Swot Analysis of "Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B)" written by Anita Tucker, Jillian A. Berry includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Clarifies Deviations facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Organizational structure, Productivity and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Clarifies Deviations, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Clarifies Deviations 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Clarifies Deviations
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 Clarifies Deviations
Strengths Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Clarifies Deviations in Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Clarifies Deviations is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Clarifies Deviations 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Clarifies Deviations is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Clarifies Deviations 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.
Analytics focus
– Clarifies Deviations 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 Anita Tucker, Jillian A. Berry 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
– Clarifies Deviations has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Clarifies Deviations 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.
High brand equity
– Clarifies Deviations has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Clarifies Deviations to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Clarifies Deviations is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Clarifies Deviations 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 Clarifies Deviations is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Clarifies Deviations in the sector have low bargaining power. Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Clarifies Deviations to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Clarifies Deviations digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Clarifies Deviations 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 Clarifies Deviations 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.
Weaknesses Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) HBR case study mentions - Clarifies Deviations 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 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 Clarifies Deviations supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Clarifies Deviations vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Clarifies Deviations 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Clarifies Deviations is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B), it seems that the employees of Clarifies Deviations 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Clarifies Deviations 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Clarifies Deviations has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anita Tucker, Jillian A. Berry suggests that, Clarifies Deviations 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Clarifies Deviations 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Clarifies Deviations 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Clarifies Deviations is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) | 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Clarifies Deviations can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Clarifies Deviations 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. Clarifies Deviations 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. Clarifies Deviations 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Clarifies Deviations 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Clarifies Deviations 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Clarifies Deviations has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Clarifies Deviations to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) case study. Clarifies Deviations can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Clarifies Deviations 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Clarifies Deviations 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Clarifies Deviations is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Clarifies Deviations to increase its market reach. Clarifies Deviations 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Clarifies Deviations 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, Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Clarifies Deviations 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 Clarifies Deviations to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Clarifies Deviations can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Clarifies Deviations operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Threats Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Clarifies Deviations 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) .
Increasing wage structure of Clarifies Deviations
– 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 Clarifies Deviations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Clarifies Deviations with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Clarifies Deviations business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Clarifies Deviations can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Clarifies Deviations needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B), Clarifies Deviations 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 .
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. Clarifies Deviations 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Clarifies Deviations 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Clarifies Deviations has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Clarifies Deviations 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.
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 Clarifies Deviations.
Environmental challenges
– Clarifies Deviations 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. Clarifies Deviations can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Patient Flow at Brigham and Women's Hospital (B) 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 Clarifies Deviations needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.