Seacoast Science Center (SSC)

Class Preparation Questions/Activities

Perform a General/Marco Environmental Analysis as it relates to SSC.

P-The New Hampshire Parks Department and IBM give grant money annually to the Seacoast science Center.

E-As the internet grows and the amount of money will spend on luxury activities dwindles , the Seacoast science center must deal with declining numbers of museum goers.

S-Science related attractions have recently been declining in interest amongst the general population as sports and ambiguous entertainment grow .

T-A lot of research has been done and seems to be plateauing , plus there is only so much money that states and lenders will give to update technology that only analyzes science not just progression in it.

E-The science center seems to not be leaving that big of a carbon footprint.

L-The increasing sea level is beginning to remove some of the nearby beach from the center’s property. Not many regulations have been put on the science center.

Perform a Porter’s 5 Forces Industry Analysis as it relates to SSC. (Note: The amount of information you have about the different forces varies tremendously. Also, many not-for-profits like SSC have two customer groups, as Visitors and Donors can both be considered customers. Take this into account as you do your analysis.)

Threat of New Entrants: (Low) The seacoast Science center is specific to the region of new hampshire. Anything within a 50 mile radius would not be able to bring in visitors because as there is already low numbers of them it would be hard to beat out the history of the SSC .

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: (Medium): For the visitors their bargaining power is medium because there are other attractions nearby. The price of entry is low compared to theme parks but they do bring in more money and offer more to their visitors.For donors , they have a high bargaining power because they are the largest part of the SSC’s revenue and they give to thousands of other science related groups they could donate to.

Threats of Substitute Products or Services:(Low) The SSC is very unique to it’s environment and to the market it’s in. Aquatic Science is a niche of it’s own and the SSC is very specific to the New Hampshire Coast.

Bargaining Power of Buyers: (Medium) There a re a few attractions near the SSC such as a Children’s museum, Gundalow Sailing Company,National Estuaries, Science and Nature of Seabrook, New England Aquarium.

Rivalry Among Existing Competitors (Medium) There are science centers nearby but the SSC is specific to their region and thus may help with keeping rivalry low.

Use the above information as well as other information from the case about SSC’s internal situation to help you outline a S.W.O.T. (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats) analysis for SSC.

Strengths: The SSC is unique to it’s region and has integrated recent technology into it’s education system. It is a state park so it can receive government funding and science grants.Weakness: Education as a whole has been declining as a whole in the United States. There are other attractions nearby that allow visitors to the region, a more family friendly experience. Opportunities: The SSC is able to get grant money from science foundations and from government conservation systems. Threats: The amount of money it costs to run the SSC has increased and the number of visitors has been dwindling since the early 2000s.Other attractions nearby also have been cutting into the revenue of SSC.

What are the KSFs (key success factors) for “businesses” such as SSC?

The SSC key success factors are, adjusting to the technological times and offering and knowledge rich environment for a low price of entry.

SSC has a stake in the history of the New Hampshire history and has been built up through times of economic hardship.

It’s use for weddings , conferences and special events allows it to gain revenue from non visitor and donor means.

How should SSC measure its “performance”? How would you describe SSC’s current performance (at the time of the case)?

SSC should measure its performance in the numbers of people it reaches, whether it be visitors or those who take part in the distance learning programs.

It could also measure it in the amount of money it gains from donors over that of other science centers in the area.

Does SSC have a good strategy? Is it creating value?

The SSC has a good strategy of offering so many options of learning about the coast for a low cost, but the fact that paid extraneous education is decreasing the future for SSC does not look that bright. It is creating value by adding technological advancement to it’s museum but it is also dealing with outside forces that it has no control over such as the economy and rival businesses.

What changes should it make to its strategy? (This answer should be fairly detailed.) If I were in control of SSC I would begin to open up it’s availability to the public outside of the education realm. If they opened up their grounds to music festivals, food bizarre , cultural and regional events that would draw people to the area and to the site of the SSC and there they would be able to see what the center has to offer and they would be more inclined to visit the grounds again. I would use sufficient funds to build a restaurant in the museum or near the grounds, have you seen the view of the ocean from there? A fine dining establishment could greatly increase the popularity of the science museum and would bring a different kind of “money” to the center.

Should SSC raise its admission fee? Why or why not?

I think it should raise its prices to $8 for adults and $5 for kids and $50 per individuals and $75 per family membership( if the fine dining and food establishments were to be integrated ) I would do this because visually it looks easy to afford and with all the the center has to offer it could use the extra money to increase parts of it’s business.