United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE)
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.A regional United Way organization, a nonprofit already active in total quality management, implements a Balanced Scorecard to link its strategic planning objectives with day-to-day operations, and is able to translate its vision and strategy into objectives and measures in four perspectives: financial, customer (donor), internal processes, and learning and growth (employees and system). In addition to the Balanced Scorecard's role in setting objectives and priorities for the nonprofit's employees, the case raises the issue of whether and how the nonprofit's board should be involved with developing and using the Balanced Scorecard.
Swot Analysis of "United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE)" written by Robert S. Kaplan, Ellen L. Kaplan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Balanced Nonprofit's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Boards, Financial management, Government, Organizational culture, Social enterprise, Strategy execution and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Balanced Nonprofit's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Balanced Nonprofit'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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Balanced Nonprofit's
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 Balanced Nonprofit's
Strengths United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Balanced Nonprofit's in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Balanced Nonprofit's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Balanced Nonprofit's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Balanced Nonprofit'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 Balanced Nonprofit's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Balanced Nonprofit's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Balanced Nonprofit's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Balanced Nonprofit'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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Balanced Nonprofit's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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
– Balanced Nonprofit's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Learning organization
- Balanced Nonprofit'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 Balanced Nonprofit's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Balanced Nonprofit's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Analytics focus
– Balanced Nonprofit'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 Robert S. Kaplan, Ellen L. Kaplan 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.
Weaknesses United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Balanced Nonprofit's has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Balanced Nonprofit'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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Balanced Nonprofit's has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert S. Kaplan, Ellen L. Kaplan suggests that, Balanced Nonprofit'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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Balanced Nonprofit's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE), it seems that the employees of Balanced Nonprofit's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Balanced Nonprofit'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 - United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Balanced Nonprofit's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 Balanced Nonprofit's 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Balanced Nonprofit'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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) | 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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) are -
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. Balanced Nonprofit's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Balanced Nonprofit's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Balanced Nonprofit's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Balanced Nonprofit's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Balanced Nonprofit'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 Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Balanced Nonprofit's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Balanced Nonprofit'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, United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Balanced Nonprofit'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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Balanced Nonprofit's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Balanced Nonprofit'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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Balanced Nonprofit'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 Balanced Nonprofit's in the consumer business. Now Balanced Nonprofit's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Balanced Nonprofit's to increase its market reach. Balanced Nonprofit'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.
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. Balanced Nonprofit'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. Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Threats United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) are -
Increasing wage structure of Balanced Nonprofit'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 Balanced Nonprofit's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Balanced Nonprofit'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 Balanced Nonprofit'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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Balanced Nonprofit'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
– Balanced Nonprofit'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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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. Balanced Nonprofit'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.
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. Balanced Nonprofit's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE), Balanced Nonprofit'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 Finance & Accounting .
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 Balanced Nonprofit's.
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 Balanced Nonprofit's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Balanced Nonprofit'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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) .
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 Balanced Nonprofit's in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 United Way of Southeastern New England (UWSENE) 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 Balanced Nonprofit's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
