Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives
Although companies are devoting significant resources to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, insights into the optimal formulation, implementation, and effectiveness estimation of CSR strategies are currently scarce. Takes an in-depth look at when, why, and how CSR works from a consumer's perspective. In contrast to the simple, monotonic relationships between CSR and consumer purchase behavior evident in marketplace polls, this article proposes a more complex, contingent model of consumer responses to CSR. Articulates both the internal outcomes (e.g., awareness, attitudes, attachment) and external outcomes (e.g., word of mouth, purchase, loyalty) of CSR initiatives for not just the company, but also the consumer and the CSR issue/cause. Delineates the key factors that are likely to moderate the extent to which the inputs lead to the internal outcomes and the internal outcomes lead to the external ones. This framework can help guide companies in formulating and implementing their CSR initiatives as well as measuring the effectiveness of these initiatives.
Swot Analysis of "Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives" written by C.B. Bhattacharya, Sankar Sen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Csr Initiatives facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Csr Initiatives, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Csr Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Csr Initiatives
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 Csr Initiatives
Strengths Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Csr Initiatives in Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Csr Initiatives 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.
Training and development
– Csr Initiatives has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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.
Analytics focus
– Csr Initiatives 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 C.B. Bhattacharya, Sankar Sen 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Csr Initiatives is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Csr Initiatives is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Csr Initiatives has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Csr Initiatives to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Csr Initiatives 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 Csr Initiatives in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Csr Initiatives 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
– Csr Initiatives is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Csr Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Csr Initiatives to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Csr Initiatives to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Csr Initiatives, firm in the HBR case study Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, C.B. Bhattacharya, Sankar Sen suggests that, Csr Initiatives 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, Csr Initiatives 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Csr Initiatives 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Csr Initiatives 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Csr Initiatives is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Csr Initiatives needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Csr Initiatives 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, Csr Initiatives 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Csr Initiatives products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Csr Initiatives needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Csr Initiatives is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Csr Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives | 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Csr Initiatives 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 Csr Initiatives has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Csr Initiatives to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives case study. Csr Initiatives can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Csr Initiatives can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Csr Initiatives 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Csr Initiatives is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Csr Initiatives to increase its market reach. Csr Initiatives 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.
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 Csr Initiatives in the consumer business. Now Csr Initiatives can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Csr Initiatives to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Csr Initiatives 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Csr Initiatives can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Csr Initiatives can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Csr Initiatives operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Csr Initiatives 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, Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Csr Initiatives can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Csr Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives, Csr Initiatives 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 .
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. Csr Initiatives 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.
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 Csr Initiatives in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Csr Initiatives 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.
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 Csr Initiatives business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Csr Initiatives needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing 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.
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. Csr Initiatives can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Csr Initiatives.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Csr Initiatives 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Csr Initiatives with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Csr Initiatives has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Csr Initiatives 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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 Doing Better at Doing Good: When, Why, and How Consumers Respond to Corporate Social Initiatives 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 Csr Initiatives needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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