Case Study Cluj
Strategic planning In the environmental non-profit sector: Natural et Class Club-Anaphora Offline Gaza Boldly university Executive summary The case study aims to build a strategy for a new actor in the environmental MONGO department in Club-Anaphora, namely the association Natural et Civvies which is in the process of being founded. A short description of the present situation in Romania is used to acquaint the reader with the issues faced in the environmental field.
In order to set a foundation for strategy development the context is analyzed together with the external factors which shape the evolution and development of society.
The first thing taken Into consideration Is the nature of the environment which could derive from certain to uncertain or simple to complex (Integers , Lempel , Quinn, Clash, 2002). These questions need to be answered because the non-profit sector deals with perceptions and the needs it appeals to are tangled. If we try to position teem In Mascots pyramid (scenery 2012) ten TLS tongue would D to add them to the base as a healthy environment means that the primary needs will be achieved (food, water, etc).
However, this is quite wrong as the current situation till offers the possibility of obtaining these needs and the danger only refers to the future. This determines environmental friendliness to become an occupation for those who want self realization as they contribute to a cause that will save the future.
The second factor represented will be the external influences in terms of economy, politics, social and technological changes (Integers, Lempel , Quinn, Shoal, 2002). Here is where the opportunities and threats lie hidden.
Because no actor is alone on the market the non-profit sector is also a victim of the five forces: suppliers who offer support in money or in kind), buyers (the fans who choose to act upon the principles promoted), the substitutes (which can lead to the extinction of this type of initiative), the threat of entry (which is only dangerous if the resources are scarce) and the competitors (who can easily be made partners in the non-profit field but only if their purpose stands for the greater good). The last issue needs further attention as it will differentiate the No’s strategy from the others.
Knowing the positions and plans of the competitors, or in this case potential collaborators, is crucial as it reveals o a newbie the secret unbeaten paths where society desperately needs a guide for exploring.
This is addressed through market segmentation, customer’s perceived value, market attractiveness, strategic group and competitor analysis. Finally, after the battlefield becomes familiar the study will proceed with identifying the internal factors which define the organization – strengths and weaknesses along with the opportunities and threats which derive from the environment.
Because a strategy is useless without mission vision and objectives the conclusion will contain the main targets for the future which can also be considered s solutions for the non-profit environmental area. Theoretical background Environmentalism as we know it appeared after the industrial revolution in 18th century (Reynolds, 2010) and has experienced growing interest since the ass’s and after communism when even in Romania the Ecological Party (http://www. Per. Or/ desire-partied-2.
HTML) was founded.
Today the environmental MONGO sector has managed to spread in all over the country as there is no county which is left without such a local association. However, the solutions proposed in the urban sector are usually short term and fail to present effective changes in the system moreover in our daily lives. The explanation might be the chronic lack of communication between public administration, private sector and non-profit one. They each have their own strategy which fails to overlook the big picture.
A study made in 2013 by the World Wide Fund for Nature organization together with IPSO Research in Romania (http:// De-stares-medium-NCO]rotor) shows that the citizens have a growing concern regarding the environmental problems. From those interviewed 50% knew at least one echo-friendly active MONGO in Romania. Also the greatest threats identified were pollution and deforestation. Furthermore, 61% of the population interviewed said they are bothered by pollution and consider industry and car emissions to be the mall cause.
Tendency In waste control was also Montreal In ten study as a Doctor that creates daily living discomfort.
All of these mentioned above were considered to be caused by ignorance, authority indifference and lack of education. In Romania only 13% of the donations are directed to environmental initiatives the high percentages of support being given to children and elder organizations. In Club county there are a total of 25 environmental Mangos (http:// www. Statisticians. O/Eng-URI-din-club]) from which only three (EFFACE, ZERO WASTE, Green and Wild) try to improve the living conditions in the urban area.
The rest are focused on conserving, protecting and harnessing the rural area of the county. Even the four associations which take into account the city are mostly focused on the outskirts and have random civic projects. Analysis First of all, the dynamics the world is evolving in are quite complex. In the sustainability and ecological field things are discovered daily in terms of opportunities and threats.
Even though it is of common knowledge that certain raciest are beneficial and other are not the solutions provided tend to become extinct by the minute.
As Churchman’s (Goldman, Gorham, 2006) classic “environmental fallacy theory’ would say: every problem has an “environment”, to which it is inextricably united. If you stop x from growing or declining, you will make other things grow or decline, and these changes you have created may very well be as serious, and as disastrous, as the growth of x. This means that the medium we are dealing with is not only dynamic but also complex and fragile.
