Freakomon's Rashomon: Business Strategy, Challenges, and Solutions

This report analyzes the business strategy of The Freakomon Company, particularly focusing on the introduction of their new video game controller, codenamed 'Rashomon.' The analysis encompasses the competitive landscape of the early 2000s, the periodic market cycles of video games, and the leadership of Ryotaro Kurosawa. The report identifies both internal and external stakeholders and examines Freakomon's competitive position using Porter's Five Forces model, highlighting challenges from industry rivalry and the bargaining power of established players. The report recommends the implementation of cloud-based technology, specifically cloud-based CRM, to improve customer relationship management and expand the customer base. Section B delves into the challenges of implementing a cloud-based CRM system, including people-related, technological, and business process challenges. The report then offers recommended solutions for these challenges, such as securing senior management sponsorship, adopting agile methodologies, ensuring product fit, and focusing on data integrity and transformation. The ultimate goal is to successfully launch the 'Rashomon' brand and expand the customer base through effective CRM implementation.

Business and Information System

Section A
Questions Part 1:
a. Introduction:
The case talks about the ideas, plans, challenges, threats, etc. that Ryotaro Kurosawa, president
of The Freakomon Company (Freakomon) is facing in the introduction of a new video game
controller in the market. The vision of the company is to expand its customer base in the gaming
industry which is codenamed as ‘Rashomon’. They are trying to introduce such a product that
can be used by all sections of people like women, children, adults, etc. and the game is not
limited to the teens and young men only. In the context of this vision, the document contains an
analysis of the competitive trends in this industry in the early 2000s because the company is a
pioneer in such a product (Feng, 2011). The document also talks about the periodic market cycle
of the video game. Since no new product can be introduced without the support of senior
management people so the leadership of Kurosawa is mentioned and the aims of ‘Rashomon’
too.
b. The stakeholders
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In the above diagram, the internal stakeholders are affected by this new product. The motivation,
success and promotion of the employees depend on the success of this new product in the
market. Similarly, the manager has the responsibility of managing people so that they deliver
their best and make this move a success in the market (Chevalier, 2016). The owners of
Freakomon are concerned about their long-term growth and success which is related to this
launch of the product.
In the same way, the external stakeholders are associated with this because the customers are
directly benefitted if they get this product, they will get something new, shareholders will invest
in building this, creditors lend their money for successful launch and production, etc.
c. Competitive position of Freakomon using Porter’s Five Forces Model
Forces Competitive
position
Reason
Bargaining More/High No other company had ever released such a controller, and it
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power of
suppliers
was altogether a different model. So, it could have an
advantage of a monopolist in the market and hence it can
bargain with the buyers as they do not have the option of
buying this from any other supplier.
Bargaining
power of buyers
Less/Low The competitors of Freakomon like Sony, Microsoft, etc. did
not introduce any such thing in the market, nor were they
planning to (E. Dobbs, 2014). So, the buyers did not have the
option to buy the similar product from any other company.
They had only one choice if Freakomon introduces this new
concept in the market. So, they had relatively less bargaining
power. The prices would be non-negotiable between the
buyers and Freakomon.
Threat of new
entrants
Less/Low The barriers to entry in this gaming industry are high. This is
because the established players in this industry like Sony,
Microsoft and Freakomon have invested largely in this
industry. So, the new entrant will have to arrange for huge
capital to enter this industry. Also, the existing players have
well-established distribution networks and huge customer base
which are very difficult for a new entrant to capture.
Threat of
substitutes
Less/Low The company Freakomon does not have the threat of
substitutes because it is introducing this kind of product for the
first time in the market and no similar products will be
introduced in the short run (Majumdar, 2014). However, with
the advancement in technology and replication of the model,
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other companies may also come up with similar or better
products.
Industry rivalry More/High Freakomon has many big competitors like Sony and Microsoft
who are well-established players. They have established the
trend of targeting the young fans in this industry. Also, they
have advanced technology and huge networks of distribution.
So, they create a rivalry in the industry.
d. Recommendation for information systems (IS) or information technology (IT) that could
support Freakomon’s approach to improving its strategy:
Freakomon should use cloud-based technology so that it can successfully manage its customer
relationships. The vision pdf this company is related to the expansion of its customer base, and it
aims to target many different sections of the people. So, for this, the company needs to establish
its relationships with the customers so that they get interested in this innovation and they easily
accept this product in the market. With the cloud-based technology, the data of the consumers
can be accessed from anywhere, the data can be maintained easily, and the customers can be
reached easily. If they have any queries, it can be addressed, and the solution can be uploaded to
the cloud so that if any similar query arises, the cloud-based technology can be used to rectify the
problems and take care of the customers (Feng, 2011). The data can also be shared within the
networks easily, and the access will provide with the complete information about the users of the
product, the potential customers and the existing ones can be handled with care too.
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Section B
a. Introduction
The presented case describes overall market events, competitor policies, success factors and
different types of challenges that are faced by the president of the organization while launching
its product Rashomon in the existing market. The main motive of the organization is to expand
its customer base in its industry so that it can serve a large number of customers includes
teenagers, mothers, children, and youngsters also. The president of the organization wants to
capture the overall market by providing such product which is never launched by its competitors
before. They are trying to launch such product which can use by every individual like mothers,
teenagers, children and youngsters. In this paper, we will discuss the cloud-based technology. In
addition, we will also discuss what type of challenges the organization will face during the
implementation of cloud-based technology in launching ‘Rashomon' in the market.
b. Challenges of cloud-based CRM system
CRM is known for customer relationship management. On the other hand, the cloud based
customer relationship management system is a software which is hosted in the cloud. It can be
accessed with the help of the internet, making it easy for every user to access the required
information at any time period (Lal, 2015). The below mentioned are some challenges which can
face by the Kurosawa while introducing a cloud-based CRM system in its organization:
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People Related Challenges during Implementation of Customer based CRM system
People in the organization are considered not only people but the human resources for an
organization. The management of the organization may face below-mentioned people challenges
while implementing the customer based CRM system:
1. Lack of sponsorship of Senior management: Due to the lack of sponsorship it mainly
faces following challenges:
 Business users unconvinced or unclear on difference benefits of implementing
CRM system (Xu, 2012).
 Understanding change management plans will be a critical function for the change
management team of the organization.
2. Understanding Change Management:
 It becomes very difficult for the management to implement CRM system it is
because they can face restraining from the existing employees of the organization.
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Cloud based
CRM system
challenges
People
Challenges
Technology
Challenges
Business Process
Challenges

