GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?
This case outlines the dilemma of V. Raja, president and CEO of GE Healthcare India, when the company's ultrasound machines were implicated in many cases of prenatal sex determination. Even in the 21st century, Indian society favored males and many in India saw females as a burden on their families. Studies had shown that fewer and fewer girls were being born, with potentially catastrophic results for future Indian society. The reason: Many women were relying on ultrasound machines to determine the gender of their fetus and, if it were a girl, having abortions. Raja knew that GE Healthcare and ultrasound machines were providing much better medical care for Indians, particularly those in rural communities, and that the company was following all the rules and regulations to prevent this type of abuse. But he also understood the social issues that were involved. Ultrasound machine sales had enormous potential to help maintain GE's market-leading position in India. But should the company step back from its aggressive sales strategy? How could Raja and the company alleviate the growing discontent among critics and the media against the practice of prenatal sex determination testing using GE's ultrasound machines? What additional efforts did GE need to make to prove its intentions of promoting prenatal care? What other efforts should the company make to stop the illicit prenatal gender determination and resulting abortions? How could he protect the as yet untarnished image of GE as a responsible corporation going forward?
Swot Analysis of "GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?" written by Jared Harris, Mayank Jain, Jenny Mead includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ultrasound Prenatal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Cross-cultural management, Ethics, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ultrasound Prenatal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ultrasound Prenatal 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ultrasound Prenatal
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 Ultrasound Prenatal
Strengths GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ultrasound Prenatal in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Ultrasound Prenatal 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 Ultrasound Prenatal is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Ultrasound Prenatal is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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 Ultrasound Prenatal in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Ultrasound Prenatal is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ultrasound Prenatal digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Training and development
– Ultrasound Prenatal has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ultrasound Prenatal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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
– Ultrasound Prenatal has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ultrasound Prenatal to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ultrasound Prenatal is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ultrasound Prenatal 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. Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 Ultrasound Prenatal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Ultrasound Prenatal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ultrasound Prenatal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ultrasound Prenatal has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?, in the dynamic environment Ultrasound Prenatal has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ultrasound Prenatal has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ultrasound Prenatal 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 - GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?, is just above the industry average. Ultrasound Prenatal needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ultrasound Prenatal 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Opportunities GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? | 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? are -
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 Ultrasound Prenatal in the consumer business. Now Ultrasound Prenatal 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 Ultrasound Prenatal to increase its market reach. Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
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. Ultrasound Prenatal can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ultrasound Prenatal 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. Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
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 Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ultrasound Prenatal can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ultrasound Prenatal can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ultrasound Prenatal can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ultrasound Prenatal operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ultrasound Prenatal can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ultrasound Prenatal is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Threats GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? are -
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. Ultrasound Prenatal needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ultrasound Prenatal
– 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 Ultrasound Prenatal.
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 Ultrasound Prenatal business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
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 Ultrasound Prenatal in the Global Business 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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.
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 Ultrasound Prenatal.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ultrasound Prenatal is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Ultrasound Prenatal 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 Global Business industry regulations.
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. Ultrasound Prenatal 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra)Sound Strategy? 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 Ultrasound Prenatal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
