PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia

In 1997 three students joined a protest against the electoral victory of Slobodan Milosevic's Serbian Socialist Party. Upon the protest's ultimate defeat, and Milosevic's return to power, the students vowed to continue the struggle for civic activism in Serbia. Their efforts manifested in the creation of the Centre for Civil Society Development PROTECTA, an NGO committed to promoting civic engagement throughout Serbia. Twelve years following the protests PROTECTA has a budget of half-a-million Euro, twenty full-time employees, and working relationships with major public and private international donors. The story is more impressive considering that this organizational growth took place during extreme political, economic, and social upheaval. This case offers students an opportunity to recount the rise of the organization under increasingly trying personal, political and professional circumstances, namely war and a repressive state. These circumstances call into question some potential ethical concerns regarding management in a hostile political environment. It also offers an opportunity for students to make a decision and plot strategy for the organization's future in areas such as leadership transition, core competencies, financial sustainability, and staffing. HKS Case Number 1924.0

Authors :: Christine W. Letts, Ian Cornell

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Financial management, International business, Leadership, Public relations, Strategic planning, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia" written by Christine W. Letts, Ian Cornell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Protecta Serbia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, International business, Leadership, Public relations, Strategic planning and Organizational Development.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Protecta Serbia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Protecta Serbia 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Protecta Serbia
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 Protecta Serbia

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Strengths PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Protecta Serbia in PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Protecta Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry

– PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Protecta Serbia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Protecta Serbia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High brand equity

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

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Protecta Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia - 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 switching costs

– The high switching costs that Protecta Serbia 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Protecta Serbia is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Protecta Serbia has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Protecta Serbia 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.

Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field

– Protecta Serbia 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 Protecta Serbia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Protecta Serbia in the sector have low bargaining power. PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Protecta Serbia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Strong track record of project management

– Protecta Serbia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Training and development

– Protecta Serbia has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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.

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Weaknesses PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia are -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Christine W. Letts, Ian Cornell suggests that, Protecta Serbia 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Protecta Serbia 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Protecta Serbia is planning to shift buying processes online.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Protecta Serbia, firm in the HBR case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia, in the dynamic environment Protecta Serbia has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Protecta Serbia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Protecta Serbia 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 - PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia HBR case study mentions - Protecta Serbia 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia, is just above the industry average. Protecta Serbia 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia, it seems that the employees of Protecta Serbia 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Protecta Serbia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Protecta Serbia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Protecta Serbia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Protecta Serbia 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.

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Opportunities PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia | 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia are -

Leveraging digital technologies

– Protecta Serbia 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.

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. Protecta Serbia can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Manufacturing automation

– Protecta Serbia 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.

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 Protecta Serbia 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Protecta Serbia 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Protecta Serbia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Protecta Serbia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.

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

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Protecta Serbia 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, PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Protecta Serbia in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Protecta Serbia 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Protecta Serbia to increase its market reach. Protecta Serbia 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Protecta Serbia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Protecta Serbia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia case study. Protecta Serbia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Protecta Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Protecta Serbia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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Threats PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia are -

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 Protecta Serbia in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Protecta Serbia 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.

Shortening product life cycle

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

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia, Protecta Serbia 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 .

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. Protecta Serbia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Protecta Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia .

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Protecta Serbia 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Protecta Serbia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Protecta Serbia 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.

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 Protecta Serbia business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Environmental challenges

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

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. Protecta Serbia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing wage structure of Protecta Serbia

– 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 Protecta Serbia.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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 PROTECTA - Promoting Civil Society in Serbia 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 Protecta Serbia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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