Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform
In June 2014, leading healthcare and consumer technology company, Royal Philips ("Philips"), announced its HealthSuite Digital Platform to house healthcare data and enable applications used by physicians and patients. Philips had strong equity in the healthcare technology space, due to its extensive portfolio of medical devices and related software sold primarily to hospitals. Philips designed the first two apps for the platform (eCareCoordinator and eCareCompanion) in-house, but it planned to open it up to third-party developers who would create an array of health-focused apps. Healthcare had long lagged behind other industries in adoption of technology as well as patient-relationship management. However, many health players had recently increased investment in new infrastructure and data analytics. Would the new Philips HealthSuite Digital Platform find success in the rapidly evolving industry?
Swot Analysis of "Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform" written by John A. Quelch, Margaret L. Rodriguez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Philips Healthsuite facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption,
increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Philips Healthsuite, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Philips Healthsuite
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 Philips Healthsuite
Strengths Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Philips Healthsuite in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Philips Healthsuite is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Philips Healthsuite
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Philips Healthsuite does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Philips Healthsuite in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Philips Healthsuite is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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.
Learning organization
- Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthsuite is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Philips Healthsuite in the sector have low bargaining power. Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Philips Healthsuite to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Philips Healthsuite digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Philips Healthsuite 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Philips Healthsuite is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Philips Healthsuite 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.
Weaknesses Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform are -
Need for greater diversity
– Philips Healthsuite 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Philips Healthsuite is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform, it seems that the employees of Philips Healthsuite 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Philips Healthsuite is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Philips Healthsuite products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform, in the dynamic environment Philips Healthsuite has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Philips Healthsuite has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthsuite 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Philips Healthsuite has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Philips Healthsuite 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform HBR case study mentions - Philips Healthsuite 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform, is just above the industry average. Philips Healthsuite 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.
Opportunities Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform | 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Philips Healthsuite has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Philips Healthsuite to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform case study. Philips Healthsuite can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Philips Healthsuite 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.
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. Philips Healthsuite can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Philips Healthsuite 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Philips Healthsuite can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Philips Healthsuite operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Philips Healthsuite 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Philips Healthsuite 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Philips Healthsuite to increase its market reach. Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthsuite in the consumer business. Now Philips Healthsuite can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Philips Healthsuite 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.
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. Philips Healthsuite 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. Philips Healthsuite 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Philips Healthsuite 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, Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Philips Healthsuite 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.
Threats Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Philips Healthsuite 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Philips Healthsuite 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Philips Healthsuite has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Philips Healthsuite 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Philips Healthsuite 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Philips Healthsuite 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform, Philips Healthsuite 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 .
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 Philips Healthsuite in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Philips Healthsuite.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Philips Healthsuite 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform .
Environmental challenges
– Philips Healthsuite 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. Philips Healthsuite can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Philips Healthsuite needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform 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 Philips Healthsuite needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.