Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care
With ultra-short sightlines to its patient-customers, healthcare should pursue lean in its own way rather than follow the often wayward lean practices of manufacturing, a sector in which few people ever see real customers. Because of the distance in manufacturing from end customers, this sector's lean practices usually focus inward on operational efficiency through waste elimination. The nature of healthcare-with customers up close and immediate-calls for elevating its lean efforts toward customer-focused lean effectiveness: flexibly quick response along the multiple flow paths leading to and involving patients. This article illustrates that approach to lean by drawing from a case study in which widely scattered heart attack patients were transported to a central treatment hospital in a system-wide, highly coordinated program of quick response. This article shows that the keys to success-including high rates of saving lives and lean healthcare in general-boil down to just five lean methodologies, each focused on quick response. Lean healthcare, when practiced in this way, becomes deserving of status as a fixture in strategic management of the enterprise.
Swot Analysis of "Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care" written by Richard J. Schonberger includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lean Healthcare facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lean Healthcare, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lean Healthcare 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lean Healthcare
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Lean Healthcare
Strengths Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lean Healthcare in Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Lean Healthcare 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 Lean Healthcare in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lean Healthcare digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lean Healthcare 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lean Healthcare in the sector have low bargaining power. Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lean Healthcare to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lean Healthcare has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lean Healthcare 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lean Healthcare is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Lean Healthcare
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lean Healthcare does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lean Healthcare 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lean Healthcare to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lean Healthcare to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lean Healthcare in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lean Healthcare is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Lean Healthcare is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care are -
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 Lean Healthcare supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lean Healthcare vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lean Healthcare 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 - Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Lean Healthcare 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Lean Healthcare 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lean Healthcare is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lean Healthcare 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lean Healthcare is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care, is just above the industry average. Lean Healthcare 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care HBR case study mentions - Lean Healthcare 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care, in the dynamic environment Lean Healthcare has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lean Healthcare has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lean Healthcare, firm in the HBR case study Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care | 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care are -
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Lean Healthcare to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lean Healthcare can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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 Lean Healthcare can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lean Healthcare to increase its market reach. Lean Healthcare 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lean Healthcare can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lean Healthcare 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lean Healthcare in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Lean Healthcare can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Lean Healthcare can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lean Healthcare 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lean Healthcare 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lean Healthcare to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lean Healthcare 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 Lean Healthcare to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lean Healthcare can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lean Healthcare operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Threats Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lean Healthcare has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lean Healthcare needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lean Healthcare 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lean Healthcare can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Lean Healthcare business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lean Healthcare is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lean Healthcare in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lean Healthcare 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lean Healthcare
– 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 Lean Healthcare.
Regulatory challenges
– Lean Healthcare 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lean Healthcare 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.
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 Lean Healthcare in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lean Healthcare with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Reconstituting Lean In Healthcare: From Waste Elimination Toward 'Queue-less' Patient-Focused Care 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 Lean Healthcare needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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