Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil
In 2011, Gilberto Dimenstein, a well-known Brazilian journalist, created a new model that connected disparate resources to revitalize Sao Paulo. He wanted his model to expand across Brazil and the world. Dimenstein covered many of the social issues facing Brazil as a journalist and became determined to create solutions. Dimenstein started two social ventures, ANDI and Escola Aprendiz, before creating and developing Catraca Livre (meaning "open turnstile" in Portuguese) while he was an Advanced Leadership fellow at Harvard. Dimenstein pursued his idea of "learning neighborhoods", which meant a localized, low cost and effective way to leverage the existing available resources as educational opportunities. The resources were underutilized because of a lack of awareness. He believed that education should not be limited to the classroom and instead should be expanded to the entire city. Catraca Livre enabled Sao Paulo's residents to utilize untapped resources by aggregating all of the available resources and disseminating the information through multiple avenues including a website, subways, restaurants, workplaces, and more. This case shows how Dimenstein spearheads his solution to improve his city and offers a model for revitalizing cities around the world.
Swot Analysis of "Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Alexandre Naghirniac, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dimenstein Catraca facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Marketing, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dimenstein Catraca, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dimenstein Catraca 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dimenstein Catraca
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 Dimenstein Catraca
Strengths Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dimenstein Catraca in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dimenstein Catraca 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)
– Dimenstein Catraca 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Dimenstein Catraca has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Dimenstein Catraca to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Dimenstein Catraca is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Dimenstein Catraca is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Dimenstein Catraca is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Dimenstein Catraca 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 Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Alexandre Naghirniac, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dimenstein Catraca 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Dimenstein Catraca has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Dimenstein Catraca in the sector have low bargaining power. Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Dimenstein Catraca to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dimenstein Catraca is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dimenstein Catraca has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Weaknesses Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil, is just above the industry average. Dimenstein Catraca 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 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 Dimenstein Catraca supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dimenstein Catraca vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Dimenstein Catraca products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Dimenstein Catraca needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil, it seems that the employees of Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dimenstein Catraca 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Dimenstein Catraca 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, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Alexandre Naghirniac, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone suggests that, Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dimenstein Catraca is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Dimenstein Catraca needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dimenstein Catraca to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Dimenstein Catraca 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. Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil HBR case study mentions - Dimenstein Catraca takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Opportunities Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil | 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil are -
Buying journey improvements
– Dimenstein Catraca can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dimenstein Catraca can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dimenstein Catraca 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, Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dimenstein Catraca to increase its market reach. Dimenstein Catraca will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Dimenstein Catraca has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Dimenstein Catraca to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil case study. Dimenstein Catraca can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dimenstein Catraca 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.
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. Dimenstein Catraca 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. Dimenstein Catraca 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Dimenstein Catraca 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 Dimenstein Catraca to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Dimenstein Catraca 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.
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. Dimenstein Catraca can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil, Dimenstein Catraca 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 .
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. Dimenstein Catraca 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.
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. Dimenstein Catraca can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Dimenstein Catraca 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. Dimenstein Catraca can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Dimenstein Catraca 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 Dimenstein Catraca.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dimenstein Catraca is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Dimenstein Catraca needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Dimenstein Catraca 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 Dimenstein Catraca 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 Dimenstein Catraca in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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 Gilberto Dimenstein and Community Empowerment in Brazil 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 Dimenstein Catraca needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.