Management Assignment: Business Case Analysis Of Ducks Unlimited, Canada

Question

Task: Instructions for Management Assignment:

Tom Duffy is the manager of Atlantic Canada operations for Ducks Unlimited Canada (https://www.ducks.ca/places/atlantic/). As with many non-profit executives, he is experiencing some fiscal challenges and needs to increase his sources of revenue. Advice is being sought as to how to proceed in resolving this real-life issue. Here is the link to the video clips (Alternatives and Solution slide not provided yet):

https://www.casenet.ca/Cases/Ducks-Unlimited-Atlantic-Canada--1

Some helpful information:
Atlantic Canada includes the eastern provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

Wetlands Restoration is focused on restoring naturally occurring water levels of drained and altered wetlands. These projects are combined with other programs such as conservation easements and forage conversion to maximize the benefits of your land.

Environmental Conservation is the practice of us humans saving the environment from the loss of species, and the destruction of the ecosystem, primarily due to pollution and human activities. Conservation is vital in saving and helping both animals and trees as we are all dependent on one another for survival.

What are some of the key pieces of information in this case?

• Ducks employs individuals with specialized skills
• Ducks has strong competencies in watershed management, GIS Analysis, project and program management, and government relations
• Ducks traditional sources of revenues are decreasing

Who might make use of the existing competencies and skills of Ducks? Government

• Private land owners
• Government contractors

Business Model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value - economic, social, or other forms of value.

Some external resources that may be helpful:

Ducks Unlimited Canada (http://www.ducks.ca)

Natural Resources Canada (http://www.nrcan.gc.ca)

Statistics Canada (http://www.statscan.gc.ca)

Environment Canada (http://www.ec.gc.ca)

NS Department of Natural Resources (http://novascotia.ca/natr/)

When responding to this case study assignment, the following components will be required:

1. A summary of the ISSUE and the CAUSE facing the individual or organization. Ensure both aspects are mentioned. Please balance being succinct yet thorough.
2. A SUMMARY ANALYSIS including all relevant information from the video.
3. A SUMMARY ANALYSIS that includes relevant information from 4-6 external resources. They may include your textbook, IBIS or other sources.
4. ist 4-6 ALTERNATIVES / OPTIONS for addressing the issue. Include all options even if they are not the most desirable ones.
5. A suggested SOLUTION needs to be presented along with a JUSTIFICATION for the chosen solution.
6. A REFERENCE list including external sources mentioned in the Summary Analysis.

All components can be provided in point form as long as the information is detailed and informative enough. References must be provided using APA format.

Answer

Introduction to the business case selected for management assignment

Ducks Unlimited, Atlantic Canada is a non-profit organization comprising of a passionate community of wetland stewards. This community works for conserving and restoring some of the threatened and vulnerable landscapes valuable for the planet (Ducks Unlimited Canada, 2021). The mission of the organization is to conserve, manage and restore various wetlands and habitats for ensuring the benefits of North America’s waterfowl where the habitats are of great significance to the wildlife and people. The vision of this organization is to provide clean water and healthy wetlands to all wildlife, waterfowl and people for supporting the future generation. The purpose of this research is to understand and analyse the issues facing the organization and provide suitable solutions for it.

Issue and Cause Facing Organization

The main issue facing Ducks Unlimited operations in Atlantic Canada as recognized by the manager Tom Duffy is its reliance on only one or two sources for generating revenues for the organization. The organization is traditionally dependent on donors for its funding. This has been putting extreme financial pressure on the non-for-profit organization for restoring wetlands because of the changing economic conditions. As mentioned by the manager, the operations of a non-profit organization are similar to that of a profit-making company in the sense that both of them need generating of cash flows and revenues for ensuring uninterrupted operations. However, the reliance of Ducks Unlimited for such revenue generation only from donor fundings have put the organization in jeopardy. It now faces the challenge of diversifying its revenue streams that is essential for its survival and achieving its vision and mission in the long run.

