Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics
This case brings to the fore different complexities of contract labor employment by principal employers (PE) in the Indian context, including sensitivities involved in handling contract workers' union. Regency Hospital (RH), a corporate Hospital chain in India, acquired Gedex Hospital (GH) in 2005, along with contract workers employed in the latter. In the year 1983, GH's management decided to employ contract workers for operating its support services like House Keeping, etc. Two years later, some contract workers of GH became members of the All Gedex Employees' Union. Apprehending industrial relations (IR) problems, GH decided to take them on its permanent rolls. Later on, more contract workers of GH formally became members of this Union, but GH did not concede their demand for permanency. These workers continued to work at GH and later at RH under different contractors; for they were well-trained hospital workforce. When RH acquired GH in 2005, some of the contract workers were doing the same work as was done by RH's core workers, and continued to work that way. In October 2015 all contract workers of RH went on strike. Their demands included increase in wages and absorbing them in RH's core workforce. RH argued that all that was the obligation of the contractor concerned through whom they were employed. RH's HR manager contacted the local police, which eventually helped in pacifying these contract workers leading to withdrawal of their agitation. In the meantime, the management enhanced some minor welfare benefits for them through the contractor, but no substantive relief was given. RH was pondering on action it should take, and how to prevent reoccurrence of similar complex situations. It was also considering the working environment that should be made available to contract workers so as to promote their engagement, and also avoiding any possible legal lapses on its part in handling contract labor issues.
Authors :: Anjana Nath, Debi S. Saini
Topics :: Communication
Tags :: Business law, Human resource management, Labor, Negotiations, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics" written by Anjana Nath, Debi S. Saini includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gh Rh facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business law, Human resource management, Labor, Negotiations and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gh Rh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gh Rh
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Gh Rh
Strengths Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gh Rh in Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Gh Rh is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Gh Rh 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 Anjana Nath, Debi S. Saini 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.
High brand equity
– Gh Rh has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gh Rh to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Communication field
– Gh Rh 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 Gh Rh in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gh Rh 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)
– Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Communication segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gh Rh digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gh Rh 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gh Rh in the sector have low bargaining power. Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gh Rh to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Gh Rh 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Gh Rh is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Gh Rh 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. Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics, it seems that the employees of Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics HBR case study mentions - Gh Rh 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics, in the dynamic environment Gh Rh has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gh Rh has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gh Rh 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gh Rh 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Gh Rh is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Gh Rh products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Gh Rh needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gh Rh 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 - Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Gh Rh has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics, is just above the industry average. Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics | 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics are -
Manufacturing automation
– Gh Rh can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gh Rh 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 Gh Rh to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Gh Rh 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Gh Rh 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. Gh Rh 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gh Rh has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gh Rh to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics case study. Gh Rh can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gh Rh 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Gh Rh 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gh Rh to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Gh Rh can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gh Rh can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gh Rh operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
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 Gh Rh in the consumer business. Now Gh Rh can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gh Rh in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gh Rh 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, Gh Rh is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gh Rh 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Gh Rh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Gh Rh needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Gh Rh 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 Communication industry regulations.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics, Gh Rh may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gh Rh in the Communication industry. The Communication 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
– Gh Rh has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gh Rh needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
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.
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 Gh Rh business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gh Rh 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 Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Gh Rh can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Gh Rh 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.
Environmental challenges
– Gh Rh 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. Gh Rh can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Contract Labor at Regency Hospital: Legal and HR Dynamics 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 Gh Rh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.