Solutions should always be approached with caution in order not to cause more problems. However, some issues might become extinct in a few years as new regulations and policies develop. All in all, an actor in this MONGO sector should focus attention on continuously gathering as much information possible, learning from others experience and gaining it in the process, make long term decisions and become flexible to change.
Secondly, our initiative will develop in a context which contains governmental, economical, social, technological influences.
Examining these factors helps in spotting opportunities, and it gives advanced warning of significant threats. Also, it alps avoid starting projects that are likely to fail, for reasons beyond the No’s control. The Romania government has specific demands from the European Union when it comes to environmental protection. First of all there are seven principles which guide the conduit of the ELI: polluter pays, preventive action, precautionary measures, high demands of quality, integration and proximity (http:// www. European.
Mousses. E/books/Book_2/5/16/02/021? All=1).
Each year the country takes certain commitments towards the implementation of the unions policies and has to pay fines if it consecutively fails to implement them. According to REALITY (2013) in 2012 Romania had 55 measures for applying the Else’s recommendations in the areas of: industrial pollution, waste management, water quality and climate change. However in the last three fields the government failed to meet the demands and is in need of help from the private and non-governmental sector.
An aid for the non-prompt sector Is ten Hacks cook wanly states near ten Law nor. /1 (NTP www. Cede. Or/plus/legs/legs_pack. Http_act_text? Did=52436) that non-profit organizations are exempt from paying a tax on their profits and incomes from economical activities until it reaches 15.
000 Euro in a fiscal year. However this income should be no more than 10% from the income exempt from paying which is represented by: share taxes, financial contributions of members, registration taxes, sponsorships, donations, dividends and interest from selling and buying ventures, resources from public funds, income from events organizing and PR activities.
The state laws come in support of environmental protection and are well written, the issue is their implementation and the fact that private gain can cause them to change unpredictably over night without regard for the wellbeing of society. In the economical field we can observe the appearance of the CARS (corporate social responsibility) concept through which companies (Romper- Tara lull Andrei) choose to help the environment and fund Mangos which help them do so in return for a better image.
From the status of the Cinderella in the private sector the echo attitude is becoming a popular one and taking the form of green washing in numerous cases.
This is like a knife with two sides one that provides space and opportunity for maneuver and another which creates a false impression about sustainability and destroys the image of well intended actors. Another economical aspect is the funding for environmental protection projects. Again the EX. has started offering funds and grants to encourage initiative in the area.
The MONGO sector has more tools to attract money as the sums are smaller than for companies and more shareholders start to grant them.
For example Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland (http://sergeants. Org/) developed special funds for echo-friendly Mangos (Panda punter Desolater Society Civil, Panda Punter Partnering, Centre De Reuses punter Participate Public) and contests are being organized by large investors in order to discover new assures for sustainability (http://sec. Europe. U/programmer/horizontal/). In Club- Anaphora up till 2013 the authority in charge for fund distribution was POS Medium (http://www. Possessed.
Or/parentage) and for the next period 2014-2020 new opportunities will arise in the environmental non-profit sector. On the social side if we Judge from the number of people present at the recent environmental protests for Rossi Montana it would seem that there is a strong community involved echo-friendly citizens. However, the facts would prove otherwise.
Judging by the level of recycling which is 1% (Antenna 1, 2011) for Romania the population is convenient in practicing what it preaches. According to Dan Peter a managing partner at D Research a study was conducted in 2012 to see whether Romaine’s are sensitive to the fact that some products are ecological. The result was that a consistent number of the population said they are influenced by this when buying a product but the consumer trends in supermarket have not changed in favor of the bio labeled products.
It is believed that this trend has only influenced the ones with high income and education.
Moreover, during the already conducted campaign n the used oil collection department (initiative started by SC Provisos SIR) 300 tenants associations were contacted in order to start collecting in their own flats. From these only 40 agreed and the ones that haven’t stated that they are reluctant to try because they are convinced that nothing can be done in Romania in the environmental T I Nils proves Tanat tenure Is a Nell level AT normalization among the public which have witnessed the systems flaws. The conclusion would be that it is still a long road towards education and responsibility forming but the base has been rated.
In the technological department we are witnessing a dynamic movement toward ecological inventions like: solar powered cell-phones, green roofs, ice energy, electric cars, etc (http://www.
Independent. Co. UK/environment/the-worlds-greatest-green- inventions-414552. HTML). However, all of these are not used on a grand scale being only available for the wealthy ones.
