The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response
Supplement for case 712480. On the evening of March 11, 2011, Mayama Fumihiro, the Managing Director of Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital knew that it would be a long, cold night. The 103 staff members and 162 patients and families were huddled on the top two floors of the four-story hospital, where they had gone to escape three tsunami waves that had destroyed the first floor and part of the second floor.
Authors :: Hirotaka Takeuchi, Yukiko Sakai, Rebecca Agonafir, Peter Cholewinski
Swot Analysis of "The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response" written by Hirotaka Takeuchi, Yukiko Sakai, Rebecca Agonafir, Peter Cholewinski includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ishinomaki Kouwan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Health, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ishinomaki Kouwan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ishinomaki Kouwan 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ishinomaki Kouwan
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 Ishinomaki Kouwan
Strengths The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ishinomaki Kouwan in The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ishinomaki Kouwan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Ishinomaki Kouwan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ishinomaki Kouwan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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 Ishinomaki Kouwan in the sector have low bargaining power. The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ishinomaki Kouwan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ishinomaki Kouwan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ishinomaki Kouwan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ishinomaki Kouwan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ishinomaki Kouwan 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
– Ishinomaki Kouwan is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ishinomaki Kouwan are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Ishinomaki Kouwan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ishinomaki Kouwan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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.
Weaknesses The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response, it seems that the employees of Ishinomaki Kouwan 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, Ishinomaki Kouwan is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response HBR case study mentions - Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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 Ishinomaki Kouwan 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ishinomaki Kouwan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ishinomaki Kouwan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ishinomaki Kouwan is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ishinomaki Kouwan needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ishinomaki Kouwan to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response, is just above the industry average. Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Opportunities The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response | 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ishinomaki Kouwan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ishinomaki Kouwan has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ishinomaki Kouwan to increase its market reach. Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ishinomaki Kouwan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ishinomaki Kouwan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ishinomaki Kouwan has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ishinomaki Kouwan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Ishinomaki Kouwan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ishinomaki Kouwan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ishinomaki Kouwan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ishinomaki Kouwan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response case study. Ishinomaki Kouwan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ishinomaki Kouwan can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Ishinomaki Kouwan 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. Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
Threats The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ishinomaki Kouwan is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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. Ishinomaki Kouwan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
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 Ishinomaki Kouwan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Ishinomaki Kouwan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
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 Ishinomaki Kouwan.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.
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. Ishinomaki Kouwan will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Technology 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, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ishinomaki Kouwan with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response 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 Ishinomaki Kouwan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