The primary cause is that the organization is associated with a unique product on the non-profit side. For a long time, Ducks Unlimited used to receive 100% of its funding from the US that has now reduced to 25%. Along with this, the other major sources of revenue generation mainly include donations from governments, private individuals, corporations and fundraising. However, these sources are not sufficient for the organization to survive in the long run. It has been willing to grab the opportunity of appealing to other sectors of the society to diversify its revenue streams. These sectors must be selected based on their support for wetland conservation and its produced benefits. This indicates that the main cause of the issue is to attract other parts of the society interested in such wetland conservation undertaken by the organization as its operation.

Summary Analysis

Ducks Unlimited was founded in 1937 in the US followed by its emergence in Canada after a year. This shows that the organization has significant experience in wetland conservation. The fundamental purpose of the organization for conserving wetlands is to gain its various benefits provided to society and wildlife, especially for its waterfowl. This encourages it to focus extensively on conserving habitats of waterfowls for sustaining their populations. The organization’s operations for wetland conservation have become ecologically beneficial for the society in terms of flood control and other rain significant events taking place in the Maritimes (Globe Newswire, 2021b). Besides, it also been helpful for various other activities related to carbon sequestering and reducing greenhouse gases. Ducks Unlimited has been generating benefits from wetland conservation for its various stakeholders including landowners, hunters, trappers, general public and people working outdoors. Furthermore, 100% of the funding for the organization came from its US counterpart, which has now reduced to only 25%. The organization now relies mostly on donations from federal and provincial governments, private individuals, fundraising mechanisms and corporations. However, it has been facing various challenges in the recent years. The limited resources availability makes it difficult to carry out the operations. Moreover, the number of non-profit organizations has been growing in the past years, which further increases the competition for gaining funding’s or donations from the same sources. This has encouraged the organization to shift to a more entrepreneurial business model for managing its administrative and other costs more efficiently. 

Canada consists of around 129 million hectares of wetlands that cover 13% of its terrestrial area. These wetlands are becoming scare in various settled parts of the country that were abundant throughout Canada (Government of Canada, 2021). Ducks Unlimited focuses on conserving wetlands as they perform significant roles in protecting water quality, managing the impact of flooding, providing carbon storage for reducing climate change and offering habitats for wildlife and fish (Hafner, 2021). They also possess various cultural, social, spiritual and other values for indigenous people living in the country (Government of Canada, 2021). Furthermore, the Canadian government has also been focusing on doubling the amount of protected nature present in lands and oceans as they are essential for the country’s health, environment and economy. In this regard, the government announced funding of $10 million in 2019 for two years to protect wetlands, migratory birds and endangered species (News Wire, 2019). This plan was implemented as an international partnership for conserving and protecting wetlands and upland habitats along with their waterfowl populations. This partnership has been undertaken with Ducks Unlimited Canada, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Island Nature Trust and Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (News Wire, 2019). Such initiative undertaken by the government for conserving wetlands for future generations has also been another factor motivating Ducks Unlimited in enhancing its operations. Besides, the government is also making significant investments for protecting environment through wetland conservation and addressing biodiversity loss and climate change issues (Globe Newswire, 2021a). Wetlands are becoming increasingly important for managing frequent floods and fire rages, sea levels rising and populations at-risk species (Lantz, Boxall, Kennedy & Wilson, 2013). These ecosystems have become useful in holding and slowing down the water flow, sequester carbon and support biodiversity. This has further increased awareness amongst various parts of society alongside governments, corporations and public (Globe Newswire, 2021a). Thus, Ducks Unlimited can use this awareness for diversifying its revenue generation sources. 

