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The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

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

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Health, Strategy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, etc



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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 -

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.

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.

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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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 The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

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.

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.

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.

High brand equity

– Ishinomaki Kouwan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ishinomaki Kouwan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal 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.

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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Ishinomaki Kouwan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.

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.






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 -

Need for greater diversity

– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.

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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response, in the dynamic environment Ishinomaki Kouwan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ishinomaki Kouwan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Hirotaka Takeuchi, Yukiko Sakai, Rebecca Agonafir, Peter Cholewinski suggests that, Ishinomaki Kouwan is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

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.

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.

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 Ishinomaki Kouwan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ishinomaki Kouwan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Ishinomaki Kouwan, firm in the HBR case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.




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 -

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Ishinomaki Kouwan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

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 Ishinomaki Kouwan in the consumer business. Now Ishinomaki Kouwan can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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.

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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ishinomaki Kouwan in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.

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.




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 -

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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Ishinomaki Kouwan has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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.

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.

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.

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 .

Increasing wage structure of Ishinomaki Kouwan

– 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 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.

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. Ishinomaki Kouwan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Great East Japan Earthquake (C): Ishinomaki Kouwan Hospital's Response, Ishinomaki Kouwan 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 .

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.




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.



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