HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A)
A review of the process utilized by the Obama administration to create the Health Care.gov exchange and the problems that resulted from the implementation effort. There is a B case that provides the follow on strategy and processes utilized to get the site up and running after the initial failures of implementation.
Authors :: Leonard A. Schlesinger, Paras D. Bhayani
Swot Analysis of "HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A)" written by Leonard A. Schlesinger, Paras D. Bhayani includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Utilized Care.gov facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Internet, IT, Regulation, Strategy execution and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Utilized Care.gov, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Utilized Care.gov 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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Utilized Care.gov
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 Utilized Care.gov
Strengths HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Utilized Care.gov in HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Utilized Care.gov 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.
High brand equity
– Utilized Care.gov has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Utilized Care.gov to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Utilized Care.gov is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Utilized Care.gov 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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Utilized Care.gov 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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Utilized Care.gov has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Utilized Care.gov 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.
Training and development
– Utilized Care.gov has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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.
Analytics focus
– Utilized Care.gov 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 Leonard A. Schlesinger, Paras D. Bhayani 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Utilized Care.gov to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Utilized Care.gov to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Utilized Care.gov digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Utilized Care.gov 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.
Organizational Resilience of Utilized Care.gov
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Utilized Care.gov does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Utilized Care.gov is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Utilized Care.gov products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Utilized Care.gov needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Utilized Care.gov 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 - HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Utilized Care.gov is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Utilized Care.gov needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Utilized Care.gov to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Utilized Care.gov is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Utilized Care.gov is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Utilized Care.gov supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Utilized Care.gov vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Utilized Care.gov, firm in the HBR case study HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A), 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Utilized Care.gov 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A), is just above the industry average. Utilized Care.gov 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Utilized Care.gov 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.
Opportunities HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Utilized Care.gov 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.
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 Utilized Care.gov 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Utilized Care.gov 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Utilized Care.gov 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Utilized Care.gov can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Utilized Care.gov can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Utilized Care.gov has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Utilized Care.gov to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) case study. Utilized Care.gov can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Utilized Care.gov is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Utilized Care.gov can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Utilized Care.gov 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. Utilized Care.gov 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 Utilized Care.gov to increase its market reach. Utilized Care.gov 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Utilized Care.gov 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Utilized Care.gov 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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Utilized Care.gov to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (A) are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Utilized Care.gov has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Utilized Care.gov 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Utilized Care.gov 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Utilized Care.gov 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.
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 wage structure of Utilized Care.gov
– 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 Utilized Care.gov.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Utilized Care.gov is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Utilized Care.gov can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Utilized Care.gov 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Utilized Care.gov 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.
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 Utilized Care.gov business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Utilized Care.gov 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. Utilized Care.gov needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Utilized Care.gov in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 HealthCare.gov: The Crash and the Fix (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 Utilized Care.gov needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.