Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care
Great Western Hospital (GWH) is a community hospital in Wiltshire, South West England and one of England's largest maternity providers, responsible for delivering over 9,000 babies per year. The case discusses the efforts of Dr. Harini Narayan, consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, to reorganize antenatal care delivery at GWH. Rather than treating high-risk pregnancies as a homogeneous group, Dr. Narayan pioneered the development of eleven condition-based, high-risk clinics led by dedicated multidisciplinary teams of physicians, midwives and nurses. The case profiles the Multiple Pregnancy Clinic in particular and its impact on perinatal indicators and outcomes.
Authors :: Michael E. Porter, Emma Stanton, Samuel Takvorian
Swot Analysis of "Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care" written by Michael E. Porter, Emma Stanton, Samuel Takvorian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gwh Narayan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Risk management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gwh Narayan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gwh Narayan 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gwh Narayan
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 Gwh Narayan
Strengths Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gwh Narayan in Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gwh Narayan 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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.
Learning organization
- Gwh Narayan 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 Gwh Narayan is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Gwh Narayan 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 Michael E. Porter, Emma Stanton, Samuel Takvorian 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.
Organizational Resilience of Gwh Narayan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Gwh Narayan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gwh Narayan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gwh Narayan 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Gwh Narayan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gwh Narayan in the sector have low bargaining power. Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gwh Narayan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Gwh Narayan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gwh Narayan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gwh Narayan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gwh Narayan 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.
Training and development
– Gwh Narayan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Gwh Narayan 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 Gwh Narayan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gwh Narayan 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.
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 Gwh Narayan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gwh Narayan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gwh Narayan 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gwh Narayan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Gwh Narayan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gwh Narayan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gwh Narayan 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 - Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care HBR case study mentions - Gwh Narayan 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care, is just above the industry average. Gwh Narayan 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care, in the dynamic environment Gwh Narayan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gwh Narayan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gwh Narayan 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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 Gwh Narayan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Opportunities Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care | 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gwh Narayan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gwh Narayan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care case study. Gwh Narayan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Gwh Narayan 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gwh Narayan 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 Gwh Narayan to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Gwh Narayan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Gwh Narayan 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. Gwh Narayan 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gwh Narayan 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gwh Narayan 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, Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Gwh Narayan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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
– Gwh Narayan 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Gwh Narayan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Gwh Narayan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gwh Narayan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gwh Narayan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Gwh Narayan in the consumer business. Now Gwh Narayan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care are -
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 Gwh Narayan.
Regulatory challenges
– Gwh Narayan needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Gwh Narayan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gwh Narayan 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care, Gwh Narayan 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 .
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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gwh Narayan is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Gwh Narayan 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. Gwh Narayan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gwh Narayan 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gwh Narayan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gwh Narayan 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.
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. Gwh Narayan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Gwh Narayan in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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 Great Western Hospital: High-risk Pregnancy Care 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 Gwh Narayan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.