"The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools
Green Dot was a charter management organization (CMO) based in Los Angeles, California (L.A.), a city that housed the second-largest school district in the country. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was known for its largely ethnic student population (75 percent Hispanic and 11 percent African American) and multiple challenges ranging from poor performance to violence to low graduation rates. High school graduation rates in the district were only 45 percent (compared to 68 percent nationally), with Hispanic students graduating at a rate of only 39 percent. Gary Orfield of the Harvard Civil Rights Project called the city's high schools "dropout factories." By 2008, Green Dot had opened 12 charter high schools in some of the highest-need areas of L.A., hoping to demonstrate "that public schools can do a far better job of educating students if schools are operated more effectively." Founder, Steve Barr and his team had their own ideas about the tipping point and its metrics, which were both quantitative (e.g., 10 percent market share of schools within LAUSD) and qualitative, in terms of gains in political influence. As Barr and his Green Dot team worked towards opening of new school, Locke in the fall of 2008, Barr was both nervous and optimistic. He knew the future of Los Angeles students, parents, and their communities depended on the success of his team. He wondered if his new transformation strategy was the optimal strategy. He also wondered if his thinking about the tipping point would give him and his team the best chance for success.
Swot Analysis of ""The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools" written by Victoria Chang, Debra Meyerson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Barr Percent facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barr Percent, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barr Percent 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barr Percent
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Barr Percent
Strengths "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barr Percent in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Barr Percent has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Barr Percent in the sector have low bargaining power. "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Barr Percent to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Barr Percent has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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
– Barr Percent has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Barr Percent 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barr Percent to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barr Percent to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Barr Percent 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.
Learning organization
- Barr Percent is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Barr Percent is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Barr Percent has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Barr Percent to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Barr Percent is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Barr Percent is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Barr Percent 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools - 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Barr Percent 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools HBR case study mentions - Barr Percent takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 Barr Percent has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Barr Percent is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Barr Percent 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 - "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools, it seems that the employees of Barr Percent don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Barr Percent is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Barr Percent 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Barr Percent has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Barr Percent even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Barr Percent supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Barr Percent vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Barr Percent has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools | 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Barr Percent to increase its market reach. Barr Percent 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Barr Percent can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Barr Percent can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Barr Percent can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Barr Percent operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Barr Percent can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Barr Percent 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 Barr Percent to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Barr Percent 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Barr Percent to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Barr Percent has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Barr Percent to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools case study. Barr Percent can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Barr Percent 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Barr Percent can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Barr Percent can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Buying journey improvements
– Barr Percent can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Barr Percent can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Barr Percent can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Barr Percent 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Barr Percent 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Barr Percent can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Barr Percent 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Barr Percent needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Barr Percent can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Barr Percent 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools, Barr Percent may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Barr Percent is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Barr Percent.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barr Percent in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Barr Percent will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 "The Tipping Point" and Green Dot Public Schools 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 Barr Percent needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
