Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers
This case is about an affluent and educated woman who decided to start her own organization to support young mothers. Shortly after the birth of her first child, Karin Marques stopped working full-time and soon felt the pangs of "maternal isolation" that mothers commonly report. Finding no satisfaction in the already-existing network of Mothers' Centers, which were geared more towards childcare, Karin formulated a concept for a mothers' center that would "provide support to women before, during, and after their maternity leave." By adopting a theme of "equal opportunities for men and women" - a priority for European Union Member States and an area where the Czech nation planned to grow - Karin registered Klub K2 as a non-governmental (non-profit) organization (NGO), and hoped to access funding from foundations or the European Union. The thematic focus Karin has chosen - women's reentry to the labor market after maternity leave - is a hot-button issue, particularly in new European Union Member States. Yet as Karin's start-up costs rose, and some members of her team of instructors backed out, Karin wondered how all of the pieces would come together by the time she was ready to launch her organization.
Authors :: Veena Srinivasa, Joan Winn
Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Tags :: Social enterprise, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers" written by Veena Srinivasa, Joan Winn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Karin Mothers facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise, Social responsibility and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Karin Mothers, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Karin Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Karin Mothers
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 Karin Mothers
Strengths Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Karin Mothers in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Karin Mothers has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Karin Mothers 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Karin Mothers in the sector have low bargaining power. Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Karin Mothers to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Karin Mothers 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Karin Mothers in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Karin Mothers is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Karin Mothers has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Karin Mothers 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Karin Mothers digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Karin Mothers 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 Karin Mothers
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Karin Mothers does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Karin Mothers 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 Karin Mothers in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Karin Mothers is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Karin Mothers is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Weaknesses Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Karin Mothers 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Veena Srinivasa, Joan Winn suggests that, Karin Mothers is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Lack of clear differentiation of Karin Mothers products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Karin Mothers needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Karin Mothers 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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 Karin Mothers has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers, it seems that the employees of Karin Mothers 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers HBR case study mentions - Karin Mothers 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Karin Mothers has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Karin Mothers even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Karin Mothers 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers, in the dynamic environment Karin Mothers has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Karin Mothers has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Karin Mothers is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Karin Mothers needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Karin Mothers to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers | 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers are -
Loyalty marketing
– Karin Mothers 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.
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. Karin Mothers 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. Karin Mothers 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.
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 Karin Mothers 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Karin Mothers is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Karin Mothers can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Karin Mothers operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Karin Mothers 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Karin Mothers 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 Karin Mothers to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Karin Mothers can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Karin Mothers has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Karin Mothers to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers case study. Karin Mothers can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Karin Mothers can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Karin Mothers in the consumer business. Now Karin Mothers 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 Karin Mothers to increase its market reach. Karin Mothers 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Karin Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Karin Mothers to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Karin Mothers 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Karin Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers .
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 Karin Mothers.
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 Karin Mothers business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Karin Mothers
– 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 Karin Mothers.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Karin Mothers high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Regulatory challenges
– Karin Mothers 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Karin Mothers with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Karin Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers, Karin Mothers 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 .
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. Karin Mothers can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Karin Mothers is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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 Funding Philanthropy: Creating a Service NGO for Mothers 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 Karin Mothers needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
