Case Study Description of KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.After opening 60 schools in 8 years through opportunistic growth, the national office of the KIPP schools network has designed a strategy dubbed "smart growth." Each KIPP school is a separately incorporated entity led by a principal who was selected and trained by the national office. The national office proposes to play a screening role whereby a national growth committee will "green-light" the plans of local schools to create multi-site regions in selected areas of the United States. The case describes the criteria and rationale for the new strategy, and focuses on a disguised application from a KIPP school that plans to grow from one to five locations in five years. Readers are challenged to green-light the application, or not.
Swot Analysis of "KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy" written by Stacey Childress, Maura Merino includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kipp Schools facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kipp Schools, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kipp Schools 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kipp Schools
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 Kipp Schools
Strengths KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kipp Schools in KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Kipp Schools has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Kipp Schools to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Kipp Schools in the sector have low bargaining power. KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kipp Schools to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kipp Schools to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kipp Schools to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Kipp Schools has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Kipp Schools in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Kipp Schools 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy - 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Kipp Schools 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 Kipp Schools in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kipp Schools has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kipp Schools 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.
Learning organization
- Kipp Schools 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 Kipp Schools is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Kipp Schools 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kipp Schools is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Kipp Schools 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.
Weaknesses KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kipp Schools is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Kipp Schools has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kipp Schools 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kipp Schools 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 - KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Kipp Schools 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy, it seems that the employees of Kipp Schools 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Kipp Schools 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy, in the dynamic environment Kipp Schools has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kipp Schools has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Kipp Schools is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Kipp Schools needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kipp Schools to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stacey Childress, Maura Merino suggests that, Kipp Schools 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kipp Schools 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.
Opportunities KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy | 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kipp Schools can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kipp Schools operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Kipp Schools can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kipp Schools is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kipp Schools has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kipp Schools to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy case study. Kipp Schools can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Kipp Schools 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.
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 Kipp Schools 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Kipp Schools 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kipp Schools 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.
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. Kipp Schools 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. Kipp Schools 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Kipp Schools 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.
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 Kipp Schools in the consumer business. Now Kipp Schools can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Kipp Schools 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kipp Schools to increase its market reach. Kipp Schools 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy are -
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 Kipp Schools in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Kipp Schools with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Kipp Schools can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Kipp Schools 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.
Increasing wage structure of Kipp Schools
– 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 Kipp Schools.
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 Kipp Schools.
Regulatory challenges
– Kipp Schools 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.
Environmental challenges
– Kipp Schools 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. Kipp Schools can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Kipp Schools 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.
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 Kipp Schools business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy, Kipp Schools 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Kipp Schools has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kipp Schools 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kipp Schools is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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 KIPP 2007: Implementing a Smart Growth Strategy 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 Kipp Schools needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.