Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit
This case study focuses on the Montreal Community Loan Fund (ACEM), which fights poverty and exclusion through the administration of community credit. More specifically, ACEM provides training and offers loans to marginalized and vulnerable people for pre-start-up, start-up, and consolidation of businesses. The case describes ACEM's recent history and how the organization long chose to increase the scale of community credit services through collaborations and partnerships, avoiding for decades the need to grow its own organization. In 2012, ACEM broke with tradition and launched its own scaling process to double its size. The case thus describes an organization trying to stay focused on its social mission and core values while ensuring its own financial stability and protecting the interests of the network of independent community credit organizations that it co-founded. It thus provides an opportunity to discuss the variants of scaling and the challenges faced by a growing not-for-profit organization. The case ends by describing a dilemma regarding ACEM's financial instability. Students will be asked to make a decision regarding the current scaling process and propose a sustainable model that will make ACEM less dependent on government grants while respecting its core values.
Swot Analysis of "Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit" written by Marie-Renee Lambert, Luciano Barin-Cruz includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Acem Acem's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Acem Acem's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Acem Acem'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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Acem Acem's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Acem Acem's
Strengths Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Acem Acem's in Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Acem Acem's in the sector have low bargaining power. Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Acem Acem's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Acem Acem'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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Acem Acem'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 Acem Acem's 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 Acem Acem'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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Acem Acem's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Acem Acem'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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Acem Acem's is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Marie-Renee Lambert, Luciano Barin-Cruz 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Acem Acem's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Acem Acem'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 Acem Acem's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Acem Acem's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Acem Acem'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 Acem Acem's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Acem Acem's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Acem Acem'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.
Weaknesses Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit, in the dynamic environment Acem Acem's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Acem Acem's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Acem Acem's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Acem Acem'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. Acem Acem'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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marie-Renee Lambert, Luciano Barin-Cruz suggests that, Acem Acem'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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit HBR case study mentions - Acem Acem'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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Acem Acem'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 Acem Acem's, firm in the HBR case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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 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 Acem Acem's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Acem Acem's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Acem Acem's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Acem Acem's 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit | 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Acem Acem'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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Acem Acem's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Acem Acem'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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Acem Acem'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.
Manufacturing automation
– Acem Acem's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Acem Acem's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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.
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 Acem Acem's to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Acem Acem'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. Acem Acem'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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Acem Acem'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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Acem Acem's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Acem Acem'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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Acem Acem'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 Acem Acem's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Acem Acem's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Acem Acem'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, Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Acem Acem'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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit .
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 Acem Acem's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Acem Acem's.
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. Acem Acem'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.
Environmental challenges
– Acem Acem'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. Acem Acem's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Acem Acem'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
– Acem Acem'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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Acem Acem's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Acem Acem's 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.
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 Acem Acem's in the Leadership & Managing People 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 Acem Acem's in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit, Acem Acem'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 Leadership & Managing People .
Regulatory challenges
– Acem Acem'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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Can One Size Fit All? The Case of ACEM and Community Credit 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 Acem Acem's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.