Challenges in Renal Care SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Challenges in Renal Care
In 2006, all major U.S. dialysis providers were facing a daunting set of challenges. Having survived a period of intense consolidation and ever-diminishing operating margins, they were now struggling to understand what lay ahead. With more than 80% of their patients covered by Medicare's End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) program and with Medicare reimbursement barely covering costs, these providers increasingly relied on additional reimbursement for certain injectable drugs, as well as on the small percentage of patients with private insurance, for financial viability. However, both of these sources of profitability were coming under pressure. Ongoing demonstration projects by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were opening the way for dramatic changes in the reimbursement landscape, and private payers were becoming more restrictive regarding what they would pay for and how much they would pay. These actions by CMS and private payers were sure to have far-reaching implications for patients, providers, and the ESRD program as a whole. Change was imminent and the uncertainty facing providers was creating significant challenges.
Authors :: Stefanos Zenios, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Melanie Wyld
Swot Analysis of "Challenges in Renal Care" written by Stefanos Zenios, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Melanie Wyld includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Esrd Reimbursement facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Challenges in Renal Care case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Personnel policies and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Challenges in Renal Care casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Challenges in Renal Care
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Challenges in Renal Care case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Esrd Reimbursement, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Esrd Reimbursement 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 Challenges in Renal Care can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Challenges in Renal Care case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Esrd Reimbursement
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 Esrd Reimbursement
Strengths Challenges in Renal Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Esrd Reimbursement in Challenges in Renal Care Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Esrd Reimbursement 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 Stefanos Zenios, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Melanie Wyld 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.
Training and development
– Esrd Reimbursement has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Challenges in Renal 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Esrd Reimbursement in the sector have low bargaining power. Challenges in Renal Care has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Esrd Reimbursement to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Esrd Reimbursement
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Esrd Reimbursement 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 Strategy & Execution industry
– Challenges in Renal Care firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Esrd Reimbursement to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Esrd Reimbursement to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Esrd Reimbursement 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 Challenges in Renal Care - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Esrd Reimbursement digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Esrd Reimbursement is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Challenges in Renal Care are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Esrd Reimbursement 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 Esrd Reimbursement is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Challenges in Renal Care Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Esrd Reimbursement is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Challenges in Renal Care Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Esrd Reimbursement 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
– Esrd Reimbursement 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 Challenges in Renal Care HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Challenges in Renal Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Challenges in Renal Care are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Challenges in Renal 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 Esrd Reimbursement has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Challenges in Renal Care 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 Esrd Reimbursement 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Esrd Reimbursement, firm in the HBR case study Challenges in Renal Care needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Esrd Reimbursement has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
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 Esrd Reimbursement supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Challenges in Renal Care, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Esrd Reimbursement vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Esrd Reimbursement 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 Challenges in Renal Care HBR case study mentions - Esrd Reimbursement 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 Challenges in Renal Care, is just above the industry average. Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Challenges in Renal Care, it seems that the employees of Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Challenges in Renal Care, in the dynamic environment Esrd Reimbursement has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Esrd Reimbursement has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Challenges in Renal 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 Challenges in Renal 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 Challenges in Renal Care are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Esrd Reimbursement can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Esrd Reimbursement operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Esrd Reimbursement has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Esrd Reimbursement to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Challenges in Renal Care case study. Esrd Reimbursement can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Esrd Reimbursement to increase its market reach. Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Esrd Reimbursement is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Challenges in Renal 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Esrd Reimbursement can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Challenges in Renal 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Esrd Reimbursement 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.
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 Esrd Reimbursement 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.
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. Esrd Reimbursement can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Esrd Reimbursement can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Esrd Reimbursement 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.
Threats Challenges in Renal Care External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Challenges in Renal Care are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Esrd Reimbursement is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Esrd Reimbursement with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Esrd Reimbursement 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.
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 Esrd Reimbursement.
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. Esrd Reimbursement needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Esrd Reimbursement 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. Esrd Reimbursement can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Esrd Reimbursement 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.
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 Esrd Reimbursement in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Esrd Reimbursement business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Esrd Reimbursement 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 Challenges in Renal Care .
Increasing wage structure of Esrd Reimbursement
– 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 Esrd Reimbursement.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Esrd Reimbursement can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Challenges in Renal 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 Challenges in Renal 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 Challenges in Renal 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 Challenges in Renal 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 Challenges in Renal 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 Esrd Reimbursement needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