Even the UN Department of Economic and Social affairs has been calling upon society in 2011 to develop new technologies to avoid ecological destruction. Without drastic improvements in and diffusion of green cosmologies, we will not reverse the ongoing ecological destruction and secure a decent livelihood for all of humankind, now and in the future,” said Rob Voss, Director of the Development Policy and Analysis Division. (http://www. UN. Org/en/development/ desk/news/policy/west-2011 . HTML).
Over the next 40 years, $1. 9 trillion per year are needed for incremental investments in green technologies. At least one-half, or $1. 1 trillion per year, are needed in developing countries to meet their rapidly increasing food and energy demands through the application of green technologies.
At the same time, about 2. Billion people rely on traditional biomass, such as wood, dung and charcoal, for their energy needs.
And 20 per cent have no access to electricity. To achieve a decent living standard for people in developing countries, much greater economic progress is needed. This proves that changes are expected in this department. Romania as former communist country has been rather slow in implementing the new green technology as there is still a conservative tendency among the citizens.
All in all, the Mangos must be receptive to the new trends and if they cannot buy the technology at least try to improvise or adapt it to the country deeds. Globalization is also an important aspect in this domain because pollution is a global issue.
The Mangos have to provide added value in comparison not only with regional and national actors but also with international ones. At present globally known Mangos like Greenback, WFM, UNEVEN, WON, EYE are monopolizing and assimilating a high amount of funds. Because of their well known reputation and credibility they manage to get across easier and create a change faster.
As a smaller participant at the beginning our initiative should make use their expertise and try to find means to collaborate. Nonetheless, skepticism should be preserved to protect a new MONGO from becoming a satellite of these giants and forced to follow some guidelines which are not always in the benefit of the environment.
In order to anticipate shifts in the environment the key drivers of change should be identified. Our project is strictly tied to the environmental strategy of the cities we will activate in. According to the draft for Club-Anaphora’s 2014-2020 strategic plan (http://camp. O/) the main issues which need attention are: air, water and soil pollution, green space, waste and risk management, sustainable transportation and energy efficiency. The MONGO must act in tune with those in order not to find itself against the wave, become ineffective and even create problems.
The private sector is also a key driver because it can come with solutions in certain areas where the MONGO NAS to Dock TOT or Just try to offer consultancy Ana supervision. Being unmade at TLS to have a constant amount of money the MONGO will rely on funds.
The legislation and priorities set by the authorities in this domain are crucial to the survival of the initiative on the long term. These should be constantly supervised and actualities to prevent bankruptcy. Even though the conclusion was that the environment is a complex one which requires experience learning it would not hurt to build three scenarios to have an overall idea about the future.
The four main uncertainty factors are related to: 1. Government spending in the environmental and MONGO field which could be high or low 2. The flexibility of citizens’ perceptions which is either low or moderate 3.
Collaboration with the private sector that can be easy or difficult 4. Availability of new technologies which can be facile or impossible. The best situation will be called idealist future scenario where the government pending is raised in both MONGO and environmental sector and easy to acquire.
Moreover, the sponsorships and support would likewise come from the private sector. This would motivate the members and raise the speed of the process. The fact that the citizens would have moderately changing perceptions would add to the speed and the impact would be visible fast.
The new technologies would influence the efficiency and influence the reputation of the MONGO helping it to become a leader in the domain. The status quo scenario involves little change and presents the following characteristics: a moderate government spending in this sector and a low implication from the private sector especially with Mangos new in the field. The citizens’ perceptions are rather inflexible and tend to form a pattern.
Also the technologies are costly and quite unavailable for the large public. Here the strategy would be to focus on applying for funds to acquire technology and gradually change the citizens’ perceptions.
Another possible scenario is the poor rich man one, where money would come from the private sector and also technology donations would be made. However here the government and public would be slow to react and participate in the change. This would actually be the worse one as a lot of money would be spent with no result.
The next element of the medium is the competitiveness which can be analyzed through the five forces: threat of entry, power of the buyers and sellers, threat of substitutes and competitive rivalry.
The threat of entry in our case is quite huge as the budget needed for founding an MONGO in Romania is maximum 2000 lei in total with layer fee and patrimony. The problem related to advantages independent of size exists because there are many Mangos which have activated for a long time, are known and have a good reputation. The public will not reach pleasantly to new ones as they have no proof to back up their promises and words. The fact that the Mangos can differentiate themselves and the laws are permissive in this domain makes the entry even easier.
The buyers in this case are the fans, the citizens who Join the organization or start to contribute to its project in order to live by its principles.
