Case Study Description of DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand
More than a decade after its launch, DonorsChoose.org is a successful, well-known and well-regarded charitable organization that supports U.S. public schools. Yet in the years since the organization's inception, the charity environment has changed, leading the organization's chief marketing officer to investigate how to further clarify the brand in a shifting space. The case centres on findings delivered by a branding agency regarding a possible change to the organization's tagline. Faced with a lengthy report on the branding agency's findings, the chief marketing officer needs to decide on the organization's next steps.
Swot Analysis of "DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand" written by Allison Johnson, Emily Chen Bendle includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Donorschoose.org Organization's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Donorschoose.org Organization's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Donorschoose.org Organization's
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 Donorschoose.org Organization's
Strengths DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Donorschoose.org Organization's in DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Donorschoose.org Organization's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Donorschoose.org Organization's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Donorschoose.org Organization's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Analytics focus
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 Allison Johnson, Emily Chen Bendle 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 Donorschoose.org Organization's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Donorschoose.org Organization's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Donorschoose.org Organization's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Donorschoose.org Organization's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Donorschoose.org Organization's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Donorschoose.org Organization's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Donorschoose.org Organization's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Weaknesses DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand are -
Need for greater diversity
– Donorschoose.org Organization's has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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 Donorschoose.org Organization's 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Donorschoose.org Organization's 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. Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 - DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand, it seems that the employees of Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand, in the dynamic environment Donorschoose.org Organization's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Donorschoose.org Organization's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand, is just above the industry average. Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand HBR case study mentions - Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Opportunities DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand | 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Donorschoose.org Organization's 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. Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
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 Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
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. Donorschoose.org Organization's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Donorschoose.org Organization's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
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. Donorschoose.org Organization's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Donorschoose.org Organization's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Donorschoose.org Organization's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand case study. Donorschoose.org Organization's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Donorschoose.org Organization's in the consumer business. Now Donorschoose.org Organization's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Donorschoose.org Organization's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Donorschoose.org Organization's to increase its market reach. Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Donorschoose.org Organization's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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.
Threats DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Donorschoose.org Organization's is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Donorschoose.org Organization's.
Regulatory challenges
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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. Donorschoose.org Organization's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand, Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Donorschoose.org Organization's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
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 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. Donorschoose.org Organization's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Donorschoose.org Organization's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Donorschoose.org Organization's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Donorschoose.org Organization's 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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 DonorsChoose.org: Refining a Successful Brand 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 Donorschoose.org Organization's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
