Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life
General Electric launched Bridges to Excellence Diabetes Care Link, a program through which enrolled physicians receive bonuses of up to 10% of their salary for delivering quality care to diabetic patients covered by a participating employer or health plan. A day later, the Wall Street Journal labeled the program a "bribe." The case explores this accusation and the assumption that purchasers and consumers must explicitly pay for quality in heath care. Also allows evaluation of a specific program from design (e.g., financial reward structure) to implementation (e.g., parties involved). The question of scalability arises, as does the criteria by which to judge success.
Authors :: Richard Bohmer, Ingrid M. Nembhard, Robert Galvin
Swot Analysis of "Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life" written by Richard Bohmer, Ingrid M. Nembhard, Robert Galvin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Heath Bridges facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Motivating people, Product development, Project management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Heath Bridges, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Heath Bridges 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Heath Bridges
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 Heath Bridges
Strengths Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Heath Bridges in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Heath Bridges is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Heath Bridges in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Heath Bridges 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Heath Bridges in the sector have low bargaining power. Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Heath Bridges 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 Heath Bridges digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Heath Bridges 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.
Training and development
– Heath Bridges has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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.
High brand equity
– Heath Bridges has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Heath Bridges to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Heath Bridges 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Heath Bridges is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Heath Bridges is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Heath Bridges 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 Heath Bridges in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Heath Bridges 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 Heath Bridges is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Heath Bridges 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Heath Bridges has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Heath Bridges 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 - Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life, it seems that the employees of Heath Bridges 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Heath Bridges 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Heath Bridges 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Heath Bridges, firm in the HBR case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Heath Bridges has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
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 Heath Bridges supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Heath Bridges vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life, is just above the industry average. Heath Bridges 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.
Opportunities Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life | 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life are -
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 Heath Bridges in the consumer business. Now Heath Bridges can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Heath Bridges 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
– Heath Bridges 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Heath Bridges to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Heath Bridges can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Heath Bridges can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Heath Bridges 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Heath Bridges can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Heath Bridges operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Heath Bridges 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, Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Heath Bridges has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Heath Bridges to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life case study. Heath Bridges can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Heath Bridges 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
– Heath Bridges 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Heath Bridges 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 Heath Bridges to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Heath Bridges is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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.
Threats Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Heath Bridges with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Heath Bridges business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Heath Bridges 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.
Increasing wage structure of Heath Bridges
– 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 Heath Bridges.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Heath Bridges is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life, Heath Bridges 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 .
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 Heath Bridges.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Heath Bridges 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.
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. Heath Bridges can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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
– Heath Bridges 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.
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
– Heath Bridges has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Heath Bridges 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Bridges to Excellence: Bringing Quality Heath Care to Life 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 Heath Bridges needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.