Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System
In the spring of 2016, the director of finance and administration for the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre was frustrated with the organization's legacy donor and volunteer information system. The technology platform was outdated, data integrity was out of control, costs were spiralling, and most importantly, required information was not available on demand. The director was concerned that these issues with the organization's information systems would interfere with its ability to maintain positive relationships with existing donors and to secure new financial supporters-ultimately, that it could have an impact on the agency's efforts to achieve more good in the community. He was contemplating three options to solve this problem: build a new in-house system to replace the current Microsoft Access database system; purchase customer relationship management software specifically developed for non-profit fundraising and relationship management and install this on personal computers and servers in the offices; or adopt a cloud-based fundraising solution, where the organization's data would be stored on a secure, shared platform administered by the vendor.
Authors :: Derrick Neufeld, Deb Elkink, Michelle Woo, Dennis Dupuis
Swot Analysis of "Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System" written by Derrick Neufeld, Deb Elkink, Michelle Woo, Dennis Dupuis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Donor Organization's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing people, Social enterprise and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Donor Organization's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Donor 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Donor Organization's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Donor Organization's
Strengths Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Donor Organization's in Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Donor 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Donor Organization'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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Donor 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 Donor Organization's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Donor Organization's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Donor Organization's has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Donor Organization's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Donor Organization's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Donor Organization's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Donor 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Donor Organization's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Donor Organization's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Donor Organization'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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Donor 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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.
High brand equity
– Donor Organization's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Donor Organization's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Donor Organization'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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Donor Organization's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Derrick Neufeld, Deb Elkink, Michelle Woo, Dennis Dupuis suggests that, Donor Organization's 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System HBR case study mentions - Donor 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System, in the dynamic environment Donor Organization's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Donor Organization's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Donor Organization's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Donor Organization's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Donor Organization's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Donor Organization's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Donor Organization's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Donor Organization's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System, is just above the industry average. Donor 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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 Donor Organization's 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Donor 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 - Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System | 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System are -
Manufacturing automation
– Donor Organization's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Donor Organization's to increase its market reach. Donor 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Donor 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Donor Organization's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Donor Organization's in the consumer business. Now Donor Organization's 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 Donor Organization's 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Donor 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Donor Organization'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 Donor Organization's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Donor Organization's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Donor Organization's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Donor Organization's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Donor Organization'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, Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Donor 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Donor 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Donor Organization's 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.
Threats Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Donor 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Donor Organization's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Donor 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.
Environmental challenges
– Donor 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. Donor Organization's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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 Donor Organization's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Donor Organization's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Donor Organization's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Increasing wage structure of Donor Organization's
– 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 Donor Organization's.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Donor Organization's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System, Donor 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 Technology & Operations .
Regulatory challenges
– Donor 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Donor Organization's is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Donor Organization'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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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 Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System 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 Donor Organization's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.