Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
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 - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization,
technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, 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 -
Training and development
– Instiglio Colombia has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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.
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.
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.
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.
Innovation driven organization
– Instiglio Colombia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Instiglio Colombia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Instiglio Colombia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, it seems that the employees of Instiglio Colombia 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.
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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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 Instiglio Colombia 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Instiglio Colombia 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 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Instiglio Colombia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Instiglio Colombia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Instiglio Colombia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Instiglio Colombia products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Instiglio Colombia needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia HBR case study mentions - Instiglio Colombia 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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Instiglio Colombia 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, Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Instiglio Colombia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Instiglio Colombia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia case study. Instiglio Colombia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Instiglio Colombia 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Instiglio Colombia 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. Instiglio Colombia 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.
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.
Buying journey improvements
– Instiglio Colombia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Instiglio Colombia 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.
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 -
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Instiglio Colombia 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Instiglio Colombia 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.
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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Instiglio Colombia 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 Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Instiglio Colombia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Instiglio Colombia needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia, Instiglio Colombia 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 .
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.
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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Betting Private Capital on Fixing Public Ills: Instiglio Brings Social Impact Bonds to Colombia