which organizational processes make such ideas translate into successful businesses. ·To learn and apply concepts of blue ocean strategy and disruptive innovation to new emerging business models. ·To conduct a strategic analysis of a BOP business with a goal to identify specific organizational, economic, social, and political issues of successful innovations at the BOP level.To reinforce the role of the innovation value chain and the necessity of innovating across the value chain in order to succeed in social innovations.

Keywords

Blue ocean strategy Bottom of the Pyramid India Ivey/ISB Social entrepreneurship social innovation Water Scarcity