Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
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.
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 household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
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 -
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Stanford Medicine 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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Stanford Medicine in the sector have low bargaining power. Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Stanford Medicine 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Stanford Medicine has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Stanford Medicine has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Stanford Medicine is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Stanford Medicine needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Stanford Medicine to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine 's lucrative customers.
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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Stanford Medicine 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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 Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Stanford Medicine is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
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 -
Buying journey improvements
– Stanford Medicine can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Stanford Medicine has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Stanford Medicine to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization case study. Stanford Medicine can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
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. Stanford Medicine can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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.
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.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Stanford Medicine 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Stanford Medicine 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. Stanford Medicine 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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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. Stanford Medicine will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 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.
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.
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. Stanford Medicine needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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.
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.
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. Stanford Medicine can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Stanford Medicine: Health IT Purchasing Decisions in a Complex Medical Organization
