Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa
Roger Osayende, a former management consultant, must advise the Ministry of Health of Ektu, a fictional country in Central Africa, on how to implement a new point-of-care diagnostic test for infants with HIV. In Ektu, mothers often transmitted HIV infection to infants during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding due to inadequate resources to invest in prevention efforts. The existing procedure to diagnose infants with HIV required collecting dried blood samples at more than two hundred healthcare facilities around the country and transporting them to a central laboratory in the capital for testing. This process was characterized by significant delays due to long transportation times, batching of samples in transportation and processing in the lab, and concomitant congestion in the lab. This delay resulted in loss to follow-up, that is, lost patients due to mothers not collecting their infants' results. A new point-of-care device was about to be introduced, which would obviate the need for this centralized processing and the resulting diagnostic delay. The key decision under consideration is where to place the devices to maximize their effectiveness.
Authors :: Sarang Deo, Avidan Ben Har, Bill Shields, Mihir Naware
Swot Analysis of "Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa" written by Sarang Deo, Avidan Ben Har, Bill Shields, Mihir Naware includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Infants Hiv facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy, Supply chain and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Infants Hiv, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Infants Hiv 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Infants Hiv
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Infants Hiv
Strengths Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Infants Hiv in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Infants Hiv 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 Infants Hiv is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Infants Hiv 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 Sarang Deo, Avidan Ben Har, Bill Shields, Mihir Naware 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Infants Hiv is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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.
High brand equity
– Infants Hiv has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Infants Hiv to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Infants Hiv has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Infants Hiv is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Infants Hiv 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Infants Hiv 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Infants Hiv in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Infants Hiv in the sector have low bargaining power. Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Infants Hiv to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Infants Hiv is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Infants Hiv 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Infants Hiv 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Infants Hiv 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 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 Infants Hiv supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Infants Hiv vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Infants Hiv 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 - Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa HBR case study mentions - Infants Hiv 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Infants Hiv 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Infants Hiv 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infants Hiv has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infants Hiv 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Infants Hiv is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Infants Hiv products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Infants Hiv needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa | 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Infants Hiv has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Infants Hiv to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa case study. Infants Hiv can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Infants Hiv is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Infants Hiv can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Infants Hiv 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Infants Hiv can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Infants Hiv can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Infants Hiv can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Infants Hiv operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Infants Hiv 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
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 Infants Hiv 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.
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 Infants Hiv in the consumer business. Now Infants Hiv can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Infants Hiv to increase its market reach. Infants Hiv 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Infants Hiv 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 Infants Hiv to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Infants Hiv can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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.
Threats Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Infants Hiv 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 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.
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. Infants Hiv needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Infants Hiv 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Infants Hiv with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Infants Hiv 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa, Infants Hiv may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Infants Hiv in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Infants Hiv has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Infants Hiv needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Infants Hiv 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.
Increasing wage structure of Infants Hiv
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Infants Hiv.
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 Infants Hiv business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Infants Hiv in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infant HIV Diagnostics: Supply Chain in Sub-Saharan Africa 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 Infants Hiv needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.