Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe
This case is designed to examine the issue of corporate social responsibility in a small firm. The key issue is how a small organization can maintain its strong social responsibility philosophy when (a) the organization is growing, (b) the environment in which the organization exists is extremely competitive, and (c) the entrepreneurial visionary who started the firm is getting ready to step down. The case describes the dilemma the owner of White Dog Cafe has regarding the transition of current management to the new management team and the development of the White Dog Cafe's social responsibility philosophy, the challenges that other socially responsible organizations have had as they have grown, and the strategies that the company has used to successfully keep its philosophies and goals at the forefront of its business operations.
Swot Analysis of "Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe" written by Jason Keith Phillips, Diane Phillips includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dog White facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Marketing, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dog White, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dog White 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dog White
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 Dog White
Strengths Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dog White in Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dog White is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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
– Dog White 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 Jason Keith Phillips, Diane Phillips 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Dog White is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Dog White has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dog White to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Dog White is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dog White to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dog White to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dog White digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dog White 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.
Training and development
– Dog White has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Dog White in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Dog White 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 Dog White in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dog White 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.
Weaknesses Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe are -
Need for greater diversity
– Dog White has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jason Keith Phillips, Diane Phillips suggests that, Dog White 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Dog White is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dog White, firm in the HBR case study Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe, in the dynamic environment Dog White has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Dog White 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 Dog White supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dog White vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe, it seems that the employees of Dog White 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dog White 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 - Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Dog White 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dog White 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. Dog White 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dog White products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dog White needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe | 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dog White 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Dog White 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dog White 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.
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 Dog White 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dog White has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dog White to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe case study. Dog White can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Dog White can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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.
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. Dog White 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, Dog White 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, Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Dog White in the consumer business. Now Dog White 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. Dog White 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. Dog White 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dog White can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dog White 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.
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. Dog White can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dog White 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.
Environmental challenges
– Dog White 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. Dog White can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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 Dog White 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 Dog White with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Dog White.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dog White has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dog White 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.
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. Dog White can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Dog White business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dog White is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dog White 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe, Dog White 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Walking the Walk: Putting Social Responsibility into Action at the White Dog Cafe 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 Dog White needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.