The issue in Club-Anaphora is that there is a large amount of association (more than 265). These are also offer a wide range of choices from all the specializations of each faculty to culture, art, religion, youth and other niches. The participants are not held accountable for leaving wanly means teeny can move Trebly Trot one to another . As result TN buyers have the power and can choose to pull out of the market any supplier by not showing interest.
The suppliers on the other hand are the investors, the partners, the ones that choose to sponsor/fund the MONGO because they also believe in the cause and want to be associated with its image. Moreover, the state can be a supplier as it regulates and decides how much funds should be redirected to this sector, if the environment is a priority and if it allows certain activities.
In this case there is a huge concentration of suppliers especially in Club-Anaphora where the business sector is booming and multinational companies build branches.
Nevertheless, the brand is highly important for them and for a new MONGO it can be rather difficult to get by until the name its name becomes popular. A good thing is that the maneuver power is quite big as the associations can select and switch its sponsors if they are not worthy without having any costs. Because there is likewise a huge amount of Mangos in Club- Anaphora 25 only in the environment sector and another 265 in total the dependence n the suppliers is quite high. This is doubled by the fact that the funds from the EX. and other international bodies are hard to attract and take a long time to be put into function.
The threat of substitutes takes different forms. First of all, there are PR companies which can provide environmental campaigns for companies and because they are specially trained in this domain might provide a higher quality. Their downside is the fact that they have no social implication in the community and strictly do business which can damage a company’s image if the public becomes aware. Secondly, certain activities might be done by the companies CARS sector and prove quite efficient in solving problems. For example Mol Romania has a campaign for oil collection from the population and provides logistics to help the public.
Nevertheless, the results are not satisfactory because the company is mostly interested in the image and not the actual quantities collected, thus it has no long term motivation to change the world.
Finally, the government through its institutions: City Halls, schools, universities, local authorities can have special initiatives that involve environmental protection: tree lancing in spring, garbage collection, green space restoration. These are all substitutes which provide either the same service either come as a solution to the same problem.
The need in this case is very difficult to change as all the studies show that health is strictly linked to a healthy environment. Because the purpose of the MONGO is to help society these substitutes can be treated as future partners as they have the same goal and can contribute to improving the situation in this area. Last but not least from the five forces that influence the environment is the nominative rivalry and collaboration. In our situation this is definitely likely as entry is easy, substitutes exist and buyers and suppliers have most of the control.
The only advantage can be gained through differentiation.
Sun Thus would call it finding a place where the market is weak and no one dares to go and attack it. As that would be a competitive advantage we should also focus on collaboration at least at the beginning when our power and reputation are low. This would have to be done only with partners which help the MONGO focus attention on its own competences or create a greater value together. At the beginning it would be wise to associate with popular, large MONGO In ten Tool as teeny would provoke good case practices, come to ten rescue in case the implementation suffers and help open many doors with their reputation.
The only threat Natural et Civvies should avoid is getting assimilated by these tycoons and being positioned in the shade of the large tree where nothing meaningful grows. You can only reach your target if you know what it is and how far you are from it. Knowing where you stand in the environment in comparison with the others is crucial giving you the ability to improve and set a path. The most important pillars which have to be taken into consideration are the strategic group, market segmentation, customer’s perceived value, market attractiveness and competitor analysis.
The active Mangos in the environmental field can be split into 4 categories: international (WFM, Greenback, WON, etc), strictly responsible for the European Union (EYE), national (Let’s do it Romania, Maim multi verve, etc.
) local/regional major brands (Laburnum Mayor, Green and Wild, etc), local anonymous actors (EFFACE, Zero Waste, etc). The characteristics of each group are different. For example international Mangos have the ability to create major changes in society and do it according to the places which need help.
They are usually the ones in close contact with international environmental legislation, make lobby for certain regulation and have a history behind them which helps them gain access easily. Their financial situation is well supported by business tycoons and they have the priority when it comes to attracting funds. It is common for them to make partnerships with smaller ones as they have more expertise on local issues.
The national Mangos are well known for certain radical activities which have had a beneficial impact on the country. They tend to keep it simple and tackle on problem at a time.
The popular local associations have gained the communities trust through small but efficient initiatives which change over time depending on the citizens’ needs. The unpopular non-profit organizations were not able to engage the attention and when they did their inconsistency spoiled the positive impact. The first target is to move towards the well-known local associations group and then work our way nationally.
