Swot Analysis of "Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations" written by David W. Young includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nonprofit Quasi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nonprofit Quasi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nonprofit Quasi 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nonprofit Quasi
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Nonprofit Quasi
Strengths Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nonprofit Quasi in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nonprofit Quasi to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nonprofit Quasi to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nonprofit Quasi 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 Finance & Accounting field
– Nonprofit Quasi 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 Nonprofit Quasi in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nonprofit Quasi is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nonprofit Quasi 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations - 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
– Nonprofit Quasi has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nonprofit Quasi to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Nonprofit Quasi is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nonprofit Quasi 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Nonprofit Quasi 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 David W. Young 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nonprofit Quasi
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nonprofit Quasi does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Nonprofit Quasi 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 Nonprofit Quasi is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nonprofit Quasi digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nonprofit Quasi 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nonprofit Quasi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Nonprofit Quasi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nonprofit Quasi 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 Nonprofit Quasi supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nonprofit Quasi vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nonprofit Quasi is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nonprofit Quasi products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nonprofit Quasi needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations HBR case study mentions - Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations, it seems that the employees of Nonprofit Quasi 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Nonprofit Quasi 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nonprofit Quasi 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 - Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations | 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations are -
Loyalty marketing
– Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Nonprofit Quasi 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. Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nonprofit Quasi 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, Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nonprofit Quasi 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, Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Nonprofit Quasi 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 Nonprofit Quasi 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 Nonprofit Quasi 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 Nonprofit Quasi can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Nonprofit Quasi can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nonprofit Quasi to increase its market reach. Nonprofit Quasi 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
– Nonprofit Quasi 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nonprofit Quasi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nonprofit Quasi in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations are -
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 Nonprofit Quasi in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Nonprofit Quasi business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Quasi may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nonprofit Quasi has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nonprofit Quasi needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Environmental challenges
– Nonprofit Quasi 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. Nonprofit Quasi can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nonprofit Quasi in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nonprofit Quasi is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nonprofit Quasi 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.
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 Nonprofit Quasi.
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. Nonprofit Quasi 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Nonprofit Quasi 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Nonprofit Quasi needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Note on Pricing in Nonprofit Organizations 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 Nonprofit Quasi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.