Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C)
This case provides the presentation slides from the Six Sigma project undertaken to decrease the patient wait time in the emergency department of an academic medical hospital. The various phases and tools of Six Sigma are demonstrated, and the project's pilot results are shown. The case also provides slides covering an overview of Six Sigma. The presentations are useful for both executives and students who are studying Six Sigma methodology. See also the A (UV0339) and B (UV3523) cases. The teaching note UV0340 is available for the (A-C) cases.
Swot Analysis of "Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C)" written by Robert D. Landel, Dee C. San includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sigma Slides facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sigma Slides, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sigma Slides 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sigma Slides
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 Sigma Slides
Strengths Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sigma Slides in Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Sigma Slides is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sigma Slides 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) - 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
– Sigma Slides is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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.
Analytics focus
– Sigma Slides 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 Robert D. Landel, Dee C. San 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sigma Slides in the sector have low bargaining power. Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sigma Slides to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Sigma Slides has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sigma Slides to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sigma Slides 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sigma Slides has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sigma Slides 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sigma Slides in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Sigma Slides 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 Sigma Slides is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sigma Slides is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sigma Slides 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 - Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sigma Slides 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Sigma Slides 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sigma Slides 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sigma Slides 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. Sigma Slides 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sigma Slides 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sigma Slides 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sigma Slides is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Sigma Slides 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sigma Slides, firm in the HBR case study Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) HBR case study mentions - Sigma Slides 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) | 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sigma Slides 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sigma Slides 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 Sigma Slides to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Sigma Slides 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, Sigma Slides is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sigma Slides to increase its market reach. Sigma Slides 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sigma Slides can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sigma Slides operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sigma Slides 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.
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 Sigma Slides 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sigma Slides 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sigma Slides to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Sigma Slides 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sigma Slides has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sigma Slides to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) case study. Sigma Slides 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 Sigma Slides 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sigma Slides 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. Sigma Slides can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Threats Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) are -
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. Sigma Slides needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sigma Slides with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sigma Slides 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sigma Slides 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.
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 Sigma Slides business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Sigma Slides
– 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 Sigma Slides.
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 Sigma Slides in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sigma Slides is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sigma Slides 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sigma Slides 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) .
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 Sigma Slides.
Environmental challenges
– Sigma Slides 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. Sigma Slides can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Six Sigma at Academic Medical Hospital (C) 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 Sigma Slides needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.