In 2010, Andre Razafindranaly, Managing Director of a large French public hospital, considers which organizational structure will help them adjust to the changing health sector environment. The move from global budget to activity-based funding has led his and many other public hospitals to suffer losses in recent years. Appointed two years previously, Razafindranaly introduced increasing financial control and encouraged organizational changes such as multidisciplinary wards differentiated by patients' lengths of stay. To what extent should he (and can he) reinforce these measures, which have increased efficiency and reduced the deficit, but also generated push-back from his doctors and staff?
Authors :: Richard Bohmer, Daniela Beyersdorfer, Simon Harrow
Swot Analysis of "Hopital de Pontoise" written by Richard Bohmer, Daniela Beyersdorfer, Simon Harrow includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Razafindranaly Hopital facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hopital de Pontoise case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hopital de Pontoise casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hopital de Pontoise
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hopital de Pontoise case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Razafindranaly Hopital, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Hopital de Pontoise can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hopital de Pontoise case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Razafindranaly Hopital
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 Razafindranaly Hopital
Strengths Hopital de Pontoise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Razafindranaly Hopital in Hopital de Pontoise Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Razafindranaly Hopital has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Hopital de Pontoise - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Hopital de Pontoise firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Razafindranaly Hopital to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Razafindranaly Hopital to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Razafindranaly Hopital in the sector have low bargaining power. Hopital de Pontoise has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Razafindranaly Hopital digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Hopital de Pontoise HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Razafindranaly Hopital
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Razafindranaly Hopital does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Razafindranaly Hopital has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Razafindranaly Hopital to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Razafindranaly Hopital is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Razafindranaly Hopital is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hopital de Pontoise Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Training and development
– Razafindranaly Hopital has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hopital de Pontoise Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses Hopital de Pontoise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hopital de Pontoise are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Razafindranaly Hopital, firm in the HBR case study Hopital de Pontoise needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hopital de Pontoise, it seems that the employees of Razafindranaly Hopital 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Razafindranaly Hopital is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Hopital de Pontoise 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
Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Hopital de Pontoise, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hopital de Pontoise, in the dynamic environment Razafindranaly Hopital has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Razafindranaly Hopital has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Hopital de Pontoise 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 Hopital de Pontoise can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Razafindranaly Hopital is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Hopital de Pontoise, is just above the industry average. Razafindranaly Hopital 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, Razafindranaly Hopital 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. Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Opportunities Hopital de Pontoise | 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 Hopital de Pontoise are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Razafindranaly Hopital can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Razafindranaly Hopital can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Razafindranaly Hopital operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Hopital de Pontoise - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Razafindranaly Hopital to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Razafindranaly Hopital is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hopital de Pontoise 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
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. Razafindranaly Hopital 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. Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Razafindranaly Hopital to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Threats Hopital de Pontoise External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hopital de Pontoise are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Razafindranaly Hopital with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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. Razafindranaly Hopital can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Razafindranaly Hopital is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Razafindranaly Hopital 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. Razafindranaly Hopital can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Razafindranaly Hopital 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 Hopital de Pontoise .
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
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
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. Razafindranaly Hopital needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Razafindranaly Hopital has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Razafindranaly Hopital 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hopital de Pontoise 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 Hopital de Pontoise 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 Hopital de Pontoise 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 Hopital de Pontoise 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 Hopital de Pontoise 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 Razafindranaly Hopital needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
