Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.In his role as Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (Minneapolis Fed), Art Rolnick and his colleague, Rob Grunewald, had written "Early Childhood Development: Economic Development with a High Public Return." The thesis was fairly straightforward; early childhood development (ECD) had the highest returns so states and local governments should invest in it. But the idea of investing in ECD for economic development was new and had never been tested on a large scale, particularly in the way that Rolnick and Grunewald recommended in a later paper - using market forces to drive demand for high-quality ECD programs. The Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF), formed in 2005, invested in two projects designed to test the economists' recommendations. The St. Paul Early Childhood Scholarship Program (SPECSP) provided up to $13,000 a year per child for parents in two St. Paul neighborhoods to select a high-quality ECD program of their choice. MELF had also invested in Five Hundred Under 5 (FHU5), a Minneapolis program formed to improve the capacity and quality of providers. Comparing SPECSP to FHU5 would offer insights on the potential impact of supply-side versus demand-side ECD initiatives. Rolnick reflected on the two MELF experiments. Which would be more effective? Would parents in St. Paul really drive up the quality of providers through the choices they made or was it better to work with providers directly to improve quality?
Swot Analysis of "Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank" written by Stacey Childress, Geoff Marietta includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ecd Melf facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Costs, Economic development, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Generational issues and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ecd Melf, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ecd Melf operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ecd Melf
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ecd Melf
Strengths Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ecd Melf in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Ecd Melf is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Stacey Childress, Geoff Marietta can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Innovation driven organization
– Ecd Melf is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ecd Melf in the sector have low bargaining power. Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ecd Melf to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ecd Melf has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ecd Melf are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ecd Melf in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Ecd Melf is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ecd Melf is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Training and development
– Ecd Melf has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ecd Melf has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ecd Melf has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
High brand equity
– Ecd Melf has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ecd Melf to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ecd Melf has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Ecd Melf has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ecd Melf is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stacey Childress, Geoff Marietta suggests that, Ecd Melf is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ecd Melf has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ecd Melf has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ecd Melf 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ecd Melf is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ecd Melf needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ecd Melf to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Ecd Melf has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ecd Melf needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, is just above the industry average. Ecd Melf needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank are -
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ecd Melf in the consumer business. Now Ecd Melf can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Ecd Melf can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ecd Melf can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ecd Melf can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Ecd Melf can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ecd Melf can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ecd Melf to increase its market reach. Ecd Melf will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Loyalty marketing
– Ecd Melf has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ecd Melf has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ecd Melf to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ecd Melf to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ecd Melf to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Ecd Melf to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ecd Melf has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ecd Melf to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank case study. Ecd Melf can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ecd Melf to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank are -
Increasing wage structure of Ecd Melf
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Ecd Melf.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Ecd Melf business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ecd Melf high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ecd Melf demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ecd Melf can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Ecd Melf needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ecd Melf is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ecd Melf can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ecd Melf with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ecd Melf can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Ecd Melf in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Investing in Early Learning as Economic Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Ecd Melf needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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