Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation
Years before Harvard University Professor Howard Koh was appointed by President Barack Obama as the 14th U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health (2009-2014) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he went on to address a vast portfolio of health challenges, he played a leading role in two highly impactful coalition-based public health campaigns focused on tobacco control and organ donation. The tobacco tax and organ donation campaigns illustrate how public health advocates can effectively build and rally coalitions of diverse groups around a results-focused health mission. They underscore the perseverance and other leadership traits that public health leaders like Koh harness to push through innovative strategies in the face of powerful entrenched groups committed to preserving the status quo. And while the campaigns also demonstrate the difficulties of sustaining public health initiatives due to changing political and economic circumstances, leaders like Koh must surmount disappointments to find new ways to continue the mission over the course of a long career.
Authors :: Jay Winsten, Pamela Yatsko, Kelsi Stine-Rowe
Swot Analysis of "Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation" written by Jay Winsten, Pamela Yatsko, Kelsi Stine-Rowe includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Koh Health facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Koh Health, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Koh Health 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Koh Health
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Koh Health
Strengths Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Koh Health in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Koh Health 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.
Organizational Resilience of Koh Health
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Koh Health does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Koh Health 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Koh Health has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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.
Learning organization
- Koh Health 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 Koh Health is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Koh Health is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Koh Health in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Koh Health digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Koh Health 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Koh Health 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 Koh Health in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Koh Health 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Koh Health is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Koh Health, firm in the HBR case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Koh Health 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 - Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Koh Health 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Koh Health 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.
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 Koh Health supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Koh Health vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation, in the dynamic environment Koh Health has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Koh Health has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation, it seems that the employees of Koh Health 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Koh Health 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Koh Health is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Koh Health 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Koh Health 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.
Opportunities Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation | 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Koh Health in the consumer business. Now Koh Health can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Koh Health has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Koh Health to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Koh Health 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. Koh Health 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Koh Health 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, Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Koh Health is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Koh Health 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 Koh Health to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Koh Health 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
– Koh Health 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Koh Health in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Koh Health can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Koh Health operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Koh Health has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Koh Health to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation case study. Koh Health can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Koh Health can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Koh Health can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Threats Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation, Koh Health may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Environmental challenges
– Koh Health 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. Koh Health can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Koh Health 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 Koh Health in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Koh Health 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 wage structure of Koh Health
– 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 Koh Health.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Koh Health 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Koh Health is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Koh Health needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Koh Health 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.
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 Koh Health business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Koh Health in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Howard Koh and Public Health Campaigns for Tobacco Control and Organ Donation 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 Koh Health needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
