Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth
Me to We was a Canadian social enterprise created in 2008 to provide a stable source of funds to finance Free the Children, a non-profit organization that partnered with villages in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to provide clean water, sanitation, health care, food security, and alternative income in exchange for the commitment that all village children would attend school. The ultimate aim was to reduce child labour and exploitation, which was rooted in families who were living in poverty and unable to support themselves. In 2015, as Me to We continued to grow, the co-founders realized that its product portfolio could benefit from items that would increase the frequency of the organization's contact and interactions with customers. Should Me to We move towards the fast consumables market to reach as many people as possible?
Authors :: W. Glenn Rowe, Jayme McColl, Helen Y. He
Swot Analysis of "Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth" written by W. Glenn Rowe, Jayme McColl, Helen Y. He includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Children Consumables facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Children Consumables, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Children Consumables 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Children Consumables
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 Children Consumables
Strengths Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Children Consumables in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Children Consumables 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 W. Glenn Rowe, Jayme McColl, Helen Y. He 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Children Consumables is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Children Consumables 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 Children Consumables is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Children Consumables is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Children Consumables in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Children Consumables has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Children Consumables 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Children Consumables 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 Children Consumables in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Children Consumables is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Children Consumables in the sector have low bargaining power. Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Children Consumables to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Children Consumables digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Children Consumables 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.
Training and development
– Children Consumables has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Children Consumables 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth are -
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 Children Consumables supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Children Consumables vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth, is just above the industry average. Children Consumables 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth, it seems that the employees of Children Consumables 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, W. Glenn Rowe, Jayme McColl, Helen Y. He suggests that, Children Consumables 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
– Children Consumables 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Children Consumables 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Children Consumables 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Children Consumables is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Children Consumables products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Children Consumables needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth HBR case study mentions - Children Consumables 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Children Consumables is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Children Consumables needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Children Consumables to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth | 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth are -
Manufacturing automation
– Children Consumables 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.
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. Children Consumables can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Children Consumables 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Children Consumables 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, Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Children Consumables 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 Children Consumables in the consumer business. Now Children Consumables can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Children Consumables can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Children Consumables can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Children Consumables has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Children Consumables to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth case study. Children Consumables can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Children Consumables 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Children Consumables is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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.
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 Children Consumables 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Children Consumables to increase its market reach. Children Consumables 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Children Consumables.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Children Consumables 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.
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.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Children Consumables will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Children Consumables 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. Children Consumables can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Children Consumables 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.
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. Children Consumables needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Children Consumables 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth, Children Consumables 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Children Consumables
– 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 Children Consumables.
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 Children Consumables business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Children Consumables 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Me to We: A Social Enterprise and Its Future Growth 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 Children Consumables needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
