Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?
After Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Public School System is faced with rebuilding from the ground up. The challenge is enormous, as is the opportunity to remake the lowest performing public school system in Louisiana and one of the lowest performing in the nation. A variety of public officials, politicians, and entrepreneurs are engaged in the rebuilding process. Also, explores the tensions that emerge as the community faces both the rebuilding task and conflicting visions of what the future should look like.
Swot Analysis of "Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?" written by Stacey Childress includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rebuilding Orleans facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, Strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rebuilding Orleans, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rebuilding Orleans
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 Rebuilding Orleans
Strengths Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rebuilding Orleans in Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Rebuilding Orleans
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Rebuilding Orleans does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Rebuilding Orleans has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rebuilding Orleans to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rebuilding Orleans to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rebuilding Orleans to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rebuilding Orleans has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Rebuilding Orleans is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Rebuilding Orleans are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rebuilding Orleans has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rebuilding Orleans is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rebuilding Orleans is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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
– Rebuilding Orleans is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rebuilding Orleans is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Rebuilding Orleans 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?, is just above the industry average. Rebuilding Orleans needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Rebuilding Orleans 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?, it seems that the employees of Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rebuilding Orleans is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rebuilding Orleans 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Rebuilding Orleans has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? HBR case study mentions - Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? | 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? are -
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 Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Rebuilding Orleans to increase its market reach. Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rebuilding Orleans 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. Rebuilding Orleans can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Rebuilding Orleans in the consumer business. Now Rebuilding Orleans can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding Orleans to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Rebuilding Orleans 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. Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rebuilding Orleans can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rebuilding Orleans operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rebuilding Orleans has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rebuilding Orleans to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? case study. Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Rebuilding Orleans is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Threats Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? are -
Regulatory challenges
– Rebuilding Orleans needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide?, Rebuilding Orleans 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 .
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 Rebuilding Orleans.
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. Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rebuilding Orleans has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Rebuilding Orleans 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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rebuilding Orleans 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.
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. Rebuilding Orleans 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.
Increasing wage structure of Rebuilding Orleans
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Rebuilding Orleans.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rebuilding Orleans 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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 Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Schools: Turning the Tide? 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 Rebuilding Orleans needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.