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Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization


"Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization" examines how a complex medical organization evaluates new health information technology products to pilot, purchase, and utilize. Every year, hundreds of companies pitched their health IT solutions to Stanford Medicine and its associated entities: the Stanford University School of Medicine, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, and Stanford Health Care. However, Stanford Medicine would only select a few of these IT products to purchase and implement. Highlighting a few specific health information technology companies and products, this case explores the organizational decision-making process at Stanford Medicine and the criteria used to evaluate new technologies.

Authors :: Robert Chess, Ryan Kissick

Topics :: Technology & Operations

Tags :: IT, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization" written by Robert Chess, Ryan Kissick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Stanford Medicine facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT and Technology & Operations.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Stanford Medicine, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Stanford Medicine 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Stanford Medicine
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 Stanford Medicine




Strengths Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Stanford Medicine in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization Harvard Business Review case study are -

Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Stanford Medicine digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Stanford Medicine 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.

Analytics focus

– Stanford Medicine 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 Robert Chess, Ryan Kissick 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Stanford Medicine is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry

– Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Stanford Medicine to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Stanford Medicine to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Stanford Medicine 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Diverse revenue streams

– Stanford Medicine is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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

– Stanford Medicine is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Training and development

– Stanford Medicine has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

Organizational Resilience of Stanford Medicine

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Stanford Medicine does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Stanford Medicine 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.

Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field

– Stanford Medicine 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 Stanford Medicine in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization, it seems that the employees of Stanford Medicine 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, Stanford Medicine 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Stanford Medicine, firm in the HBR case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Need for greater diversity

– Stanford Medicine 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization, 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 bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert Chess, Ryan Kissick suggests that, Stanford Medicine 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 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 Stanford Medicine supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Stanford Medicine vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization HBR case study mentions - Stanford Medicine 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Stanford Medicine 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization, is just above the industry average. Stanford Medicine 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Stanford Medicine 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.




Opportunities Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization | 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization are -

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Stanford Medicine 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 Stanford Medicine to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Stanford Medicine is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Stanford Medicine 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Stanford Medicine 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, Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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. Stanford Medicine can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Stanford Medicine 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Stanford Medicine 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Stanford Medicine to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Stanford Medicine to increase its market reach. Stanford Medicine 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Stanford Medicine can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Stanford Medicine operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.

Manufacturing automation

– Stanford Medicine 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Stanford Medicine 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Stanford Medicine 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Stanford Medicine can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.




Threats Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization are -

Environmental challenges

– Stanford Medicine 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. Stanford Medicine can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.

Increasing wage structure of Stanford Medicine

– 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 Stanford Medicine.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Stanford Medicine has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Stanford Medicine 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Stanford Medicine 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.

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 Stanford Medicine.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Stanford Medicine with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization, Stanford Medicine 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 .

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Stanford Medicine in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Stanford Medicine 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 disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Stanford Medicine 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization .

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Stanford Medicine 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.

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 Stanford Medicine business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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