 The interface of CRM is considered unintuitive and slow, making it difficult to
utilize.
Technology Challenges
Technology influences the success of a project in higher context. The following technological
challenges will face by the organization while implementing cloud-based CRM system:
1. Lack of CRM Product Fit:
 During the implementation of the system, the product of the organization cannot
support different options of deployment such as On-Premise, On Cloud, and
Private Cloud (Vuong, 2015).
 While implementation of the system the product of the organization will not
keeping pace with the prevailing trends of the CRM like Social, global and
mobile.
2. Poor Integration: While implementing CRM system the organization faces challenges
regarding integration. It is because:
 The existing system of legacy does not support web-services based and modern
integration that is required for successful CRM system (Lee, 2016).
 Various issues regarding uncertainty and integrity will face by the organization.
Business Process Challenges
1. Data Migration Gotcha: The following challenges included in it:
 Silo-ed and data fragmented in different types of available applications and
critical to consolidate and integrate into the CRM.
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 The organization will face different issues related to integrity about the migrated
data.
2. A Large influence on existing processes of the business:
 If the organization consider CRM system as a technology, it influences the overall
outcome of different business processes. It should consider as a transformation
tool.
 The management of the organization will face problems in re-architecting
customer faces processes with the help of CRM system.
Thus, it can be said that implementation of cloud-based CRM system requires high concern and
attention of the management. All these challenges influence the launching of ‘Rashomon’ in the
market in larger context (Abolfazli, 2014). There is a large number of organization which are
using cloud-based CRM system and earning lots of money by selling a large number of products
such as IBM, Samsung, and Infosys.
c. Recommended solutions for solving above challenges
It is necessary for the organization to choose appropriate measures for solving the above-
mentioned issues. Frekomon can successfully launch its new video game with the help of
utilizing cloud-based CRM system. But all this can be possible in the successful implementation
of the system. It should utilize following measures to deal with the above implementation
challenges:
1. Measures to deal with people related challenges: There are different types of measures
which can resolve all people related problems (Ajmera, 2013). Some of them are
following:
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 Frekomon president should hire an internal champion of CRM from executive
management.
 It should utilize "Start Small, Think Big, and Move Fast" strategy for
implementing cloud-based CRM system
 For managing people, challenges during implementation of cloud-based CRM
system the management should conduct detailed requirement discovery
workshops and should follow Agile project Methodology that permits it an early
recognition of available challenges (Kim, 2014).
2. Measures to deal with Technological challenges: By following the below mentioned
measures Frekomon can successfully resolve all technological issues:
 It should keep diligence during making selection of appropriate strategy to ensure
product fit not only for recent requirements but also for changing needs and
organizations growing.
 It should keep diligence at discovery stage of requirements; it should analyze
what data needs to be pulled and from where and should focus on existing system
vendors. Furthermore, the organization should develop prototype where required.
3. Measures to deal with Business Process challenges:
 The first and foremost important measure to deal with business process challenges
are that Frekomon should measure its data. It means that it should have clarity
regarding its data in terms of efficiency, usefulness, and quantity (Alter, 2013).
 Frekmon should identify the transformative power of customer-based CRM
system. Furthermore, it should become flexible to adopt efficient practices.
 It should select a sponsor from the executive management of the organization.
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With the help of all measures, the organization can successfully deal with the available
challenges and can successfully introduce its ‘Rashomon' brand of video games. With the help of
cloud-based CRM, it can efficiently place its efficiency in the eyes of among individuals like
mother, teenagers, children and youngsters. This will ultimately enhance the customer base of
the organization.

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References
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