After negotiations with a key supplier for lower prices and quicker turnaround go nowhere, two employees of Acme Medical Imaging realize there's no more low-hanging fruit to pick to keep their project on time and on budget -- no more concessions from external parties, no more superficial, short-term fixes. They have to convince their chief executive officer and the project team to take a hard look at "internal processes." From the perspective of Operations, this case examines the challenges that can arise - and some steps that can be taken - when the greatest obstacles to a project are the people and procedures responsible for its success.
Swot Analysis of "Acme Medical Imaging" written by Donald Pillittere includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Acme Imaging facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Acme Medical Imaging case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Product development, Project management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Acme Medical Imaging casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Acme Medical Imaging
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Acme Medical Imaging case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Acme Imaging, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Acme Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Acme Medical Imaging case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Acme Imaging
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 Acme Imaging
Strengths Acme Medical Imaging | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Acme Imaging in Acme Medical Imaging Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Acme Imaging are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Acme Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Acme Medical Imaging 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Acme Imaging is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Acme Imaging 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 Acme Imaging is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Acme Medical Imaging Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Acme Imaging has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Acme Imaging has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Acme Medical Imaging firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Acme Imaging to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Acme Imaging to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Acme Imaging is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Acme Medical Imaging Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Acme Imaging is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Acme Medical Imaging are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Acme Imaging has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Acme Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Acme Imaging has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Acme Medical Imaging 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.
Weaknesses Acme Medical Imaging | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Acme Medical Imaging are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Acme Medical Imaging, 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Acme Imaging 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. Acme Imaging 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Acme Imaging has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Acme Medical Imaging should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Acme Imaging, firm in the HBR case study Acme Medical Imaging needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Acme Imaging is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Acme Medical Imaging can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Acme Medical Imaging, it seems that the employees of Acme Imaging 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Acme Imaging 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Acme Imaging is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Acme Imaging needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Acme Imaging to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Acme Imaging 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Acme Imaging products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Acme Imaging needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Acme Medical Imaging, in the dynamic environment Acme Imaging has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Acme Imaging has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Acme Medical Imaging | 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 Acme Medical Imaging are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Acme Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Acme Imaging to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Acme Imaging in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Acme Imaging can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Acme Imaging operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Acme Imaging to increase its market reach. Acme Imaging 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Acme Imaging 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 Acme Imaging to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Acme Imaging 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Acme Imaging can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Acme Imaging 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Acme Imaging to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Acme Imaging has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Acme Imaging to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Acme Medical Imaging case study. Acme Imaging can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Acme Imaging in the consumer business. Now Acme Imaging can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Acme Imaging 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Acme Imaging is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Acme Medical Imaging 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.
Threats Acme Medical Imaging External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Acme Medical Imaging are -
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 Acme Imaging business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Acme Imaging has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Acme Imaging 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Acme Imaging in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Acme Imaging is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Acme Imaging 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. Acme Imaging can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Acme Imaging in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing wage structure of Acme Imaging
– 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 Acme Imaging.
Regulatory challenges
– Acme Imaging needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Acme Imaging.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Acme Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging .
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Acme Imaging 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Acme Medical Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging 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 Acme Medical Imaging 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 Acme Imaging needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
