SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa
In 2005, USAID and the U.S. PresidentA?s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), created the Supply Chain Management System (SCMS) to procure and distribute essential medicines and supplies; provide technical assistance to transform existing supply chains; and collaborated with in-country and global partners to coordinate efforts. The new US Global Health Initiative (GHI) initialized in 2010 sought to build on these efforts through strengthened platforms and systems. PEPFAR's five-year strategy, as contribution to the GHI, focused on transitioning the program from an emergency response to a sustainable, country-owned effort. The case describes the general approach designed by SCMS, the intricacies of its successful implementation in Ethiopia, and the challenges moving forward in that country.
Authors :: Ananth Raman, Noel Watson, Santiago Kraiselburd, Emmanuel Akili
Swot Analysis of "SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa" written by Ananth Raman, Noel Watson, Santiago Kraiselburd, Emmanuel Akili includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Scms Ghi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Health, Strategy, Supply chain and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Scms Ghi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Scms Ghi operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Scms Ghi
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Scms Ghi
Strengths SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Scms Ghi in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Scms Ghi is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Scms Ghi is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Scms Ghi is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Scms Ghi digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Scms Ghi has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Scms Ghi in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Scms Ghi is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Scms Ghi
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Scms Ghi does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Scms Ghi is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Scms Ghi has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Scms Ghi is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Scms Ghi in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Scms Ghi has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Scms Ghi to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Scms Ghi to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Scms Ghi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Scms Ghi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Scms Ghi to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Scms Ghi has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– Scms Ghi has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa, is just above the industry average. Scms Ghi needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Scms Ghi needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Scms Ghi supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Scms Ghi vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Scms Ghi has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa, it seems that the employees of Scms Ghi don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Scms Ghi is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Scms Ghi has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Scms Ghi even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa are -
Manufacturing automation
– Scms Ghi can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Scms Ghi is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Scms Ghi can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Scms Ghi can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Scms Ghi to increase its market reach. Scms Ghi will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Scms Ghi can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Scms Ghi can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Scms Ghi has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Scms Ghi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Scms Ghi can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Scms Ghi operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Scms Ghi in the consumer business. Now Scms Ghi can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Scms Ghi can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Scms Ghi has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Scms Ghi to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa case study. Scms Ghi can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Scms Ghi to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Loyalty marketing
– Scms Ghi has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Threats SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Scms Ghi has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Scms Ghi needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Scms Ghi demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Scms Ghi high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Scms Ghi can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Scms Ghi can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Scms Ghi
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Scms Ghi.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa, Scms Ghi may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Environmental challenges
– Scms Ghi needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Scms Ghi can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Scms Ghi with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Scms Ghi will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Scms Ghi needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Scms Ghi business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of SCMS: Battling HIV/AIDS in Africa is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Scms Ghi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.