GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey
Supplement to case IMD739. This three-part case series examines the marketing challenge encountered by a leading medical technology manufacturer, General Electric (GE) Healthcare - a division of General Electric Company - in India. It follows the development of Lullaby Warmer Prime, an infant warmer that was designed, manufactured and commercialized by the Maternal Infant Care (MIC) division of GE Healthcare India from 2011 to 2014. The case series, together with a PowerPoint slide deck and video link, assesses the main issues that business-to-business (B2B) companies face in their efforts to create and capture value in emerging markets. Case B addresses GE's novel approach to product innovation. In creating a new infant warmer for low-resource business customers, GE decided to employ original and unconventional principles for product design and development.
Swot Analysis of "GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey" written by Wolfgang Ulaga, Athanasios Kondis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Warmer Ge facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Warmer Ge, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Warmer Ge 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Warmer Ge
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 Warmer Ge
Strengths GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Warmer Ge in GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Warmer Ge has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Warmer Ge in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Warmer Ge has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Warmer Ge 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.
Learning organization
- Warmer Ge 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 Warmer Ge is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Warmer Ge digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Warmer Ge 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 Warmer Ge
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Warmer Ge does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Warmer Ge to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Warmer Ge to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Warmer Ge 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Warmer Ge is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Warmer Ge has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Warmer Ge to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Warmer Ge 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.
Weaknesses GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Warmer Ge 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.
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 Warmer Ge supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Warmer Ge vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey HBR case study mentions - Warmer Ge takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Warmer Ge has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 Warmer Ge 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Warmer Ge has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Warmer Ge 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 - GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey, 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 Warmer Ge has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Wolfgang Ulaga, Athanasios Kondis suggests that, Warmer Ge 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Warmer Ge 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. Warmer Ge 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.
Opportunities GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey | 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 Warmer Ge 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 Warmer Ge has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Warmer Ge to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey case study. Warmer Ge can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Warmer Ge 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Warmer Ge 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Warmer Ge to increase its market reach. Warmer Ge 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Warmer Ge 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Warmer Ge 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Warmer Ge is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 Warmer Ge can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Warmer Ge can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Warmer Ge 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Warmer Ge 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Warmer Ge 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.
Threats GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Warmer Ge is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Warmer Ge 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Warmer Ge 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.
Environmental challenges
– Warmer Ge 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. Warmer Ge can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Warmer Ge in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Warmer Ge 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey, Warmer Ge 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 .
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. Warmer Ge 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Warmer Ge has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Warmer Ge 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.
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 Warmer Ge business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Warmer Ge with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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, Warmer Ge 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 GE Healthcare India (B): The Product Innovation Journey 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 Warmer Ge needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
