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 - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Purchasers Role in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Purchasers Role digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Purchasers Role 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.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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.
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.
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.
Learning organization
- Purchasers Role 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 Purchasers Role is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Purchasers Role is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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.
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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Purchasers Role 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 In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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 -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 Purchasers Role has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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.
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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Linda Bergthold, Suzanne Olson Koebler, Sara J. Singer suggests that, Purchasers Role 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, 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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care, it seems that the employees of Purchasers Role don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Purchasers Role 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 - In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Purchasers Role, firm in the HBR case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care 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 Purchasers Role 's lucrative customers.
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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Purchasers Role in the consumer business. Now Purchasers Role can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Purchasers Role 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 Purchasers Role to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Purchasers Role 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, In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Purchasers Role to increase its market reach. Purchasers Role 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.
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.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Purchasers Role 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.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Purchasers Role can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Purchasers Role operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Purchasers Role
– 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 Purchasers Role.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Purchasers Role 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study In Loco Parentis?: The Purchaser Role in Managed Care, Purchasers Role 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
– 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 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. Purchasers Role needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 .
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.
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.