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 - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, 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 -
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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
Organizational Resilience of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Crowdfunding Gatekeeping does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, 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.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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 What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, in the dynamic environment Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Crowdfunding Gatekeeping vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
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 -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Crowdfunding Gatekeeping has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Crowdfunding Gatekeeping to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve? case study. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Crowdfunding Gatekeeping in the consumer business. Now Crowdfunding Gatekeeping can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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, What Problems Does Crowdfunding Solve?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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 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? .
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Crowdfunding Gatekeeping will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Crowdfunding Gatekeeping with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Crowdfunding Gatekeeping 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.
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.
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.
