Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion
Set in 2009-2010, during the fractious U.S. Congressional debate over enacting the Obamacare health reform bill, this ethics case focuses on the choices and constraints facing Bart Stupak, a Democratic Congressman from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, who was both a dedicated advocate for healthcare reform and a lifelong opponent of abortion (as were the majority of voters in his rural, largely Catholic district). The case provides basic background about Stupak, his district, and the Obamacare debate but the heart of the story belongs to the abortion policy sub-plot of the larger healthcare reform drama, which culminated with the final, razor-close vote on the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 21, 2010. At this critical moment, with the fate of the ACA hanging by a thread, the Democratic leadership pressed Stupak and his small group of pro-life House Democrats to abandon their controversial abortion stance and deliver their critically-needed votes to pass the Obamacare bill. At the same time, Stupak's traditional pro-life and Catholic supporters doubled-down on demands that he and his group hold the line, even if it meant dealing the death blow to health reform. Anti-Obamacare Republicans, meantime, maneuvered around the edges, seeking to leverage the abortion issue in a last-ditch effort to kill the bill. The case closely follows Stupak's own perceptions, conflicts, and choices as he tried to walk a middle path in this highly charged atmosphere. In the end, he made a deal with President Barack Obama, who agreed to put abortion restrictions in the form of an executive order in exchange for the support of Stupak and his bloc on the ACA.
Swot Analysis of "Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion" written by Christopher Robichaud, Pamela Varley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Abortion Stupak facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Health, Leadership, Negotiations and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Abortion Stupak, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Abortion Stupak 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Abortion Stupak
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 Abortion Stupak
Strengths Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Abortion Stupak in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Abortion Stupak is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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
– Abortion Stupak 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 Abortion Stupak in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Abortion Stupak to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Abortion Stupak to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Abortion Stupak has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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.
Analytics focus
– Abortion Stupak 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 Christopher Robichaud, Pamela Varley 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 Abortion Stupak
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Abortion Stupak does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Abortion Stupak digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Abortion Stupak 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Abortion Stupak in the sector have low bargaining power. Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Abortion Stupak to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Abortion Stupak is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Abortion Stupak in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Abortion Stupak 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.
Weaknesses Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion are -
Need for greater diversity
– Abortion Stupak 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Abortion Stupak is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Abortion Stupak 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion, it seems that the employees of Abortion Stupak 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Abortion Stupak has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Abortion Stupak 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Abortion Stupak is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Abortion Stupak needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Abortion Stupak to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Abortion Stupak is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Abortion Stupak 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.
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 Abortion Stupak supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Abortion Stupak vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion, is just above the industry average. Abortion Stupak 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.
Opportunities Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion | 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Abortion Stupak 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Abortion Stupak can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Abortion Stupak operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Abortion Stupak can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Abortion Stupak 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Abortion Stupak can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Abortion Stupak 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Abortion Stupak has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Abortion Stupak to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion case study. Abortion Stupak can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Abortion Stupak to increase its market reach. Abortion Stupak 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Abortion Stupak 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.
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. Abortion Stupak 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. Abortion Stupak 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Abortion Stupak 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 Abortion Stupak 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Abortion Stupak 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.
Threats Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Abortion Stupak 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.
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 Abortion Stupak.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Abortion Stupak 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
– Abortion Stupak has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Abortion Stupak 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.
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
– Abortion Stupak 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. Abortion Stupak can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing wage structure of Abortion Stupak
– 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 Abortion Stupak.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Abortion Stupak 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion .
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. Abortion Stupak can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Abortion Stupak 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.
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 Abortion Stupak in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Abortion Stupak 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion, Abortion Stupak 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Man on a Wire: Bart Stupak Walks a Tight Line between Obamacare & Abortion 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 Abortion Stupak needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
