Example Of Report On Little League Analysis

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Issue Identification: Presented with a P.R nightmare of the little league being under the microscope of having coaches and parents in the league who use unscrupulous means to win games. Given the new policies instituted by HQ regarding player eligibility and age verification, there has been a backlash from the volunteer’s corp. on how difficult it would be to institute such changes going forward.
Root causes: Danny Almonte star player of the Brooklyn was caught for manipulating his age records to be presented as a 12 year old vs. him actually being 12. Sworn affidavits were provided by his parents and accepted by his coach. This when revealed led to his eventual disqualification and the little league reacting to new rules being instituted.
Major Vs. Minor problems: The major problem is the long term survival of the little league brand, vs. the current teething problem presented by the volunteers.
Analysis: Apart from the fact that little league already has a number of competitors who could lose market share they should be careful of having their participants not lose interest in the sport itself. As you will notice by reading the case study that the organization is facing a P.R nightmare which is threatening its long term sustainability. To better decipher this problem lets go through the following SWOT analysis (Kong, 2008) as follows:
The model above shows Little league of America is in an industry with low barriers of entry, high competitive rivalry and with strong buyer influence. Suppliers have very few options to change their approach to presenting and marketing their offering. Apart from this buyer have the options of choosing different sports to switch too.
Current Strategy: In order to better understand what steps little league should take to tackle their current issue it is important to highlight the current strategy. Little league of America has concentrated on an aggressive strategy of growth. From a positive standpoint, it has been largely organic based on its brand image as an organization that brings the intrinsic values of a sports team to young boys which will train them to be leaders of tomorrow. All this packaged with encouragement from a number of sponsors who provide funding to the various teams.
Recommendation: Although growth is at the core of a number of organizations , Little league should shift to a product differentiation strategy which will help cover a number of issues at hand. Reinventing their brand as a league which is different from others in terms of checking and validating information which promotes discipline will have long term positive effects. In this case they will present themselves to existing teams as an organization that has learnt from their mistakes and are intent on making sure that an event like the Danny Almonte scandal does not happen again. This will also appeal to sponsors which provide financial stability to the teams, who will appreciate that the league is taking changes seriously.
Implementation of the new rules and regulations which have been met by resistance by the volunteers is a point of concern but has to confront it head on. The organization has to budget for reorientation for all volunteers by having employees who can provide the correct techniques on collecting the correct documentation from players and help them understand what is acceptable in terms of the new regulations. People in general have a higher tendency to resist changes if they are not comfortable with the new information or cannot understand the reason behind the changes. This will instill more confidence into one of Little leagues most important stakeholders. From a long term standpoint it is important to clearly lay out a path where the core values of organization are preserved and instilled as part of the framework for years to come. (Riquelme,2000).

References

Riquelme. H. (2000). How to Develop More creative strategic plans: Results from an Empirical Study. Creativity & Innovation management.
Kong,E.(2008). The development f strategic management in the non-profit context: Intellectual capital in social service non-profit organizations. International journal of management reviews.
Dobbs,M.E (2014). Guidelines for applying porters five forces framework : a set of industry analysis templates. Competitive review.
Kim.M., & Wang,I.K. (2014). Dynamic product differentiation strategies: an examination of firm and industry characteristics. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management
(2003). Case Study: Little league baseball Inc. Arthur M. Blank center for entrepreneurship. Babson College
References