Taking into consideration that Natural et Civvies didn’t have any activities so far he strategic plan will seek to analyze other 3 Mangos from Club-Anaphora which represent the competition or potential collaborators.
The main associations focused on the urban area are: EFFACE, Zero Waste, Green and Wild. They will be rated according to: popularity, number of activities, number of active members and quality on a scale of 1 to 10. In this way the competitor analysis will be covered in terms of impact, reputation and consistent service. As there is no actual statistic made on this subject we will take into consideration the qualitative data from the internet.
Judging y the number of likes and friends of Faceable but also, by the number of online interactions the most popular is EFFACE with over 1000 friends and an average of 10 interactions per/post, followed by Green and Wild association which has over 600 Likes Ana an average AT 3 Interactions/post Ana last out not least Is In terms AT popularity Zero Waste with 340 likes and an average of two interactions. It is interesting to see that reputation is linked with time as EFFACE was founded in 2002, Green and Wild in 2010 and Zero Waste in 2012. Their number of activities will be taken for the year 2012 and 2013 to see how things have evolved.
Here Green and Wild is the leader with 37 projects in the last two years, followed by EFFACE with 6 project and Zero Waste with 6. Knowing the MONGO personally I can state the number of active members ranges from 20 – Green and Wild, 7 – Zero Waste and 9- EFFACE.
Last but not least we have quality which can be related to the actual impact the activities have had on society. In this case the activities were analyzed and it is clear that by working with children and educating them Green and Wild provided the best quality, followed by Zero Waste which has started a quest into recycling and engaged to create change in little time.
The last is EFFACE which has had diverse projects over the years (with children, adolescents, adults) however the lack of substantial impact has caused its downfall over the years. Another essential factor is market segmentation which will show us the similarities and differences between the groups of customers and users. This can offer a new organization insight on how to approach a differentiation strategy.
The objectives of segmentation are: to reduce risk in deciding where, when, how, and to whom a product, service, or brand will be marketed and to increase marketing efficiency by directing effort specifically toward the designated segment in a manner consistent with that segment’s characteristics. Furthermore, these competitors cover different segments of the market and it is crucial to know their strong points in this area to be able to plan the maneuvers ahead. The segments will be split into age groups because this is the main differentiation between Mangos.
From the chart we can see how some segments like for example the elders are neglected and other like students and children are frequently considered important for these Mangos. Putting together the quality and umber of activities with this analysis we will be able to see their position in the market.
The two tables presented to far will be merged into an impact and market segment matrix which will position the three main competitors on the field. By adding the grades given to every variable and dividing them by 10 we have the coordinates for each MONGO analyzed: Green and Wild (3,4; 33), EFFACE(I and Zero waste (1 2,6).
As we can see Trot ten matrix above an NO NAS manage to condone Impact Walt relevance. This brings on a challenge for new entrants as they either can compete to ease the stakes for one of the variables or go for both which would cause them to be one step behind at least at the beginning. In terms of market attractiveness and business unit strength the first things to be distinguished are the market’s variables which determine its value. Each indicator will be given one of the three ratings low, medium, high.
The number of environmental MONGO is quite low as from 265 in total in Club-Anaphora only 25 have this statute meaning approximately 9%.
The demand is left unsatisfied meaning the market size is big. The market growth rate is medium as the number of new citizens s not raising in a fast pace, however it is constantly growing and with them the needs. The number of Mangos hasn’t actually changed over time only the actors have either abandoned the field and were replaced by others. Because of the niche occupied by each association in the field the competition is low which gives the market attractiveness.
The barriers of entry are low nevertheless the profitability is low because existing the associations barely managed to survive and get by from one project to another.
All in all, we can rate the market attractiveness in the medium towards high area. The business unit strength is rather difficult to assess as the initiative has not begun yet but we would like to focus on brand, quality, practicality, management strength and building loyalty. The structured information gathered so far should be enough to aid us in conducting the SOOT analysis which in terms will lead to the formulation of the objectives and strategy for the new MONGO. First of all, the strengths and weaknesses of a novel entrant lie in its members, knowledge, access to information and ability to adapt.
A few strengths of Natural et Civvies would be: – members with experience in vast domains from: marketing, PR, IT, management, business, fund raising, art and environmental science – motivation to create a positive change in society in the environmental field – wide range of contacts and relations in the public, non-profit, institutional and private sector – easy access to information – high amount of dedicated time – no hierarchical barriers in implementing creative ideas – successful past events organized by the members for other Mangos which offer guarantee Weaknesses are also related to the inside of an organization and in this case could be: – lack of experience in running an MONGO
