Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue)
As a Harvard University freshman in 1992, Eric Dawson began working on a social service project known as Peace Games, a one-day festival to teach school-age children about peace and cooperation. Dawson, however, had bigger ideas for the program. Operating first within Harvard, and later through the independent nonprofit that he founded, Dawson transformed Peace Games from a simple celebration of community into a kindergarten-8th grade, year-long conflict-resolution curriculum that he hoped to implement in schools across the country. As challenging and as critical as the program design itself, however, was the need to create, fund, and manage an organization capable of carrying the project forward. This case tells the story of how Dawson developed Peace Games in the Boston area; established a Peace Games outpost beyond Massachusetts; and attempted to launch a major nationwide expansion deemed essential not only to reach significant numbers of children and communities, but to attract the funding the organization needed to survive. HKS Case Number 1795.1
Authors :: Susan Rosengrant, Herman B. Leonard
Topics :: Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Tags :: Entrepreneurship, International business, Leadership, Social responsibility, Strategic planning, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue)" written by Susan Rosengrant, Herman B. Leonard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Peace Dawson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, International business, Leadership, Social responsibility, Strategic planning and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Peace Dawson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Peace Dawson 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 Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Peace Dawson
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 Peace Dawson
Strengths Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Peace Dawson in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Peace Dawson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Peace Dawson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Peace Dawson 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Peace Dawson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Peace Dawson 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Peace Dawson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Peace Dawson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Peace Dawson in the sector have low bargaining power. Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Peace Dawson to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Peace Dawson has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Peace Dawson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Peace Dawson has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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
– Peace Dawson 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 Peace Dawson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Peace Dawson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Peace Dawson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Peace Dawson is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue), is just above the industry average. Peace Dawson 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Peace Dawson 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue), it seems that the employees of Peace Dawson 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Peace Dawson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Peace Dawson needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Susan Rosengrant, Herman B. Leonard suggests that, Peace Dawson 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Peace Dawson 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 Peace Dawson is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Peace Dawson needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Peace Dawson to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Peace Dawson 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Peace Dawson 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Peace Dawson 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. Peace Dawson 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue), 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.
Opportunities Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) | 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 Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Peace Dawson can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Peace Dawson has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Peace Dawson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Peace Dawson 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Peace Dawson has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Peace Dawson to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) case study. Peace Dawson can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Peace Dawson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Peace Dawson 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Peace Dawson 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.
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. Peace Dawson can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Peace Dawson 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Peace Dawson is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Peace Dawson 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Peace Dawson 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Peace Dawson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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 Peace Dawson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Peace Dawson in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Peace Dawson needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Peace Dawson 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. Peace Dawson can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Peace Dawson is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Peace Dawson.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Peace Dawson with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Peace Dawson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Peace Dawson 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Peace Dawson 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue), Peace Dawson 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Peace Dawson 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.
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
– Peace Dawson 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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 Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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 Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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 Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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 Peace Games: A Non-Profit's Journey from Birth to National Expansion (Epilogue) 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 Peace Dawson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
