New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty
In late 2006, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg created the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO). Born out of recommendations made by the Bloomberg appointed public-private Commission for Economic Opportunity, CEO was designed to be an innovations lab that would test anti-poverty programs by applying a results-based approach. With a budget of $100 million, CEO would closely monitor new programs and hold them accountable for producing measurable results. Uniquely, CEO would cut funding for programs that did not "make the grade." Bloomberg named Veronica White the Executive Director of CEO. White had decades of experience working in executive positions in several New York City agencies but with CEO she had daunting tasks ahead. She would have to redefine how poverty was measured in the city, facilitate cross agency partnerships, and most important, develop an effective and achievable evaluation system for all programs. This case traces the CEO team's challenges in placing program evaluation at the core of their mission. CEO programs are geared toward three target populations-working poor adults, young adults between the ages of 16 and 24, and families with children ages five and below. In the first year of operation, White and her team launched a slate of anti-poverty programs that varied widely in scale and scope and ranged from New York's first ever conditional cash transfer program to a program that would accelerate graduation rates in community colleges. But from the beginning, CEO's evidence-based programming was put to the test. White faced constant pressure to "produce results quickly." With the 2008 recession, however, CEO endured significant cuts in its evaluation budget. White and her team had to make the most of limited resources while still sustaining a comprehensive evaluation policy. Case Number 1971.0
Authors :: Anjani Datla, Julie Boatright Wilson, Dan Levy
Swot Analysis of "New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty" written by Anjani Datla, Julie Boatright Wilson, Dan Levy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that White Programs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Budgeting, Economy, Joint ventures, Policy, Social enterprise and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the White Programs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which White Programs 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of White Programs
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 White Programs
Strengths New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of White Programs in New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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.
Learning organization
- White Programs 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 White Programs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– White Programs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– White Programs has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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
– White Programs 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 Anjani Datla, Julie Boatright Wilson, Dan Levy 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– White Programs 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of White Programs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that White Programs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the White Programs 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For White Programs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. White Programs 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– White Programs is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of White Programs in the sector have low bargaining power. New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps White Programs to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of White Programs in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty, it seems that the employees of White Programs 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, White Programs 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.
Need for greater diversity
– White Programs 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though White Programs 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 - New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 White Programs supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left White Programs vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 White Programs has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as White Programs is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of White Programs, firm in the HBR case study New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of White Programs products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, White Programs needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
White Programs 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.
Opportunities New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty | 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty are -
Manufacturing automation
– White Programs 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, White Programs can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. White Programs 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 White Programs has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help White Programs to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty case study. White Programs can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for White Programs 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.
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 White Programs in the consumer business. Now White Programs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– White Programs 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.
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. White Programs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at White Programs 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– White Programs 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help White Programs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects White Programs 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
– White Programs can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, White Programs 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, New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that White Programs is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents White Programs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– White Programs 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.
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.
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 White Programs business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. White Programs can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– White Programs 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.
Increasing wage structure of White Programs
– 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 White Programs.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty, White Programs 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 .
Environmental challenges
– White Programs 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. White Programs can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. White Programs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, White Programs 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 New York City Center for Economic Opportunity: An Evidence-Based Approach to Alleviate Poverty 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 White Programs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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