Case Study Description of LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital
Raises the powerful issues of measuring marketing performance in a not-for-profit services setting. Also raises several interesting ethical issues. LifeSpan Inc., a Minneapolis based not-for-profit organization is the parent holding company of three hospitals and several health services corporations. Abbott Northwestern, LifeSpan's premier hospital, adopted a very market oriented approach to increase its share of a business that was both shrinking in size and becoming increasingly competitive. The company initiated a telemarketing advertising campaign which resulted in a flood of inquiries. The marketing group would like to nearly double the advertising budget; the board of directors would like some evidence that advertising, phone calls, inquiries, and other programs lead to filled beds and increased business.
Swot Analysis of "LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital" written by Melvyn A.J. Menezes includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lifespan Inquiries facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Performance measurement, Productivity, Social enterprise and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lifespan Inquiries, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lifespan Inquiries 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lifespan Inquiries
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 Lifespan Inquiries
Strengths LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lifespan Inquiries in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lifespan Inquiries digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lifespan Inquiries 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 Lifespan Inquiries
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lifespan Inquiries does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lifespan Inquiries is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lifespan Inquiries to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lifespan Inquiries to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lifespan Inquiries is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Training and development
– Lifespan Inquiries has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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.
Learning organization
- Lifespan Inquiries 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 Lifespan Inquiries is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lifespan Inquiries 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Lifespan Inquiries 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 Melvyn A.J. Menezes 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Lifespan Inquiries 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 Lifespan Inquiries in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Lifespan Inquiries has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lifespan Inquiries 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 - LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lifespan Inquiries is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lifespan Inquiries 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, is just above the industry average. Lifespan Inquiries 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lifespan Inquiries 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, it seems that the employees of Lifespan Inquiries 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Melvyn A.J. Menezes suggests that, Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lifespan Inquiries is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Lifespan Inquiries needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lifespan Inquiries to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lifespan Inquiries is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital | 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lifespan Inquiries has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lifespan Inquiries to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital case study. Lifespan Inquiries can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Lifespan Inquiries 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. Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Lifespan Inquiries can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lifespan Inquiries can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lifespan Inquiries is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lifespan Inquiries 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 Lifespan Inquiries to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lifespan Inquiries can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lifespan Inquiries 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lifespan Inquiries to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lifespan Inquiries to increase its market reach. Lifespan Inquiries 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.
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 Lifespan Inquiries in the consumer business. Now Lifespan Inquiries can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital are -
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. Lifespan Inquiries can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Lifespan Inquiries business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lifespan Inquiries 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 Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Environmental challenges
– Lifespan Inquiries 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. Lifespan Inquiries can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Lifespan Inquiries 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lifespan Inquiries in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lifespan Inquiries is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lifespan Inquiries with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Lifespan Inquiries in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Lifespan Inquiries 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 .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 LifeSpan Inc.: Abbott Northwestern Hospital 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 Lifespan Inquiries needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
