Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia
In July 2012, three freshly-minted Harvard Kennedy School graduates bought one-way tickets to Medellin, Colombia, to launch a nonprofit startup they called Instiglio. Their idea: to bring Social Impact Bonds, still experimental even in affluent nations, to Colombia and other low to middle income countries. This public policy case-one of two HKS cases about Instiglio-provides background about the SIB model (a financing mechanism for experimental social programs, with private investors shouldering the financial risk of failure) and tracks the early experience of the HKS graduates in Colombia. The case focuses on two of the most critical decisions the Instiglio group faced: (1) how to pick a project topic, in the midst of competing demands and limited information and (2) with a project topic in hand, how to design a SIB agreement that would satisfy the needs of both investors and government leaders. A second case on this topic, ''Devil in the Details: Designing a Social Impact Bond Agreement in Medellin,'' is a statistics case. It includes much of the same background information as ''Betting Private Capital,'' but hones in on the technical challenges of designing a SIB agreement. HKS Case Number 2026.0.
Swot Analysis of "Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia" written by Dan Levy, Pamela Varley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Instiglio Colombia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Instiglio Colombia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Instiglio Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Instiglio Colombia
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 Instiglio Colombia
Strengths Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Instiglio Colombia in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Instiglio Colombia is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Instiglio Colombia 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.
Organizational Resilience of Instiglio Colombia
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Instiglio Colombia does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Instiglio Colombia in the sector have low bargaining power. Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Instiglio Colombia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Instiglio Colombia in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Instiglio Colombia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Instiglio Colombia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Instiglio Colombia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Instiglio Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Instiglio Colombia has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Instiglio Colombia 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.
Analytics focus
– Instiglio Colombia 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 Dan Levy, Pamela Varley 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.
Learning organization
- Instiglio Colombia 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 Instiglio Colombia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Instiglio Colombia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dan Levy, Pamela Varley suggests that, Instiglio Colombia 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Instiglio Colombia 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.
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 Instiglio Colombia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Instiglio Colombia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, in the dynamic environment Instiglio Colombia has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Instiglio Colombia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Instiglio Colombia 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 - Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Instiglio Colombia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Instiglio Colombia is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Instiglio Colombia 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, is just above the industry average. Instiglio Colombia 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.
Opportunities Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia | 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Instiglio Colombia can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Instiglio Colombia 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 Instiglio Colombia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Instiglio Colombia 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Instiglio Colombia 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Instiglio Colombia 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.
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 Instiglio Colombia in the consumer business. Now Instiglio Colombia can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Instiglio Colombia 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Instiglio Colombia to increase its market reach. Instiglio Colombia 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Instiglio Colombia can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Instiglio Colombia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Instiglio Colombia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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 Instiglio Colombia 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Instiglio Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Instiglio Colombia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Instiglio Colombia can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia are -
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 Instiglio Colombia business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Instiglio Colombia is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Instiglio Colombia 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. Instiglio Colombia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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.
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 Instiglio Colombia in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Instiglio Colombia 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.
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. Instiglio Colombia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Instiglio Colombia 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Instiglio Colombia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Instiglio Colombia 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.
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 Instiglio Colombia.
Increasing wage structure of Instiglio Colombia
– 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 Instiglio Colombia.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Instiglio Colombia 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Instiglio Colombia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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