Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing
In 2013, Howard Fischer (hedge fund founder) and Eric Jacobsen (serial entrepreneur and private equity investor) established Gratitude Railroad as a community of impact investors in nine different "tracks." Each track represented a different concept for using capitalism to impact a social or environmental problem. The founders hoped to prove that impact investing could earn market rate returns or better, while achieving a positive social and environmental impact. After over a year of progress, they had to determine the best path forward for their community and how to prioritize between the tracks in order to maximize their impact.
Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Dan Lennox Choate
Swot Analysis of "Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Dan Lennox Choate includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jacobsen Impact facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Social responsibility, Sustainability, Venture capital and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jacobsen Impact, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jacobsen Impact 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jacobsen Impact
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 Jacobsen Impact
Strengths Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jacobsen Impact in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Jacobsen Impact is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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
– Jacobsen Impact has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jacobsen Impact to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Jacobsen Impact is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Jacobsen Impact in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Jacobsen Impact 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
– Jacobsen Impact is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Jacobsen Impact 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.
Learning organization
- Jacobsen Impact 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 Jacobsen Impact is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jacobsen Impact has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jacobsen Impact 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jacobsen Impact to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jacobsen Impact to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jacobsen Impact digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jacobsen Impact has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jacobsen Impact in the sector have low bargaining power. Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jacobsen Impact to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Jacobsen Impact products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jacobsen Impact needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Jacobsen Impact 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Dan Lennox Choate suggests that, Jacobsen Impact 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jacobsen Impact 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing, 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 Jacobsen Impact, firm in the HBR case study Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jacobsen Impact 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing, is just above the industry average. Jacobsen Impact 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jacobsen Impact 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jacobsen Impact has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jacobsen Impact is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing | 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jacobsen Impact 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 Jacobsen Impact 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, Jacobsen Impact can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jacobsen Impact operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Jacobsen Impact can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Jacobsen Impact 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 Jacobsen Impact in the consumer business. Now Jacobsen Impact 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 Jacobsen Impact 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.
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. Jacobsen Impact can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Jacobsen Impact 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. Jacobsen Impact 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jacobsen Impact can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jacobsen Impact to increase its market reach. Jacobsen Impact 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.
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. Jacobsen Impact can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Jacobsen Impact has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jacobsen Impact has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jacobsen Impact to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing case study. Jacobsen Impact can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing are -
Regulatory challenges
– Jacobsen Impact 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jacobsen Impact with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Jacobsen Impact business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Jacobsen Impact 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.
Environmental challenges
– Jacobsen Impact 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. Jacobsen Impact can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jacobsen Impact 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing .
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. Jacobsen Impact 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 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. Jacobsen Impact can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jacobsen Impact has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jacobsen Impact needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Jacobsen Impact in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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 Jacobsen Impact.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing, Jacobsen Impact 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Howard Fischer, Eric Jacobsen, and Gratitude Railroad's Impact Investing 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 Jacobsen Impact needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
