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Virginia Mason Medical Center SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Virginia Mason Medical Center


In 2000, Dr. Gary Kaplan became CEO of the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. The hospital was facing significant challenges: It was losing money for the first time in its history, staff morale had plummeted, and area hospitals presented ardent competition. Considerable change was imminent. Within his first few months, Kaplan had rallied the organization around a new strategic direction: to become the quality leader in health care. What Kaplan and his administrators lacked was an effective tool to execute their strategy. Soon thereafter, a series of serendipitous events led to the discovery of the Toyota production system, and the Virginia Mason Medical Center became entrenched in an overwhelming challenge: how to institute a production model in health care.

Authors :: Richard Bohmer, Erika M. Ferlins

Topics :: Technology & Operations

Tags :: Leadership, Manufacturing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Virginia Mason Medical Center" written by Richard Bohmer, Erika M. Ferlins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kaplan Mason facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Virginia Mason Medical Center case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Manufacturing and Technology & Operations.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Virginia Mason Medical Center casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Virginia Mason Medical Center


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Virginia Mason Medical Center case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kaplan Mason, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kaplan Mason 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Virginia Mason Medical Center case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kaplan Mason
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Kaplan Mason




Strengths Virginia Mason Medical Center | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Kaplan Mason in Virginia Mason Medical Center Harvard Business Review case study are -

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Kaplan Mason 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Kaplan Mason 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 Technology & Operations segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kaplan Mason digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kaplan Mason 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Kaplan Mason 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Analytics focus

– Kaplan Mason 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 Richard Bohmer, Erika M. Ferlins 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry

– Virginia Mason Medical Center firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kaplan Mason to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kaplan Mason to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Kaplan Mason is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Virginia Mason Medical Center 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.

Learning organization

- Kaplan Mason 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 Kaplan Mason is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Virginia Mason Medical Center Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

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

Innovation driven organization

– Kaplan Mason is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Virginia Mason Medical Center Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Kaplan Mason in the sector have low bargaining power. Virginia Mason Medical Center has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Kaplan Mason to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field

– Kaplan Mason 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 Kaplan Mason in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses Virginia Mason Medical Center | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Virginia Mason Medical Center are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kaplan Mason has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Virginia Mason Medical Center, in the dynamic environment Kaplan Mason has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Kaplan Mason has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Virginia Mason Medical Center, is just above the industry average. Kaplan Mason 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Kaplan Mason is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Kaplan Mason needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Kaplan Mason to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Kaplan Mason 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Kaplan Mason 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Virginia Mason Medical Center that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Virginia Mason Medical Center can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kaplan Mason is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Kaplan Mason 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, Kaplan Mason 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Kaplan Mason, firm in the HBR case study Virginia Mason Medical Center needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Virginia Mason Medical Center HBR case study mentions - Kaplan Mason 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.




Opportunities Virginia Mason Medical Center | 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center are -

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kaplan Mason is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Virginia Mason Medical Center 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Kaplan Mason 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 Technology & Operations segment.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Kaplan Mason 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 Kaplan Mason 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 Kaplan Mason to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Manufacturing automation

– Kaplan Mason can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Kaplan Mason to increase its market reach. Kaplan Mason 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Kaplan Mason 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.

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. Kaplan Mason can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Kaplan Mason can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Virginia Mason Medical Center, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kaplan Mason 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Kaplan Mason has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kaplan Mason to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Virginia Mason Medical Center case study. Kaplan Mason can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Developing new processes and practices

– Kaplan Mason can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Kaplan Mason 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Kaplan Mason to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.




Threats Virginia Mason Medical Center External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Virginia Mason Medical Center are -

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Kaplan Mason can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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.

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 Kaplan Mason in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Increasing wage structure of Kaplan Mason

– 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 Kaplan Mason.

Regulatory challenges

– Kaplan Mason 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.

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 Kaplan Mason business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Kaplan Mason 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.

Environmental challenges

– Kaplan Mason 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. Kaplan Mason can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.

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 Kaplan Mason.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Kaplan Mason 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Kaplan Mason 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.

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. Kaplan Mason needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Kaplan Mason is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Virginia Mason Medical Center 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center 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 Virginia Mason Medical Center 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 Kaplan Mason needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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