Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector
Teach For China was founded in 2008 with the mission of expanding educational opportunity across China. By 2013, Andrea Pasinetti's lofty dream had taken flight: over 300 graduates from top American and Chinese universities were participating in its 2-year teaching fellowships in more than 87 rural Chinese schools. The organization had grown from a founding team of three in a shoebox office to an 80-person operation headquartered in Beijing with teams in six other locations across China. Teach For China adapted the model pioneered by Teach For America to meet the needs of the educationally under-resourced of rural China. Led by an American, could Teach For China reshape its international identity and become an enduring Chinese institution? Could Teach For China manage regulatory risks and challenge public and government skepticism of the still-nascent and highly volatile nonprofit sector? Would Teach For China be able to sustainably scale its model to truly end educational inequality in China?
Swot Analysis of "Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector" written by William C. Kirby, Erica M Zendell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Teach China facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Government, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Teach China, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Teach China 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Teach China
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Teach China
Strengths Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Teach China in Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Teach China to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Teach China to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Teach China 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Teach China 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Teach China 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Teach China has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Teach China 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Teach China is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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
- Teach China 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 Teach China is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Teach China in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Teach China digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Teach China 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.
Organizational Resilience of Teach China
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Teach China does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Teach China is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Teach China is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector, it seems that the employees of Teach China 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach China has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Teach China products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Teach China needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Teach China supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Teach China vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Teach China 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Teach China is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Teach China needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Teach China to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Teach China 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach China 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Teach China, firm in the HBR case study Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector | 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Teach China in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Teach China can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Teach China can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Teach China is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Teach China can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Teach China can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Teach China can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Teach China operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Teach China 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Teach China 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 Teach China 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 Teach China to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Teach China 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Teach China 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.
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 Teach China in the consumer business. Now Teach China can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Teach China to increase its market reach. Teach China 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.
Threats Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Teach China with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Teach China business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Teach China is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Teach China.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Teach China 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.
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. Teach China 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Teach China in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Teach China
– 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 Teach China.
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. Teach China needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Teach China in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Teach China 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. Teach China can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Teach China can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach For China and the Chinese Nonprofit Sector 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 Teach China needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
