In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care
The role of American corporations as purchasers of health insurance for their employees has changed dramatically over the past several decades from a passive stance to an aggressive purchasing and policy-making role. The transformation has caused purchasers to question the appropriateness of their health benefit interventions for legal, ethical, and financial reasons. Recent research about the role of "medical necessity" in California managed care decision making reveals a number of problems purchasers face and describes solutions recommended by some purchasers to those problems.
Authors :: Linda Bergthold, Suzanne Olson Koebler, Sara J. Singer
Swot Analysis of "In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care" written by Linda Bergthold, Suzanne Olson Koebler, Sara J. Singer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Purchasers Role facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Personnel policies and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Purchasers Role, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Purchasers Role
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 Purchasers Role
Strengths In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Purchasers Role in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Purchasers Role has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Purchasers Role 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.
Analytics focus
– Purchasers Role 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 Linda Bergthold, Suzanne Olson Koebler, Sara J. Singer 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Purchasers Role is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Purchasers Role is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Purchasers Role
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Purchasers Role does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Purchasers Role 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 Purchasers Role in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Purchasers Role to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Purchasers Role to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Purchasers Role 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Purchasers Role in the sector have low bargaining power. In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Purchasers Role to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Purchasers Role 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Purchasers Role is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Purchasers Role 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Purchasers Role 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Purchasers Role is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Purchasers Role 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care, is just above the industry average. Purchasers Role 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Purchasers Role 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. Purchasers Role 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Purchasers Role is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Purchasers Role 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.
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 Purchasers Role supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Purchasers Role vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care HBR case study mentions - Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care | 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Purchasers Role 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Purchasers Role can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Purchasers Role 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Purchasers Role 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Purchasers Role is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Purchasers Role 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Purchasers Role 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Purchasers Role to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Purchasers Role 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Purchasers Role has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Purchasers Role to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care case study. Purchasers Role can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Purchasers Role can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Purchasers Role can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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.
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 Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Purchasers Role with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Purchasers Role in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Purchasers Role can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Purchasers Role 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Purchasers Role is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Purchasers Role 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
– Purchasers Role 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. Purchasers Role can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care .
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 Purchasers Role.
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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Purchasers Role has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Purchasers Role needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Purchasers Role 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 Purchasers Role needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.