Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank

Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank details the development of the bank's new Office of Outreach Partnerships to sustain a culture of innovation through maintaining and generating partnerships in order to fulfill the bank's greater mission of providing multilateral development financing as well as non-financial technical support and expertise for the Latin American and Caribbean region. At the time the case takes place, the Latin American and Caribbean region had seen changes such as expansion of the middle class, emergence of a new business class, and integration with foreign trade. Additionally, the region had faced challenges such as poverty, education, productivity, and infrastructure in both small and medium enterprises. Finally, new actors had entered the region such as governments, corporations, foundations, academic institutions, and NGO's to take a supporting role. In response, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) had created the Office of Outreach and Partnerships (ORP) as a dedicated team to lead strategic collaboration and interactions with a long-term vision for partnerships and innovation. The case portrays key questions concerning how the partnership process was formalized through the development of ORP, and what innovations these new partnerships would bring to the bank. Three example partnerships are detailed including The Coca-Cola Company, The Salud Mesoamerica 2015 Initiative, and PepsiCo. The case concludes by positing questions the ORP would face moving forward such as incentives, metrics, restructuring to serve the private sector, and mechanisms for working with a new set of partners.

Authors :: Amy C. Edmondson, Erin Henry, Andreas Georgoulias, Natalie Bartlett

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Economy, Government, Growth strategy, Health, International business, Joint ventures, Leading teams, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Public relations, Reorganization, Technology, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank" written by Amy C. Edmondson, Erin Henry, Andreas Georgoulias, Natalie Bartlett includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Partnerships Orp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Government, Growth strategy, Health, International business, Joint ventures, Leading teams, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Public relations, Reorganization, Technology and Organizational Development.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc

---

---

---

---

Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Partnerships Orp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Partnerships Orp 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Partnerships Orp
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 Partnerships Orp

---

Strengths Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Partnerships Orp in Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank Harvard Business Review case study are -

Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Partnerships Orp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Partnerships Orp has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Partnerships Orp 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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.

High brand equity

– Partnerships Orp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Partnerships Orp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field

– Partnerships Orp is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Partnerships Orp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Analytics focus

– Partnerships Orp 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 Amy C. Edmondson, Erin Henry, Andreas Georgoulias, Natalie Bartlett 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Partnerships Orp 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

– Partnerships Orp 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

– Partnerships Orp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Training and development

– Partnerships Orp has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Partnerships Orp 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.

Organizational Resilience of Partnerships Orp

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Partnerships Orp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Partnerships Orp 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.

---

---

Weaknesses Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Partnerships Orp 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank HBR case study mentions - Partnerships Orp 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank, it seems that the employees of Partnerships Orp 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Partnerships Orp 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. Partnerships Orp 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Partnerships Orp has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Partnerships Orp 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 - Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Partnerships Orp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Partnerships Orp has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Partnerships Orp is planning to shift buying processes online.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank, in the dynamic environment Partnerships Orp has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Partnerships Orp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Partnerships Orp, firm in the HBR case study Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

---

Opportunities Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Partnerships Orp 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Partnerships Orp to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Manufacturing automation

– Partnerships Orp can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Partnerships Orp can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

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. Partnerships Orp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Partnerships Orp 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.

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 Partnerships Orp in the consumer business. Now Partnerships Orp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Developing new processes and practices

– Partnerships Orp can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.

Loyalty marketing

– Partnerships Orp 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Partnerships Orp 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.

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. Partnerships Orp 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. Partnerships Orp 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Partnerships Orp 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.

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 Partnerships Orp 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Partnerships Orp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Partnerships Orp to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank case study. Partnerships Orp can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

---

Threats Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank are -

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. Partnerships Orp 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.

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 Partnerships Orp.

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 Partnerships Orp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Partnerships Orp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Partnerships Orp needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Partnerships Orp with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Partnerships Orp 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 Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Partnerships Orp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Partnerships Orp is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Partnerships Orp 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. Partnerships Orp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.

Regulatory challenges

– Partnerships Orp 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.

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Partnerships Orp needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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.

Increasing wage structure of Partnerships Orp

– 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 Partnerships Orp.

---

Weighted SWOT Analysis of Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development 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 Partnerships Orp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

--- ---