Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A)

In response to escalating cost pressures throughout the hospital industry, the management of Beth Israel Hospital (BI) decided to implement a productivity plan to cut their operating costs. They chose the Scanlon Plan, an employee participation and incentive program previously used only in industrial settings. The case describes the difficulties of implementing the plan (Prepare/21) within BI's complex organization and asks the students to evaluate the plans success--both in terms of employee response and financially, after operating for nine months.

Authors :: Raymond A. Friedman, Caitlin Deinard

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Human resource management, Labor, Motivating people, Social enterprise, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A)" written by Raymond A. Friedman, Caitlin Deinard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Beth Hospital facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Labor, Motivating people, Social enterprise and Organizational Development.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A)

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beth Hospital, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beth Hospital 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beth Hospital
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 Beth Hospital

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Strengths Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Beth Hospital in Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Beth Hospital has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field

– Beth Hospital 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 Beth Hospital in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Beth Hospital is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Beth Hospital digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Beth Hospital 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Beth Hospital is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Analytics focus

– Beth Hospital is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Raymond A. Friedman, Caitlin Deinard can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Strong track record of project management

– Beth Hospital is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

High brand equity

– Beth Hospital has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Beth Hospital to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Training and development

– Beth Hospital has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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.

Organizational Resilience of Beth Hospital

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Beth Hospital does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Beth Hospital 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Beth Hospital in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

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Weaknesses Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Beth Hospital, firm in the HBR case study Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Beth Hospital 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Beth Hospital 's lucrative customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Raymond A. Friedman, Caitlin Deinard suggests that, Beth Hospital is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Beth Hospital 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Beth Hospital has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A), it seems that the employees of Beth Hospital 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Beth Hospital 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Beth Hospital has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

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 Beth Hospital supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Beth Hospital vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Beth Hospital is planning to shift buying processes online.

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Opportunities Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) | 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) are -

Manufacturing automation

– Beth Hospital 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Beth Hospital has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Beth Hospital to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) case study. Beth Hospital can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Beth Hospital to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Beth Hospital to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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. Beth Hospital 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. Beth Hospital 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Beth Hospital to increase its market reach. Beth Hospital 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Beth Hospital 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Beth Hospital can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Beth Hospital 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 Beth Hospital in the consumer business. Now Beth Hospital can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Beth Hospital is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Beth Hospital 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Beth Hospital 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Beth Hospital 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Beth Hospital can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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Threats Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) are -

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. Beth Hospital 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.

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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Beth Hospital is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Beth Hospital business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Beth Hospital 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.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Beth Hospital can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Beth Hospital with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Increasing wage structure of Beth Hospital

– 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 Beth Hospital.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Beth Hospital has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Beth Hospital 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.

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. Beth Hospital can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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. Beth Hospital needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Environmental challenges

– Beth Hospital 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. Beth Hospital can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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 Prepare/21 at Beth Israel Hospital (A) 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 Beth Hospital needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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