Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project
This case is based on an ex post assessment conducted in Peru. The circumstances surrounding this evaluation were very restrictive: a limited budget as well as lacking base line and adequate monitoring system. The evaluation was requested at the endof the project, with the evaluators having no control over the information gathered earlier; however, they tried to use the best methodological options available to assess the program. Suddenly, an opportunity presents itself for the evaluators to recommend a better assessment methodology for the second stage in this program and even to suggest some adjustments for its original program design. A special feature in this case is that students do not start from scratch: they have information about what happened in the first stage of the project, and they can use it to build, amidst a new setting, a sounder, more ambitious evaluation procedure for the second stage, before its launching. The social and economic effects/impact of the project's first stage were measured with a non-experimental method, without a control group. For their evaluation work, the consultants relied on two surveys administered to a group of selected women's organizations that had received micro-loans. The first survey focused on the progress made by business ventures funded with these loans, and the second one probed the social impact of the project on members' households. Against the described backdrop, in the first stage, the evaluators used the perceptions of the people involved in the project to gather information on their earlier situation. The second stage evaluation would have a more adequate assessment design and would be submitted with recommendations for project execution improvements. To this end, consultants would have to submit their technical plan and the budget required to successfully meet assessment expectations. Universidad del PacA?fico' case collection
Swot Analysis of "Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project" written by Arlette Beltran, Betty Alvarado, Hanny Cueva includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Evaluators Stage facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Evaluators Stage, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Evaluators Stage 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Evaluators Stage
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 Evaluators Stage
Strengths Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Evaluators Stage in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Evaluators Stage 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 Evaluators Stage in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Evaluators Stage in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Evaluators Stage to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Evaluators Stage to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Evaluators Stage 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Evaluators Stage 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Evaluators Stage 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Evaluators Stage is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Evaluators Stage is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Arlette Beltran, Betty Alvarado, Hanny Cueva can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Innovation driven organization
– Evaluators Stage is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Evaluators Stage 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 Evaluators Stage is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Evaluators Stage has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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.
Weaknesses Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Evaluators Stage has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Evaluators Stage supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Evaluators Stage vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Evaluators Stage 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Evaluators Stage 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Evaluators Stage 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project, is just above the industry average. Evaluators Stage 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Evaluators Stage 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Arlette Beltran, Betty Alvarado, Hanny Cueva suggests that, Evaluators Stage 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project, in the dynamic environment Evaluators Stage has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Evaluators Stage has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Evaluators Stage 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Evaluators Stage, firm in the HBR case study Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project | 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Evaluators Stage 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.
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 Evaluators Stage in the consumer business. Now Evaluators Stage can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Evaluators Stage 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.
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. Evaluators Stage 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, Evaluators Stage 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, Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Evaluators Stage is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Evaluators Stage 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Evaluators Stage 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Evaluators Stage can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Evaluators Stage can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Evaluators Stage 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 Evaluators Stage 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 Evaluators Stage 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.
Threats Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project are -
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 Evaluators Stage business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Evaluators Stage with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Evaluators Stage 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Evaluators Stage
– 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 Evaluators Stage.
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 Evaluators Stage.
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 Evaluators Stage in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Evaluators Stage 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Evaluators Stage 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Evaluators Stage 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Evaluators Stage is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Evaluators Stage 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project, Evaluators Stage 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Credit for Women's Microenterprises: Assessing a Social Project 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 Evaluators Stage needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.