GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets
A critical question facing a company's ability to grow its business internationally is where it should go next. One company facing that decision was GENICON, a U.S.-based firm that manufactured and distributed medical instruments for laparoscopic surgeries. Although the minimally invasive surgical market in the United States had long been the largest in the world, international markets were anticipated to grow at a much faster rate than the U.S. market for the foreseeable future. GENICON was already in over 40 international markets and was looking in particular at the rapidly emerging markets - Brazil, Russia, India and China - as potential new opportunities for growth. This case is appropriate for use in an international business course to introduce market selection strategy. It can also be used in sessions on international marketing, entrepreneurship and business strategy.
Authors :: Allen H. Kupetz, Adam P. Tindall, Gary Haberland
Swot Analysis of "GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets" written by Allen H. Kupetz, Adam P. Tindall, Gary Haberland includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Genicon Surgical facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Manufacturing, Marketing and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Genicon Surgical, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Genicon Surgical 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Genicon Surgical
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 Genicon Surgical
Strengths GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Genicon Surgical in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Genicon Surgical digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Genicon Surgical 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 Genicon Surgical in the sector have low bargaining power. GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Genicon Surgical to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Genicon Surgical 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Genicon Surgical 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 Genicon Surgical is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Genicon Surgical 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Genicon Surgical has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Genicon Surgical 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Genicon Surgical to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Genicon Surgical to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Genicon Surgical 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 Allen H. Kupetz, Adam P. Tindall, Gary Haberland 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Genicon Surgical in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Genicon Surgical 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Genicon Surgical has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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.
Weaknesses GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Genicon Surgical 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets, it seems that the employees of Genicon Surgical 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Genicon Surgical is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Genicon Surgical needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Genicon Surgical to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Genicon Surgical 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Genicon Surgical is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 Genicon Surgical has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets, in the dynamic environment Genicon Surgical has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Genicon Surgical has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets HBR case study mentions - Genicon Surgical 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Genicon Surgical, firm in the HBR case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Genicon Surgical supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Genicon Surgical vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets, is just above the industry average. Genicon Surgical 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets | 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets are -
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. Genicon Surgical 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. Genicon Surgical 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Genicon Surgical 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Genicon Surgical 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.
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 Genicon Surgical 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Genicon Surgical has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Genicon Surgical to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets case study. Genicon Surgical can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Genicon Surgical 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 Genicon Surgical to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Genicon Surgical to increase its market reach. Genicon Surgical 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Genicon Surgical 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.
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. Genicon Surgical can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Genicon Surgical is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Genicon Surgical 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.
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 Genicon Surgical in the consumer business. Now Genicon Surgical can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Genicon Surgical can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Genicon Surgical 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 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. Genicon Surgical needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Genicon Surgical 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Genicon Surgical 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.
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 Genicon Surgical in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Genicon Surgical has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Genicon Surgical 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Genicon Surgical with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Genicon Surgical 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Genicon Surgical 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets .
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.
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
– Genicon Surgical 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. Genicon Surgical can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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. Genicon Surgical 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 Genicon Surgical needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.