Strategic Change at American Heart Association: SWOT and AI
This paper examines the need for strategic change at the American Heart Association (AHA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke. Using a SWOT analysis, the paper identifies key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the AHA, with a particular focus on insufficient training among personnel and volunteers. The paper then applies the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) 4-D Cycle — Discovery, Dream, Design, and Destiny — to the same organizational challenges. A comparative analysis of both frameworks reveals that while SWOT analysis is useful for identifying problems, AI's strength-based, stakeholder-inclusive approach is better suited to building confidence, generating buy-in, and driving meaningful organizational improvement at the AHA.
- Introduction to Strategic Change: Why organizations must adapt strategies to survive
- Why American Heart Association Needs Strategic Change: CPR access gap and training deficiencies drive change
- SWOT Analysis of the American Heart Association: AHA strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
- Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle Analysis: Applying AI's four stages to AHA's training problem
- Comparing SWOT and Appreciative Inquiry Outcomes: Contrasting engagement, buy-in, and motivational outcomes
- Conclusion: AI recommended; integration of both frameworks advised
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its argument in concrete statistics — the 32% CPR access rate — which gives the strategic analysis a clear, measurable problem to address throughout.
- It applies two distinct analytical frameworks (SWOT and Appreciative Inquiry) to the same organization and then systematically compares their outcomes, demonstrating critical evaluation of methodology rather than simple description.
- The conclusion integrates both frameworks rather than dismissing one entirely, showing nuanced, balanced reasoning appropriate for nonprofit management analysis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates comparative framework analysis: two established strategic planning tools are applied to a single case study and evaluated side by side. The author moves beyond merely defining each framework and instead uses evidence from the AHA context — personnel numbers, CPR access rates, stakeholder types — to show concretely where each method succeeds or falls short. This technique is common in business and public administration writing and signals graduate-level analytical thinking.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief overview of strategic change theory before narrowing to the AHA's specific need for change. A SWOT analysis is presented in list form, followed by an explanation of the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle and its application to AHA's training problem. The longest section directly compares outcomes from both frameworks, building toward a conclusion that recommends integrating the two approaches. The structure is linear and argument-driven, with each section building logically on the last.
Introduction to Strategic Change
Organizations that want to survive, succeed, and ultimately undertake meaningful work must respond to the challenges and difficulties presented by the world around them. One major aspect of this response may require an organization to shift its focus, approaches, and strategies. These dimensions of strategic change are important and pivotal to an organization's growth, continued success, and long-term prosperity. Strategic adaptation also prevents an organization from becoming obsolete in whatever industry or sector it operates (Bryson, 2011; Lega, Longo, & Rotolo, 2013).
Moreover, Malik, Al Kahtani, and Naushad (2013) argue that a strategic planning process that is well designed and properly implemented can provide an organization with a forum for entity-wide discussions about significant decisions. Such a process can also be systematized to make evaluation, resource allocation, and authorization more manageable, and can serve as a foundation of information regarding progress and accomplishment — information that carries material significance for all those connected with the organization. This paper undertakes an analysis of strategic change for the American Heart Association (AHA).
Why American Heart Association Needs Strategic Change
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization supported by a limited professional staff and a large base of volunteers from across the nation. Its headquarters are located in Dallas, Texas. The organization's mission is to increase the number of people living healthier lives free of stroke and cardiovascular disease. The AHA is in great need of strategic change given the prevalence of cardiovascular ailments and the direct impact the organization has on human lives.
According to Dineen (2015), statistics indicate that roughly one in every three deaths in the United States is attributed to cardiovascular disease. Globally, it is estimated that approximately 17 million people die from this disease each year, and the AHA anticipates this number will rise to about 23 million deaths worldwide. A key driver of the organization's need for strategic change is the lack of training and proficiency among its workforce. The organization employs more than three thousand staff members and is supported by approximately thirty million volunteers and advocates — all oriented toward expanding life-saving knowledge. Despite these large numbers, statistics indicate that a person suffering from cardiac arrest receives CPR only 32% of the time, largely because bystanders fear performing the procedure incorrectly due to inadequate training (Dineen, 2015).
SWOT Analysis of the American Heart Association
SWOT analysis is a practical method for understanding an organization's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The approach helps determine whether a given issue is an internal or external factor and how it hinders or benefits the organization — not only in the present but also in future periods (Malik et al., 2013). The following is a SWOT analysis of the American Heart Association.
1. The organization has a well-recognized brand.
2. AHA has established affiliations with other organizations.
3. A large portion of the general population is already aware of heart health issues (Gonzalez et al., 2012).
4. Effective social media promotions and campaigns.
5. A large number of professional staff and volunteers.
6. A nationwide presence.
1. Personnel are continually occupied with multiple projects.
2. Minimal and insufficient resources and budgets.
3. Dependence on donors for fundraising.
4. Insufficient training and education among personnel.
5. Abstract or vague objectives for awareness campaigns (Gonzalez et al., 2012).
1. Increased proficiency among personnel could save a greater number of lives.
2. Potential for additional partnerships (Gonzalez et al., 2012).
1. A rise in preventable deaths.
2. High maintenance costs (Gonzalez et al., 2012).
Conclusion
The American Heart Association (AHA) is one of the most prominent nonprofit organizations in the United States. The primary driver for strategic change within the organization is the need for enhanced training and education among its personnel. Statistics indicate that 68% of the time, individuals experiencing a cardiovascular emergency do not receive CPR — not because help is unavailable, but because bystanders lack the confidence and training necessary to act (Dineen, 2015).
In comparing SWOT analysis and Appreciative Inquiry as tools for increasing the AHA's impact, AI emerges as the more effective approach. This is because AI is grounded in the assumption that the ongoing generation and sharing of meaning is fundamental to the full engagement of individuals and to the organization's capacity for open, effective transformation. By adopting this approach, the AHA can strengthen its investment in stakeholders and make better use of their potential. While SWOT analysis focuses on negative factors — emphasizing the 68% who do not receive CPR rather than the 32% who do — AI reframes that gap as an opportunity. This strength-based perspective fosters morale, builds confidence among team members, and creates the motivational foundation needed for meaningful and lasting change.
References
Bryson, J. M. (2011). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Capela, S., & Brooks-Saunders, A. (n.d.). A different approach to strategic planning: SOAR — Building strengths-based strategy. Hearthshare Human Services.
Dineen, J. (2015). How the American Heart Association transformed its business to save millions more lives. Forbes.
Gonzalez, R., et al. (2012). American Heart Association tweet-up campaign. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://raquelgonzalez.weebly.com/uploads/5/9/5/1/5951264/american_heart_association.pdf
Lega, F., Longo, F., & Rotolo, A. (2013). Decoupling the use and meaning of strategic plans in public healthcare. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 13(5). Retrieved from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/13/5
Malik, S. A., Al Kahtani, N. S., & Naushad, M. (2013). Integrating AHP, SWOT and QSPM in strategic planning — An application to College of Business Administration in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Academic Research, 5(5), 373–379.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.