Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership
This case looks at the public-private partnership (PPP) between the Health Ministry for the government of Lesotho and a private consortium headed up by Netcare, a South African company, to build and operate a new referral hospital and four feeder clinics in Maseru, the nation's capital. The project was one of the first efforts to design a PPP in Africa for the construction and the operation of a major hospital plus the clinical services. The project is perceived by the International Finance Corporation as a major success. The case focuses on three issues: 1. the steps taken by the government, IFC, and the private parties to form a workable public-private partnership; 2. the design and implementation of the key performance indicators contained in the contract; and 3. the sustainability of the project in light of higher than anticipated costs and lower quality health services in other areas of the country, which have resulted in a demand for services from the new clinic and hospital far in excess of the numbers originally forecast. Case number 1999.0
Swot Analysis of "Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership" written by Henry Lee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hospital Lesotho facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hospital Lesotho, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hospital Lesotho 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hospital Lesotho
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Hospital Lesotho
Strengths Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hospital Lesotho in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hospital Lesotho in the sector have low bargaining power. Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hospital Lesotho to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Hospital Lesotho
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hospital Lesotho does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hospital Lesotho 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.
Training and development
– Hospital Lesotho has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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.
High brand equity
– Hospital Lesotho has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hospital Lesotho to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Hospital Lesotho is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hospital Lesotho is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hospital Lesotho digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hospital Lesotho 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hospital Lesotho to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hospital Lesotho to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hospital Lesotho is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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.
Learning organization
- Hospital Lesotho 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 Hospital Lesotho is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Hospital Lesotho 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. Hospital Lesotho 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership, it seems that the employees of Hospital Lesotho 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hospital Lesotho has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership HBR case study mentions - Hospital Lesotho 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.
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 Hospital Lesotho supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hospital Lesotho vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Hospital Lesotho 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Hospital Lesotho 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership, in the dynamic environment Hospital Lesotho has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hospital Lesotho has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Hospital Lesotho has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hospital Lesotho products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hospital Lesotho needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership | 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hospital Lesotho can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Hospital Lesotho 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hospital Lesotho 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Hospital Lesotho can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
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 Hospital Lesotho in the consumer business. Now Hospital Lesotho can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hospital Lesotho 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hospital Lesotho 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 Global Business segment.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hospital Lesotho can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hospital Lesotho operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Hospital Lesotho 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
– Hospital Lesotho can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Hospital Lesotho has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hospital Lesotho to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership case study. Hospital Lesotho can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hospital Lesotho 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hospital Lesotho to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hospital Lesotho in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership, Hospital Lesotho may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
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. Hospital Lesotho 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 Hospital Lesotho in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Hospital Lesotho 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. Hospital Lesotho can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hospital Lesotho is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hospital Lesotho 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership .
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 Hospital Lesotho in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hospital Lesotho 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hospital Lesotho has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hospital Lesotho needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Hospital Lesotho can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hospital Lesotho 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hospital Lesotho 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Lesotho Hospital and Filter Clinics: A Public-Private Partnership 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 Hospital Lesotho needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
