The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department
In June 2009, the new chief executive officer at the National University Hospital in Singapore had serious concerns about the hospital's prolonged emergency department boarding time-the time between an emergency doctor's decision to admit a patient and the patient's occupation of a hospital bed. He knew that a prolonged boarding time was one of the leading factors contributing to emergency department overcrowding, which in turn hindered the delivery of high-quality medical care and compromised patient outcomes. The chief executive officer needed to decide what strategy the National University Hospital should adopt to reduce the prolonged emergency department boarding time and how the hospital should execute such a strategy. Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery and Jingui Xie are affiliated with University of Science and Technology of China. Mabel C. Chou is affiliated with National University of Singapore.
Authors :: Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery, Jingui Xie, Mabel C. Chou, Joe Sim
Swot Analysis of "The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department" written by Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery, Jingui Xie, Mabel C. Chou, Joe Sim includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Emergency Boarding facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Emergency Boarding, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Emergency Boarding 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Emergency Boarding
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 Emergency Boarding
Strengths The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Emergency Boarding in The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Emergency Boarding is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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.
High brand equity
– Emergency Boarding has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Emergency Boarding to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Emergency Boarding to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Emergency Boarding to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Emergency Boarding has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Emergency Boarding 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.
Analytics focus
– Emergency Boarding 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 Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery, Jingui Xie, Mabel C. Chou, Joe Sim 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.
Organizational Resilience of Emergency Boarding
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Emergency Boarding does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Emergency Boarding in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Emergency Boarding is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Emergency Boarding 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 Emergency Boarding is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Emergency Boarding 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 Emergency Boarding in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Emergency Boarding 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Emergency Boarding 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. Emergency Boarding 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department, it seems that the employees of Emergency Boarding 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Emergency Boarding 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.
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 Emergency Boarding supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Emergency Boarding vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 Emergency Boarding has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Emergency Boarding is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 Emergency Boarding 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Emergency Boarding 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 - The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Emergency Boarding 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Emergency Boarding is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Emergency Boarding, firm in the HBR case study The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department | 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department are -
Loyalty marketing
– Emergency Boarding 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Emergency Boarding can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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.
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 Emergency Boarding in the consumer business. Now Emergency Boarding can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Emergency Boarding to increase its market reach. Emergency Boarding 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Emergency Boarding 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
– Emergency Boarding 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Emergency Boarding to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Emergency Boarding 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Emergency Boarding can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Emergency Boarding 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. Emergency Boarding can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Emergency Boarding can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Emergency Boarding operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Emergency Boarding 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. Emergency Boarding can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Emergency Boarding 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 Emergency Boarding to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 Emergency Boarding.
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. Emergency Boarding 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Emergency Boarding 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Emergency Boarding with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Emergency Boarding 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Emergency Boarding demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Emergency Boarding 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department .
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 Emergency Boarding in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 wage structure of Emergency Boarding
– 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 Emergency Boarding.
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 Emergency Boarding business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Emergency Boarding 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. Emergency Boarding can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 The National University Hospital: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department 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 Emergency Boarding needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
