Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide
Garrett Moran joined Year Up (a workforce development program) in late 2013. Tasked with systematizing and scaling operations, Moran spearheaded a number of changes that allowed Year Up to serve 3,000 youth in 2016 up from 1,800 youth annually when he started. While preparing for the future, he expected that Year Up would soon have the ability to serve 10,000 students annually by 2021. This goal would demand a pace of growth that YU had not yet experienced - increasing annual growth from an already accelerated 400 students per year over the past three years to an average of 1,000 students per year through 2021. The path forward was complicated and this case covers the challenges and opportunities of reaching scale by expanding their direct service program and exploring other ways to close the opportunity gap.
Swot Analysis of "Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Emma Franking includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Moran Garrett facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Moran Garrett, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Moran Garrett 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Moran Garrett
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 Moran Garrett
Strengths Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Moran Garrett in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Moran Garrett digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Moran Garrett 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.
Learning organization
- Moran Garrett 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 Moran Garrett is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Moran Garrett is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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.
Organizational Resilience of Moran Garrett
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Moran Garrett does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Moran Garrett in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Moran Garrett 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Moran Garrett 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Moran Garrett in the sector have low bargaining power. Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Moran Garrett to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Moran Garrett is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Moran Garrett 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide - 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
– Moran Garrett has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Moran Garrett to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Moran Garrett to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Moran Garrett is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Moran Garrett has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Moran Garrett is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Moran Garrett needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Moran Garrett to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide, it seems that the employees of Moran Garrett 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Moran Garrett 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. Moran Garrett 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Moran Garrett is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Moran Garrett 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 - Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Moran Garrett 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Moran Garrett has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Moran Garrett, firm in the HBR case study Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Emma Franking suggests that, Moran Garrett 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.
Opportunities Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide | 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Moran Garrett 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 Moran Garrett in the consumer business. Now Moran Garrett can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Moran Garrett 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.
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. Moran Garrett can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Moran Garrett 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, Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide, 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 Moran Garrett can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Moran Garrett to increase its market reach. Moran Garrett 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Moran Garrett 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.
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. Moran Garrett 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. Moran Garrett 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, Moran Garrett 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Moran Garrett is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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, Moran Garrett can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Moran Garrett operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Moran Garrett 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 Moran Garrett to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Moran Garrett with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Moran Garrett needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Moran Garrett
– 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 Moran Garrett.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Moran Garrett 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Moran Garrett 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.
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.
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.
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. Moran Garrett can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Moran Garrett 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Moran Garrett 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.
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 Moran Garrett.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Moran Garrett is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Moran Garrett business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Garrett Moran and Scaling Year Up to Close the Opportunity Divide 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 Moran Garrett needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
