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 - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, 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 -
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Genicon Surgical is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Genicon Surgical
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Genicon Surgical does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Genicon Surgical is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Genicon Surgical is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Genicon Surgical 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 Genicon Surgical in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
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 -
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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Genicon Surgical 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.
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.
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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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 Genicon Surgical 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Genicon Surgical 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 - GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Genicon Surgical products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Genicon Surgical needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Allen H. Kupetz, Adam P. Tindall, Gary Haberland suggests that, Genicon Surgical is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Genicon Surgical 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 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 -
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.
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.
Manufacturing automation
– Genicon Surgical 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.
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.
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.
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.
Buying journey improvements
– Genicon Surgical can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets 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.
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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Genicon Surgical 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, GENICON: A Surgical Strike into Emerging Markets, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
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.
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. Genicon Surgical can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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 Genicon Surgical business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Genicon Surgical 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.