Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid
Following decades of civil strife among warring clans, and exacerbated by the worst drought in decades (2010-2012), millions of starving dislocated Somalis resided in crowded camps throughout the country. Humanitarian aid organizations made good-faith efforts to distribute food and medical treatment and supplies to those who suffered most. Almost always, however, these nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) were thwarted by so-called gatekeepers, who, backed by military force, required that all aid be delivered first to themselves and only thereafter to the intended recipients, under conditions the gatekeeper set. This case summarizes the tactics used by the gatekeepers of Al-Shabaab (a cell of the radical Islamic group Al-Qaeda) in Somalia and the corresponding risks that the United Nations and NGOs had to confront.
Swot Analysis of "Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid" written by Keith Krehbiel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gatekeepers Shabaab facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gatekeepers Shabaab, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gatekeepers Shabaab
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Gatekeepers Shabaab
Strengths Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gatekeepers Shabaab in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gatekeepers Shabaab in the sector have low bargaining power. Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gatekeepers Shabaab to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Gatekeepers Shabaab is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Gatekeepers Shabaab are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Training and development
– Gatekeepers Shabaab has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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.
Analytics focus
– Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Keith Krehbiel 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
– Gatekeepers Shabaab has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Gatekeepers Shabaab is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gatekeepers Shabaab is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Gatekeepers Shabaab is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gatekeepers Shabaab to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gatekeepers Shabaab to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Gatekeepers Shabaab, firm in the HBR case study Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gatekeepers Shabaab is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Gatekeepers Shabaab supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gatekeepers Shabaab vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid HBR case study mentions - Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid, is just above the industry average. Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid, it seems that the employees of Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Gatekeepers Shabaab has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Gatekeepers Shabaab has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Keith Krehbiel suggests that, Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Gatekeepers Shabaab products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Gatekeepers Shabaab needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid | 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gatekeepers Shabaab to increase its market reach. Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gatekeepers Shabaab can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gatekeepers Shabaab operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Global Business segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Gatekeepers Shabaab can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Gatekeepers Shabaab is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Gatekeepers Shabaab can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gatekeepers Shabaab has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gatekeepers Shabaab to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid case study. Gatekeepers Shabaab can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Gatekeepers Shabaab can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gatekeepers Shabaab 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
– Gatekeepers Shabaab can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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 Gatekeepers Shabaab in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Threats Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid are -
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. Gatekeepers Shabaab needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid, Gatekeepers Shabaab may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid .
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Gatekeepers Shabaab can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Gatekeepers Shabaab
– 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 Gatekeepers Shabaab.
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. Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gatekeepers Shabaab in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Gatekeepers Shabaab 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gatekeepers Shabaab is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 Gatekeepers Shabaab.
Regulatory challenges
– Gatekeepers Shabaab 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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 Al-Shabaab, Gatekeepers, and the Ethics of Humanitarian Aid 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 Gatekeepers Shabaab needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
