Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency
In the post-9/11 era information technology enablement for emergency preparedness and response have taken on increased significance. Public health organizations like ADHS play a critical role in any statewide preparation for large scale emergencies. With issues like bio-terrorism surveillance being added to a list of critical responsibilities for public health there is an urgent need to leverage IT infrastructure to meet new challenges. Historically lean funding cycles for public health has not allowed for fundamental information technology-based reach extensions. An infusion of $9.3 million from CDC has allowed ADHS to broaden its coverage through the creative use of information technology. As an initial step, ADHS initiated the development and deployment of MEDSIS. This project is causing public health in Arizona to re-evaluate their workflow and business processes as they collaborate with various counties in delivering public health effectively.
Authors :: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T.S. Raghu, Minu Ipe
Swot Analysis of "Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T.S. Raghu, Minu Ipe includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Adhs Health facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, IT, Policy and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Adhs Health, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Adhs Health 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Adhs Health
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 Adhs Health
Strengths Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Adhs Health in Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Adhs Health 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Adhs Health 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Adhs Health is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Adhs Health is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Adhs Health to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Adhs Health to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Adhs Health 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 Adhs Health in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Adhs Health 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T.S. Raghu, Minu Ipe 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Adhs Health has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Adhs Health 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
– Adhs Health is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Adhs Health has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Adhs Health to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Adhs Health in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Adhs Health
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Adhs Health does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Adhs Health products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Adhs Health needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency, is just above the industry average. Adhs Health 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Adhs Health 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T.S. Raghu, Minu Ipe suggests that, Adhs Health 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Adhs Health 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Adhs Health has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Adhs Health even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Adhs Health 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Adhs Health has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency HBR case study mentions - Adhs Health 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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 Adhs Health 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Adhs Health 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.
Opportunities Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency | 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Adhs Health 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Adhs Health 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Adhs Health 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, Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Adhs Health can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Adhs Health operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Adhs Health 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Adhs Health can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Adhs Health 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Adhs Health to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Adhs Health 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Adhs Health in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Adhs Health 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 Adhs Health to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Adhs Health is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Adhs Health can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Adhs Health 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.
Threats Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency are -
Environmental challenges
– Adhs Health 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. Adhs Health can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Adhs Health with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Adhs Health
– 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 Adhs Health.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency, Adhs Health may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Adhs Health 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Adhs Health 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Adhs Health 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.
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 Adhs Health in the Technology & Operations 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 Adhs Health in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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 Adhs Health 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.
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. Adhs Health needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Adhs Health 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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 Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency 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 Adhs Health needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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