Decision Criteria: Growth Strategies

Ducks Unlimited Canada has been facing the issue of diversifying its revenue streams for ensuring its long-tern survival in the environment. In this regard, the Ansoff Matrix can be used for developing different alternative growth strategies for the non-profit organization in the Atlantic region. It is a strategic planning tool providing four alternative growth strategies to the firms in a matrix format. This matrix consists of two dimensions, namely, product either existing or new and markets either existing or new (Loredana, 2017). Thus, the four alternative growth strategies that Ducks Unlimited can use through this matrix are market penetration, market development, product development and diversification. 

Market penetration strategy can be undertaken by Ducks Unlimited to focus on its existing operations of wetland conservations by using the old sources of donation from federal and provincial governments, private individuals, corporations and fundraising mechanisms (Hussain, Khattak, Rizwan & Latif, 2013). In this regard, the organization will have to extensively communicate its services to the sources for convincing them to continue to provide funds. The advantage of this strategy is that the provision of services and operations of Ducks Unlimited is already known to these funding sources and thus, they will provide resources based on the quality of the work. However, with increasing competition for these funding sources from other non-profit agencies, it will not be sustainable in the long run.

Market development is another strategy that the non-profit organization can undertake. It focuses on developing new markets or market segments by using existing products and services (Hussain, Khattak, Rizwan& Latif, 2014). Here, Ducks Unlimited can enter into new markets beyond New Brunswick, New Found land, Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island for attracting donations from different parties like private individuals, corporations, public and others. The organization can venture into new target markets for attracting corporations, agencies and governments interested in supporting wetland conservation by communicating them about its various benefits related to both environment and society.

Product development strategy involves developing new products or services for offering them to the existing markets (Kalogiannidis & Mavratzas, 2020). Here, Ducks Unlimited can focus on conserving not only wetlands but also on extending its operations for protecting endangered animals and marine species in the existing regions. Conserving endangered species will help in saving native fishes, plants and other wildlife from becoming extinct in the few years. This will further enable in reducing threats like habitat loss and spreading of invasive species in the environment. Thus, alongside wetland conservation Ducks Unlimited can focus on conservation of endangered species of the planet for its growth and survival. 

Diversification is the fourth growth strategy that the organization can undertake for its long-term survival where new products or services are offered in new markets (Ansoff, Kipley, Lewis, Helm-Stevens& Ansoff, 2018). Ducks Unlimited can undertake its new operations of conserving endangered species by entering into new target markets. This will enable it to diversify its sources of funds in the new markets by communicating the importance of its new operations for protecting animals, fishes, marine species and wildlife that are on the verge of becoming extinct within few years. However, it might be difficult to gain funds with such new operations because of the intensive competition and lack of experience of the organization in this sector. 

Alternatives

• Ducks Unlimited can undertake various other alternatives for diversifying its sources of revenues to ensure its long-term survival in the environment. The organization can expand its donor pool to identify stream of passionate donors by researching through various social media platforms (Mayer, Wang, Egginton& Flint, 2014). 

• It can recognize philanthropic individuals by screening them based on the shared values with the organization. 

• The non-profit organization can further depend on corporate giving as large companies often donate for tax purposes, enhancing their web presence and doing something with their extra cash. Ducks Unlimited can seek out grants by preparing proper applications for fulfilling necessary requirements. However, it should not depend extensively on any one of them and further must handle the intensive competition from other organizations. 

• Furthermore, it can also rent out extra spaces, conference rooms and others to other corporate offices for generating revenues and using them for its conservation operations (Berrett& Holliday, 2018). Here, the organization must take precautions about the people to whom the space is being rented. 

• Besides, the organization can use fundraising technique through a peer-to-peer model by encouraging donors to motivate their peers for donating similar to a word-of-mouth strategy. Thus, these are few of the alternative options that Ducks Unlimited can undertake for ensuring its growth in the long term.

