Case Study Description of Worldwide Orphans Foundation
How does a small non-profit build its organization, funding, & visibility to become sustainable? Traces the history of Worldwide Orphans Foundation from its early days as little more than the dream of its impassioned founder, Dr. Jane Aronson, to a thriving global operation "doing some of the best work around" in serving the needs of orphans around the world.
Swot Analysis of "Worldwide Orphans Foundation" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Susan Saltrick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Orphans Impassioned facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Worldwide Orphans Foundation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Worldwide Orphans Foundation casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Worldwide Orphans Foundation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Worldwide Orphans Foundation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Orphans Impassioned, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Orphans Impassioned 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Worldwide Orphans Foundation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Orphans Impassioned
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 Orphans Impassioned
Strengths Worldwide Orphans Foundation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Orphans Impassioned in Worldwide Orphans Foundation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Orphans Impassioned is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Worldwide Orphans Foundation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Worldwide Orphans Foundation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Orphans Impassioned to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Orphans Impassioned to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Orphans Impassioned has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Orphans Impassioned to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Orphans Impassioned 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Susan Saltrick 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
- Orphans Impassioned 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 Orphans Impassioned is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Worldwide Orphans Foundation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Orphans Impassioned is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Orphans Impassioned digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Orphans Impassioned 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 lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Orphans Impassioned is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Orphans Impassioned in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Orphans Impassioned 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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.
Organizational Resilience of Orphans Impassioned
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Orphans Impassioned does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Orphans Impassioned 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Worldwide Orphans Foundation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Worldwide Orphans Foundation are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation, in the dynamic environment Orphans Impassioned has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Orphans Impassioned has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Orphans Impassioned is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Orphans Impassioned 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Orphans Impassioned 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Worldwide Orphans Foundation HBR case study mentions - Orphans Impassioned 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Orphans Impassioned 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 - Worldwide Orphans Foundation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Orphans Impassioned 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Orphans Impassioned is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Orphans Impassioned needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Orphans Impassioned to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation, 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.
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 Orphans Impassioned supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Worldwide Orphans Foundation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Orphans Impassioned vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Orphans Impassioned is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Worldwide Orphans Foundation | 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Orphans Impassioned 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.
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. Orphans Impassioned can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Orphans Impassioned can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Orphans Impassioned 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. Orphans Impassioned 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Orphans Impassioned 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.
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 Orphans Impassioned 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Orphans Impassioned can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Orphans Impassioned operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
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. Orphans Impassioned can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Orphans Impassioned 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.
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 Orphans Impassioned in the consumer business. Now Orphans Impassioned can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Orphans Impassioned 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, Worldwide Orphans Foundation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Orphans Impassioned can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Orphans Impassioned 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Orphans Impassioned to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Worldwide Orphans Foundation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Orphans Impassioned has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Orphans Impassioned needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Orphans Impassioned with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Orphans Impassioned can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Orphans Impassioned 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.
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. Orphans Impassioned needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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, Orphans Impassioned 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation .
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. Orphans Impassioned can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Orphans Impassioned
– 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 Orphans Impassioned.
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 Orphans Impassioned in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Orphans Impassioned 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Worldwide Orphans Foundation, Orphans Impassioned may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
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 Orphans Impassioned business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Worldwide Orphans Foundation 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 Orphans Impassioned needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.