Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking
"Margaret Linnane was distraught and dumbfounded. In addition, she was fuming. She had just arrived home from the funders' meeting where she had been asked questions that came close to challenging the very purpose of her nonprofit organization. She had been unprepared for the very tough questions the funders had asked and she knew that she would need to be much better prepared for the next specially scheduled meeting in one month. She needed answers to the funders' questions and she wondered how to achieve these answers in four short weeks. Linnane and the Rollins College Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Center (PNLC, or the Center) staff put other efforts on hold while they worked intensely to prepare for the upcoming meeting. They gathered all the documents on the PNLC's mission, vision and strategic plan. Brainstorming started. What information did they need to compile to convince the funders that the PNLC's services (such as networking among established chief executive officers (CEOs) and foundation directors, and introducing newcomers to the nonprofit community) contributed to the professionalization of nonprofit leaders and organizations while addressing critical community issues and fulfilling the PNLC's mission - even if such services had not yet generated any revenue? What outcome measures were appropriate for assessing the success of non-income-generating activities such as networking? To start to search for answers to such questions (and others), Linnane decided to review PNLC's performance from the last two years and to build a strategy for 2011/12. Time was of the essence because without the support of funders, Linnane would be hard-pressed to continue offering the now well-accepted networking activities."
Swot Analysis of "Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking" written by Mary Conway Dato-on, Margaret Linnane includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Linnane Pnlc's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Networking, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Linnane Pnlc's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Linnane Pnlc's operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Linnane Pnlc's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Linnane Pnlc's
Strengths Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Linnane Pnlc's in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Linnane Pnlc's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Linnane Pnlc's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Linnane Pnlc's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Linnane Pnlc's 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 Linnane Pnlc's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Learning organization
- Linnane Pnlc's 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 Linnane Pnlc's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Linnane Pnlc's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Linnane Pnlc's in the sector have low bargaining power. Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Linnane Pnlc's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Linnane Pnlc's has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Linnane Pnlc's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Linnane Pnlc's has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Training and development
– Linnane Pnlc's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Linnane Pnlc's 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 Linnane Pnlc's 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
– Linnane Pnlc's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking, it seems that the employees of Linnane Pnlc's don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Need for greater diversity
– Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Linnane Pnlc's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Linnane Pnlc's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Linnane Pnlc's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Linnane Pnlc's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Linnane Pnlc's 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. Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Linnane Pnlc's, firm in the HBR case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mary Conway Dato-on, Margaret Linnane suggests that, Linnane Pnlc's is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking HBR case study mentions - Linnane Pnlc's takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking, in the dynamic environment Linnane Pnlc's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Linnane Pnlc's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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 Linnane Pnlc's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking | 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 Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Linnane Pnlc's 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 Linnane Pnlc's to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
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 Linnane Pnlc's in the consumer business. Now Linnane Pnlc's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Linnane Pnlc's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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.
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. Linnane Pnlc's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Linnane Pnlc's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Linnane Pnlc's can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Linnane Pnlc's can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Linnane Pnlc's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Linnane Pnlc's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Linnane Pnlc's 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 Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Linnane Pnlc's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Linnane Pnlc's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Linnane Pnlc's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking are -
Regulatory challenges
– Linnane Pnlc's needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking, Linnane Pnlc's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Linnane Pnlc's can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking .
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 Linnane Pnlc's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Linnane Pnlc's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Linnane Pnlc's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Linnane Pnlc's 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 Linnane Pnlc's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Linnane Pnlc's 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Linnane Pnlc's can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
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 Linnane Pnlc's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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 Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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 Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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 Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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 Rollins College Nonprofit Leadership and Philanthropy Center: The Importance of Networking 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 Linnane Pnlc's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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