Swot Analysis of "The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director" written by R. Edward Freeman, Wendy Bolger, Jenny Mead includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Catcher Uv1958 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Catcher Uv1958, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Catcher Uv1958 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Catcher Uv1958
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Catcher Uv1958
Strengths The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Catcher Uv1958 in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Catcher Uv1958 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 Catcher Uv1958 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Catcher Uv1958 in the sector have low bargaining power. The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Catcher Uv1958 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Catcher Uv1958 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Catcher Uv1958 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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
– Catcher Uv1958 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Catcher Uv1958 has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Catcher Uv1958 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Catcher Uv1958 has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Catcher Uv1958 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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.
Analytics focus
– Catcher Uv1958 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 R. Edward Freeman, Wendy Bolger, Jenny Mead 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Catcher Uv1958 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Catcher Uv1958 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Catcher Uv1958 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Catcher Uv1958 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director, in the dynamic environment Catcher Uv1958 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Catcher Uv1958 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Catcher Uv1958 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 Catcher Uv1958 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Catcher Uv1958 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Catcher Uv1958 to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director, it seems that the employees of Catcher Uv1958 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Catcher Uv1958, firm in the HBR case study The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Catcher Uv1958 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Catcher Uv1958 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Catcher Uv1958 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director, is just above the industry average. Catcher Uv1958 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Catcher Uv1958 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. Catcher Uv1958 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Catcher Uv1958 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director | 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Catcher Uv1958 to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Catcher Uv1958 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Catcher Uv1958 can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Catcher Uv1958 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Catcher Uv1958 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Catcher Uv1958 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Catcher Uv1958 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Catcher Uv1958 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Catcher Uv1958 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Catcher Uv1958 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Catcher Uv1958 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Catcher Uv1958 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
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. Catcher Uv1958 can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Catcher Uv1958 in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Catcher Uv1958 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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.
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 Catcher Uv1958 in the consumer business. Now Catcher Uv1958 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Catcher Uv1958 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Catcher Uv1958 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Catcher Uv1958 needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Catcher Uv1958 in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Catcher Uv1958 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Catcher Uv1958 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Catcher Uv1958 is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Catcher Uv1958 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director .
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. Catcher Uv1958 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.
Environmental challenges
– Catcher Uv1958 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. Catcher Uv1958 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing wage structure of Catcher Uv1958
– 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 Catcher Uv1958.
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 Catcher Uv1958 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Catcher Uv1958 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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 The Ethics of Fundraising (C): The Catcher Gift and the Admissions Director 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 Catcher Uv1958 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
