Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision
Five years after the launch of the Frederick Douglass Charter School, the school's performance is under review by the state board of education as part of a decision about whether to renew the school's charter for a school as well as the implications of a state-administered accountability system based on student achievement data.
Swot Analysis of "Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision" written by Stacey Childress, Debbie Kozar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Douglass Charter facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Leadership, Organizational culture, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Douglass Charter, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Douglass Charter 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Douglass Charter
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 Douglass Charter
Strengths Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Douglass Charter in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Douglass Charter is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Douglass Charter in the sector have low bargaining power. Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Douglass Charter to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Douglass Charter has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Douglass Charter 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Douglass Charter 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision - 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
– Douglass Charter has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Douglass Charter to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Douglass Charter 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 Douglass Charter is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Douglass Charter
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Douglass Charter does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Douglass Charter is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Douglass Charter in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Douglass Charter 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 Stacey Childress, Debbie Kozar 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Douglass Charter to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Douglass Charter to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Douglass Charter is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Douglass Charter 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 - Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision, in the dynamic environment Douglass Charter has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Douglass Charter has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Douglass Charter is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Douglass Charter 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. Douglass Charter 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 Douglass Charter products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Douglass Charter needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Douglass Charter 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stacey Childress, Debbie Kozar suggests that, Douglass Charter 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Douglass Charter is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Douglass Charter 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Douglass Charter, firm in the HBR case study Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Douglass Charter supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Douglass Charter vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision | 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Douglass Charter has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Douglass Charter to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision case study. Douglass Charter can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Douglass Charter can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Douglass Charter can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Douglass Charter operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Douglass Charter can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Douglass Charter 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, Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Douglass Charter 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Douglass Charter can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Douglass Charter 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 Douglass Charter to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Douglass Charter 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Douglass Charter 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 Douglass Charter 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Douglass Charter to increase its market reach. Douglass Charter 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.
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. Douglass Charter 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. Douglass Charter 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Douglass Charter 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision are -
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. Douglass Charter 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Douglass Charter 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 Douglass Charter 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 Douglass Charter.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision, Douglass Charter 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 .
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 Douglass Charter in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Douglass Charter business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Douglass Charter can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision .
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. Douglass Charter needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Douglass Charter with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Douglass Charter 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.
Environmental challenges
– Douglass Charter 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. Douglass Charter can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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 Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision 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 Douglass Charter needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.