healthymagination at GE (in 2011) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of healthymagination at GE (in 2011)
Jeffrey Immelt started his tenure as General Electric's CEO in what would be called the "Decade from Hell". It started in 2001 with an economic depression due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and was followed by the global financial crisis in 2008. GE's stock price fell 13% in a single day after missing its quarterly earnings forecast in 2009. On the heels of that loss, Standard & Poor's downgraded GE's AAA credit rating. Despite Jeffrey Immelt's efforts, the share price reached its all-time low of $6.66 on March 5, 2009. By 2010, GE's market capitalization was cut in half to $200 billion. Immelt knew that something had to change with GE's Corporate Strategy. He focused efforts on innovation in energy and healthcare that became known as ecomagination and healthymagination initiatives. Ecomagination sought innovative solutions to ecological challenge while healthymagination focused on delivering solutions for the healthcare industry. By 2010, the efforts from these initiatives had restored some of GE's market capitalization, but were far from the original $400 billion that he had inherited as CEO. Was Immelt's strategic plan enough to carry the company back to its former glory? And, would investors have the patience to stick o this path?
Authors :: Marne L. Arthaud-Day, Alicia Horbaczewski, Frank T. Rothaermel
Swot Analysis of "healthymagination at GE (in 2011)" written by Marne L. Arthaud-Day, Alicia Horbaczewski, Frank T. Rothaermel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ge's Healthymagination facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Leadership, Supply chain, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the healthymagination at GE (in 2011) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of healthymagination at GE (in 2011)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ge's Healthymagination, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ge's Healthymagination 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ge's Healthymagination
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 Ge's Healthymagination
Strengths healthymagination at GE (in 2011) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ge's Healthymagination in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Ge's Healthymagination is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 Ge's Healthymagination in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ge's Healthymagination 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Ge's Healthymagination is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ge's Healthymagination digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ge's Healthymagination 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 lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ge's Healthymagination 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 Ge's Healthymagination in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Ge's Healthymagination 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 Ge's Healthymagination is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– healthymagination at GE (in 2011) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ge's Healthymagination to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ge's Healthymagination to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ge's Healthymagination has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ge's Healthymagination 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.
High brand equity
– Ge's Healthymagination has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ge's Healthymagination to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Ge's Healthymagination has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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.
Weaknesses healthymagination at GE (in 2011) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of healthymagination at GE (in 2011) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study healthymagination at GE (in 2011), is just above the industry average. Ge's Healthymagination 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study healthymagination at GE (in 2011), 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ge's Healthymagination is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study healthymagination at GE (in 2011) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ge's Healthymagination 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 - healthymagination at GE (in 2011) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Ge's Healthymagination supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - healthymagination at GE (in 2011), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ge's Healthymagination vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Ge's Healthymagination has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 Ge's Healthymagination 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ge's Healthymagination products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ge's Healthymagination needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ge's Healthymagination is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ge's Healthymagination needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ge's Healthymagination to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities healthymagination at GE (in 2011) | 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ge's Healthymagination can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ge's Healthymagination can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ge's Healthymagination to increase its market reach. Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ge's Healthymagination 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ge's Healthymagination to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Ge's Healthymagination can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ge's Healthymagination is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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.
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. Ge's Healthymagination 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 Ge's Healthymagination 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
– Ge's Healthymagination 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 Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ge's Healthymagination 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 Ge's Healthymagination to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats healthymagination at GE (in 2011) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study healthymagination at GE (in 2011) are -
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 Ge's Healthymagination 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, Ge's Healthymagination 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) .
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ge's Healthymagination 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 Ge's Healthymagination.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ge's Healthymagination is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ge's Healthymagination 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
– Ge's Healthymagination has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ge's Healthymagination
– 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 Ge's Healthymagination.
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 Ge's Healthymagination in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ge's Healthymagination 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study healthymagination at GE (in 2011), Ge's Healthymagination 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 healthymagination at GE (in 2011) 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 Ge's Healthymagination needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
