What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?
The expansion of crowdfunding raises two related questions: what type of platform suits each project and how should existing platforms expand? The answer lies in analyzing the field of crowdfunding as a solution to four specific problems: gatekeeping, coordination, inexperience, and patronage. Using an inductive analysis of the largest U.S. sites, this article identifies the range of problems crowdfunding addresses and their performance to date. Crowdfunding succeeds in raising money within and across networks, but efforts to use crowdfunding to educate or to generate recurring revenue are less successful.
Swot Analysis of "What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?" written by Peter Younkin, Keyvan Kashkooli includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crowdfunding Gatekeeping facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Venture capital and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crowdfunding Gatekeeping, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping
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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping
Strengths What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping in the sector have low bargaining power. What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Crowdfunding Gatekeeping digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Weaknesses What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? are -
Need for greater diversity
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, it seems that the employees of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping, firm in the HBR case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, is just above the industry average. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 - What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? | 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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.
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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to increase its market reach. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Crowdfunding Gatekeeping operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Threats What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? are -
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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 .
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.
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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping.
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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping
– 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? .
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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.