Solution and Justification

Ducks Unlimited should consider the market development strategy for growing its operations and revenue sources in the environment. With the help of this strategy, the organization can venture into new target markets and gain potential donors, fundraising opportunities, grants, corporate giving and other sources for its funding. It has been dependent largely on its old sources like federal and provincial governments, private individuals, corporations and fundraising mechanisms for gaining funds to carry out its operations. The organization can enter into new markets to attract new donors like these private individuals, corporations and governments. In addition, it can also acquire new sources of revenues by various strategies like renting out spaces, corporate giving, grants, public fundraising and others. Instead of introducing new services like conserving endangered species in either existing or new markets, this strategy will be more beneficial for the organization because of its experience in wetland conservation. 

Conclusion

The research study aimed at analysing the case study of Ducks Unlimited Atlantic Canada, which is a non-profit organization of wetland conservation. For this purpose, the report first identified the issue of diversifying its revenue sources to ensure its long-term survival alongside the cause of its generation. Furthermore, s situation analysis was provided by pointing out major opportunities, strengths and challenges associated with Ducks Unlimited operations in wetland conservation from the case study itself and other external sources. It further analysed various growth strategies and alternative solutions that the organization can undertake and suggested market development as the most suitable one for diversifying its revenue sources. 

References

Ansoff, H. I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A. O., Helm-Stevens, R., & Ansoff, R. (2018). Implanting strategic management. Springer.

Berrett, J. L., & Holliday, B. S. (2018). The effect of revenue diversification on output creation in nonprofit organizations: A resource dependence perspective. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 29(6), 1190-1201.

Ducks Unlimited Canada. (2021). About us. Retrieved from https://www.ducks.ca/about/

Globe Newswire. (2021a). Saving wetlands is a resolution Canada must keep. Retrieved fromhttps://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/01/28/2165661/0/en/Saving-wetlands-is-a-resolution-Canada-must-keep.html

Globe Newswire. (2021b). Ducks Unlimited Canada launches $3-million initiative to conserve critical wetland habitat along the Wolastoq. Retrieved from https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/09/21/2300583/0/en/Ducks-Unlimited-Canada-launches-3-million-initiative-to-conserve-critical-wetland-habitat-along-the-Wolastoq.html

Government of Canada. (2021). Protect our Wetlands – Protect Nature Challenge. Retrieved fromhttps://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/nature-legacy/activities/protect-wetlands.html

Hafner, K. (2021). Nonprofit to spend $8 million turning farmland back to wetlands near Great Dismal Swamp. Retrieved from https://www.pilotonline.com/news/environment/vp-nw-dismal-swamp-acquisition-20210201-3cbjl2itx5hd5hx776hvi7qkwy-story.html

Hussain, S., Khattak, J., Rizwan, A., & Latif, M. A. (2013). ANSOFF matrix, environment, and growth-an interactive triangle. Management and Administrative Sciences Review, 2(2), 196-206.

Hussain, S., Khattak, J., Rizwan, A., & Latif, M. A. (2014). Interactive effects of Ansoff growth strategies and market environment on firm’s growth. British Journal of Business and Management Research, 1(2), 68-78.

Kalogiannidis, S., & Mavratzas, S. (2020). Impact of marketing mix strategies effective product development issues in MNCs/Retail. International Journal of Business Marketing and Management (IJBMM), 5(12), 118-125.

Lantz, V., Boxall, P. C., Kennedy, M., & Wilson, J. (2013). The valuation of wetland conservation in an urban/peri urban watershed. Management assignment Regional Environmental Change, 13(5), 939-953.

Loredana, E. M. (2017). The use of Ansoff matrix in the field of business. Annals-Economy Series, 2, 141-149.

Mayer, W. J., Wang, H. C., Egginton, J. F., & Flint, H. S. (2014). The impact of revenue diversification on expected revenue and volatility for nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(2), 374-392.

News Wire. (2019). The Government of Canada invests to protect wetlands and migratory birds.Retrieved fromhttps://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/the-government-of-canada-invests-to-protect-wetlands-and-migratory-birds-847102724.html