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A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda


On February 5, 2012, the founder of McDonald Kinley Emerson, a consultancy in Toronto, Canada, was asked to give a talk about country branding. She decided to focus on the efforts of Racepoint, a U.S. marketing services agency, to reshape the image of Rwanda. As it attempted to shift perceptions of the country from war-torn and chaotic, Racepoint's campaign attracted controversy amid allegations that wrongdoings were being glossed over in favour of a tourist- and business-friendly image. In August 2011, the publication of documents outlining the contractual agreement between Racepoint and the current Rwandan government sparked scrutiny of the government's perceived remaking of the country's image. Can a country overcome its reputation for genocide and violence? Should countries actively use public relations tactics to change or reinforce their reputations in the same way that corporations do?

Authors :: Mary Weil, Ken Mark

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Corporate governance, Public relations, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda" written by Mary Weil, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Racepoint Rwanda facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Public relations and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda


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




Strengths A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Racepoint Rwanda in A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda Harvard Business Review case study are -

Learning organization

- Racepoint Rwanda 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 Racepoint Rwanda is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Racepoint Rwanda is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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.

Strong track record of project management

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

Highly skilled collaborators

– Racepoint Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Racepoint Rwanda is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Racepoint Rwanda is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Racepoint Rwanda has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Racepoint Rwanda has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Racepoint Rwanda digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Racepoint Rwanda in the sector have low bargaining power. A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Racepoint Rwanda to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.






Weaknesses A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda are -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mary Weil, Ken Mark suggests that, Racepoint Rwanda 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

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 Racepoint Rwanda supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Racepoint Rwanda vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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 Racepoint Rwanda 's lucrative customers.

Lack of clear differentiation of Racepoint Rwanda products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Racepoint Rwanda needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda HBR case study mentions - Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Racepoint Rwanda, firm in the HBR case study A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Racepoint Rwanda 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. Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda, it seems that the employees of Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Racepoint Rwanda 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 - A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.




Opportunities A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda | 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda are -

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

Buying journey improvements

– Racepoint Rwanda can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Increase in government spending

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

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Racepoint Rwanda is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Racepoint Rwanda 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, A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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. Racepoint Rwanda can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Loyalty marketing

– Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Racepoint Rwanda in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Racepoint Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Racepoint Rwanda to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Racepoint Rwanda 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 Sales & Marketing segment.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Racepoint Rwanda has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Racepoint Rwanda to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda case study. Racepoint Rwanda can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.




Threats A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda are -

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Racepoint Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda .

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. Racepoint Rwanda needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Racepoint Rwanda has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Racepoint Rwanda 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 Racepoint Rwanda.

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. Racepoint Rwanda 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.

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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Racepoint Rwanda 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

– Racepoint Rwanda 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Racepoint Rwanda is facing in Sales & Marketing 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda, Racepoint Rwanda 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 .

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Racepoint Rwanda can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Racepoint Rwanda 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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 A Public Relations Campaign for Rwanda 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 Racepoint Rwanda needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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