Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis
In late 2009, the principal of the Lake Eola Charter School (LECS) in downtown Orlando, Florida completed a course on nonprofit branding at the Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center at a local college. She was energized and ready to apply the information she had learned to evaluate the school's competitive position and to determine its level of mission fulfillment and progress toward goals. Well-suited for running a school, with a doctorate in education administration, the principal had taken the class to shore up her understanding of planning for and managing a nonprofit organization (NPO). In her mind, the key lesson was the need for an environmental analysis to better understand the school's internal environment and external competitors in order to improve the position of the school vis-a-vis the community's educational needs. She employed an MBA intern to help her develop tools for an internal and external environmental scan. The intern had just wrapped up the data collection and analysis. The principal was ready to use the summer "down time" to make changes for the 2010 academic year, if only she knew how to proceed. This case is suitable for marketing strategy courses. The detailed treatment of environmental analysis could also make the case useful in business policy and strategy courses. Instructors will find the case particularly well-suited for classes on marketing, strategy and management in the area of public administration and nonprofit organizations.
Authors :: Mary Conway Dato-on, Eileen Weisenbach Keller
Swot Analysis of "Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis" written by Mary Conway Dato-on, Eileen Weisenbach Keller includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Eola Nonprofit facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Eola Nonprofit, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Eola Nonprofit 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Eola Nonprofit
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Eola Nonprofit
Strengths Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Eola Nonprofit in Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Eola Nonprofit digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Eola Nonprofit 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.
Organizational Resilience of Eola Nonprofit
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Eola Nonprofit does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Eola Nonprofit 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.
High brand equity
– Eola Nonprofit has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Eola Nonprofit to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Eola Nonprofit 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Eola Nonprofit 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Eola Nonprofit 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 Eola Nonprofit in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Eola Nonprofit to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Eola Nonprofit to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Eola Nonprofit 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 Eola Nonprofit is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Eola Nonprofit is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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)
– Eola Nonprofit 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis - 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Eola Nonprofit 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.
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 Eola Nonprofit supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Eola Nonprofit vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Eola Nonprofit 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Eola Nonprofit 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. Eola Nonprofit 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Eola Nonprofit, firm in the HBR case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis, it seems that the employees of Eola Nonprofit 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Eola Nonprofit 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis, is just above the industry average. Eola Nonprofit 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis, in the dynamic environment Eola Nonprofit has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Eola Nonprofit has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Eola Nonprofit is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Eola Nonprofit 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.
Opportunities Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis | 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis are -
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. Eola Nonprofit can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Eola Nonprofit can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Eola Nonprofit can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Eola Nonprofit is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Eola Nonprofit can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Eola Nonprofit can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Eola Nonprofit 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, Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Eola Nonprofit 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Eola Nonprofit 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Eola Nonprofit has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Eola Nonprofit to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis case study. Eola Nonprofit can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Eola Nonprofit can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Eola Nonprofit operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing 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 Eola Nonprofit in the consumer business. Now Eola Nonprofit can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Eola Nonprofit can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis are -
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Eola Nonprofit 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Eola Nonprofit has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Eola Nonprofit needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis, Eola Nonprofit may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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 Eola Nonprofit in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline 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. Eola Nonprofit 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Eola Nonprofit 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.
Increasing wage structure of Eola Nonprofit
– 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 Eola Nonprofit.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Eola Nonprofit in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
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 Eola Nonprofit.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Eola Nonprofit 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Eola Nonprofit 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Eola Nonprofit 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Lake Eola Charter School: Securing the Brand Through Environmental Analysis 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 Eola Nonprofit needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
