Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework
This note presents the Nonprofit Coherence Framework. It helps nonprofit leaders identify the key elements that support an organizational strategy focused on attaining high performance, bring those elements into a coherent relationship with the strategy and each other, and help guide the actions of people throughout an organization in the pursuit of high levels of individual and organizational achievement. This note proposes that to attain high performance, a nonprofit organization must have all of its organizational elements-culture, structure, systems, resources, stakeholders, and the operating environment- working together to drive strategy.
Swot Analysis of "Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework" written by Stacey Childress, Allen Grossman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Coherence Nonprofit facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Developing employees, Organizational structure, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Coherence Nonprofit, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Coherence Nonprofit 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Coherence Nonprofit
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 Coherence Nonprofit
Strengths Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Coherence Nonprofit in Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Coherence Nonprofit to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Coherence Nonprofit to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Coherence Nonprofit in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Coherence Nonprofit to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Coherence Nonprofit is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Coherence Nonprofit has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Coherence Nonprofit to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Coherence Nonprofit digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Coherence Nonprofit is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Coherence Nonprofit has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Coherence Nonprofit in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Coherence Nonprofit is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Coherence Nonprofit 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Coherence Nonprofit 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.
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 Coherence Nonprofit supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Coherence Nonprofit vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Coherence Nonprofit 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Coherence Nonprofit 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stacey Childress, Allen Grossman suggests that, Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework, is just above the industry average. Coherence Nonprofit 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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 Coherence Nonprofit 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Coherence Nonprofit is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Coherence Nonprofit needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Coherence Nonprofit to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Coherence Nonprofit, firm in the HBR case study Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework | 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
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 Coherence Nonprofit in the consumer business. Now Coherence Nonprofit can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Coherence Nonprofit can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Coherence Nonprofit is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Coherence Nonprofit can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Coherence Nonprofit can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Coherence Nonprofit operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Coherence Nonprofit 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 Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
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. Coherence Nonprofit 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. Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Threats Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework are -
Regulatory challenges
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
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 Coherence Nonprofit business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Coherence Nonprofit
– 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 Coherence Nonprofit.
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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Coherence Nonprofit has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Coherence Nonprofit 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Coherence Nonprofit 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Coherence Nonprofit 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.
Environmental challenges
– Coherence Nonprofit 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. Coherence Nonprofit can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Coherence Nonprofit in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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 Note on the Nonprofit Coherence Framework 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 Coherence Nonprofit needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
