Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It?
In May 2013, the director of transitional and community programs at Women's Community House (WCH) must decide whether to renew the retail lease on WCH's used-clothing boutique, Mine101. This social enterprise was launched to generate income for WCH's children's programming, but lost money in its first two years of operations. The decision to renew the lease begs a larger question: Should Women's Community House continue to operate Mine101? The director must conduct an analysis of the performance of Mine101 and recommend whether or not to continue operating the social enterprise.
Swot Analysis of "Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It?" written by Colleen Sharen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mine101 Wch's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? casestudy better are - – technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mine101 Wch's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mine101 Wch's
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 Mine101 Wch's
Strengths Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mine101 Wch's in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Mine101 Wch's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mine101 Wch's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mine101 Wch's 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mine101 Wch's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mine101 Wch's 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mine101 Wch's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mine101 Wch's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Mine101 Wch's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mine101 Wch's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mine101 Wch'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.
Training and development
– Mine101 Wch's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mine101 Wch's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Mine101 Wch's 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 Mine101 Wch's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Mine101 Wch's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mine101 Wch's 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, Mine101 Wch's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mine101 Wch'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 - Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mine101 Wch'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. Mine101 Wch'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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mine101 Wch'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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Mine101 Wch's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Mine101 Wch's 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mine101 Wch's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mine101 Wch's, firm in the HBR case study Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? | 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mine101 Wch's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mine101 Wch's 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, Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mine101 Wch'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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mine101 Wch's 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 Mine101 Wch's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mine101 Wch's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mine101 Wch's 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.
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. Mine101 Wch's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mine101 Wch's can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mine101 Wch'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. Mine101 Wch'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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mine101 Wch's to increase its market reach. Mine101 Wch'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.
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. Mine101 Wch's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Mine101 Wch's in the consumer business. Now Mine101 Wch's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mine101 Wch's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mine101 Wch's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? case study. Mine101 Wch's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mine101 Wch'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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It?, Mine101 Wch'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 Strategy & Execution .
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 Mine101 Wch's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mine101 Wch's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Mine101 Wch's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mine101 Wch's 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.
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.
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. Mine101 Wch'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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mine101 Wch'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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mine101 Wch'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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mine101 Wch's in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mine101 Wch's 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Women's Community House and Mine101: Is Social Enterprise Worth It? 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 Mine101 Wch's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.