Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight
Starting as a modest 20-bed hospital, Aravind had grown into a 1,400-bed hospital complex by 1992. It had by then screened 3.65 million patients and performed 335,000 cataract surgeries, nearly 70% of them free of cost for the poorest of India's blind population. Aravind's founder, Dr. Venkataswamy, now 74 years old, had a goal to spread the Aravind model to every nook and corner of India, Asia, and Africa. The case sets the stage for developing such a plan of action.
Swot Analysis of "Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight" written by V. Kasturi Rangan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aravind Bed facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise, Strategic planning and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aravind Bed, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aravind Bed
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Aravind Bed
Strengths Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aravind Bed in Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Aravind Bed 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 V. Kasturi Rangan 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Bed in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Aravind Bed 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Aravind Bed is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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.
Training and development
– Aravind Bed has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Aravind Bed has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Aravind Bed 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Aravind Bed in the sector have low bargaining power. Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Aravind Bed to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Aravind Bed
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Aravind Bed does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Aravind Bed 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Aravind Bed 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
– Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Aravind Bed is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Aravind Bed needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Aravind Bed to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight, it seems that the employees of Aravind Bed 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Bed 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Aravind Bed products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight, in the dynamic environment Aravind Bed has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Aravind Bed has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Aravind Bed 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Aravind Bed, firm in the HBR case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Aravind Bed 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Aravind Bed 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 - Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Aravind Bed is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight | 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight are -
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 Aravind Bed 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Aravind Bed 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, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Aravind Bed 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. Aravind Bed 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
– Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Aravind Bed to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Aravind Bed can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Aravind Bed 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Aravind Bed 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Bed to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Aravind Bed can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Loyalty marketing
– Aravind Bed 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Aravind Bed can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Aravind Bed in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Aravind Bed has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Aravind Bed to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight case study. Aravind Bed can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Aravind Bed 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Aravind Bed can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Aravind Bed 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 Sales & Marketing 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 Aravind Bed.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Aravind Bed has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aravind Bed needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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 Aravind Bed 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
– Aravind Bed 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.
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 Aravind Bed in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Aravind Bed 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight, Aravind Bed may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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 Aravind Bed business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Aravind Bed 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. Aravind Bed can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aravind Bed with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 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 Aravind Bed needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.