1996 Welfare Reform in the United States SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States
On August 22, 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)-a dramatic reform of the American system of economic assistance for the poor that, as its title suggested, attempted to encourage labor force participation rather than reliance on federal support. Clinton's decision to support a proposal that substantially cut spending on economic assistance was controversial among members of the Democratic Party, especially so close to the 1996 election. Republicans, in contrast, hailed the signing of PRWORA. Was the 1996 welfare reform a triumph of centrist policymaking that would establish a more sustainable version of economic assistance for poor Americans, or was it a dangerous first step toward the gradual disappearance of that assistance? Whose vision of American society did it represent? Instructors may also obtain a Teaching Note, written by this case's author, that provides suggestions for using this case effectively in the classroom.
Authors :: Matthew C. Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan, Alastair Su
Swot Analysis of "1996 Welfare Reform in the United States" written by Matthew C. Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan, Alastair Su includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Assistance Prwora facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Assistance Prwora, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Assistance Prwora 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Assistance Prwora
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 Assistance Prwora
Strengths 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Assistance Prwora in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Assistance Prwora 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 Assistance Prwora in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Assistance Prwora in the sector have low bargaining power. 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Assistance Prwora to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Assistance Prwora is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Assistance Prwora has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Assistance Prwora 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Assistance Prwora is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Assistance Prwora is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Assistance Prwora 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Assistance Prwora 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 Assistance Prwora is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Assistance Prwora to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Assistance Prwora to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Assistance Prwora 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 Matthew C. Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan, Alastair Su 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Assistance Prwora 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.
Weaknesses 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Matthew C. Weinzierl, Katrina Flanagan, Alastair Su suggests that, Assistance Prwora 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 Assistance Prwora 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Assistance Prwora 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Assistance Prwora is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Assistance Prwora 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Assistance Prwora 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Assistance Prwora is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Assistance Prwora 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Assistance Prwora 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 - 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Assistance Prwora 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. Assistance Prwora 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States, in the dynamic environment Assistance Prwora has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Assistance Prwora has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States | 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Assistance Prwora to increase its market reach. Assistance Prwora 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.
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 Assistance Prwora in the consumer business. Now Assistance Prwora can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Assistance Prwora can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Assistance Prwora 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 Assistance Prwora to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Assistance Prwora has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Assistance Prwora to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States case study. Assistance Prwora 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 Assistance Prwora 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Assistance Prwora is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Assistance Prwora 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Assistance Prwora to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Assistance Prwora 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Assistance Prwora 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Assistance Prwora can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Assistance Prwora operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Assistance Prwora 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. Assistance Prwora 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Assistance Prwora can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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.
Threats 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States are -
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 Assistance Prwora.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Assistance Prwora is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Assistance Prwora 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 Assistance Prwora with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Assistance Prwora in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Assistance Prwora 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. Assistance Prwora can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Assistance Prwora 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, Assistance Prwora 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States .
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.
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 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. Assistance Prwora needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Assistance Prwora has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Assistance Prwora 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Assistance Prwora 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 1996 Welfare Reform in the United States 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 Assistance Prwora needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
