Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth
A non-governmental organization dedicated to improving underprivileged rural children's access to quality education in southern India has grown considerably in the seven years since its inception. In considering a growth strategy, the organization's two founders and managing trustees consider the roles of social value creation, funds sustainability, organizational visibility, resources constraints and how the relationships among these factors affect the organization's future plans.
Swot Analysis of "Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth" written by Deepak Dhayanithy, Brian Anderson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bricoleur's Organization's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing,
geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bricoleur's Organization's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bricoleur's Organization's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bricoleur's Organization's
Strengths Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bricoleur's Organization's in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Deepak Dhayanithy, Brian Anderson can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Strong track record of project management
– Bricoleur's Organization's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Bricoleur's Organization's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bricoleur's Organization's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bricoleur's Organization's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bricoleur's Organization's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
Training and development
– Bricoleur's Organization's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bricoleur's Organization's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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.
High brand equity
– Bricoleur's Organization's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bricoleur's Organization's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Bricoleur's Organization's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bricoleur's Organization's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth, in the dynamic environment Bricoleur's Organization's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bricoleur's Organization's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth, it seems that the employees of Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
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 Bricoleur's Organization's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bricoleur's Organization's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Deepak Dhayanithy, Brian Anderson suggests that, Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bricoleur's Organization's, firm in the HBR case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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 Bricoleur's Organization's 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bricoleur's Organization's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bricoleur's Organization's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bricoleur's Organization's 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
Opportunities Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth | 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth are -
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. Bricoleur's Organization's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bricoleur's Organization's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bricoleur's Organization's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth case study. Bricoleur's Organization's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
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 Bricoleur's Organization's in the consumer business. Now Bricoleur's Organization's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bricoleur's Organization's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Bricoleur's Organization's 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
– Bricoleur's Organization's can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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 Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Bricoleur's Organization's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bricoleur's Organization's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bricoleur's Organization's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Bricoleur's Organization's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bricoleur's Organization's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bricoleur's Organization's to increase its market reach. Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
Threats Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth are -
Increasing wage structure of Bricoleur's Organization's
– 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 Bricoleur's Organization's.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bricoleur's Organization's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bricoleur's Organization's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth, Bricoleur's Organization's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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 Bricoleur's Organization's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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 Bricoleur's Organization's in the Leadership & Managing People 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. Bricoleur's Organization's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bricoleur's Organization's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bricoleur's Organization's 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth .
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bricoleur's Organization's in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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 Aspire Foundation - Charting a Social Bricoleur's Growth 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 Bricoleur's Organization's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.