Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors
Medical errors both in the U.S. and worldwide occur at alarming rates. In the U.S. medical errors were the third leading cause of death. Southwick experienced the consequences of preventable medical errors firsthand. As a physician and a professor, he researched and wrote about the causes and solutions for medical errors over the years. Southwick also launched pilot programs applying different quality improvement frameworks from other fields to medicine. Although the results were positive, he encountered resistance from many physicians. To build more skills, Southwick became an Advanced Leadership Fellow in 2010 and a Senior Advanced Leadership Fellow in 2011. He used his time at Harvard to develop solutions that would address the root causes of medical errors. The complexities in healthcare and the entrenched cultural norms presented strong barriers to creating change. The case explores Southwick's efforts in getting medical professionals to work collaboratively, communicate effectively, and create a new sustainable culture that improves healthcare outcomes. Southwick's experience raises the question of how one person can best make a difference in a large, complex, entrenched system.
Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone, Jihea Kang
Swot Analysis of "Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone, Jihea Kang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Southwick Errors facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Developing employees, Health, Human resource management, Organizational structure and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing,
technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Southwick Errors, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Southwick Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Southwick Errors
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 Southwick Errors
Strengths Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Southwick Errors in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Southwick Errors has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Southwick Errors to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Southwick Errors has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Southwick Errors 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Southwick Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Southwick Errors to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Southwick Errors to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Southwick Errors has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Southwick Errors is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Southwick Errors 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.
Learning organization
- Southwick Errors 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 Southwick Errors is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Southwick Errors 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 Southwick Errors in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Southwick Errors is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Southwick Errors is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Southwick Errors needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors, in the dynamic environment Southwick Errors has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Southwick Errors has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone, Jihea Kang suggests that, Southwick Errors 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Southwick Errors is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Southwick Errors is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Southwick Errors is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Southwick Errors needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Southwick Errors to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Southwick Errors 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Southwick Errors has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Southwick Errors 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 - Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Southwick Errors 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.
Opportunities Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors | 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors are -
Buying journey improvements
– Southwick Errors can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Southwick Errors has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Southwick Errors to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors case study. Southwick Errors 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
– Southwick Errors 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Southwick Errors 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.
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. Southwick Errors can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Southwick Errors 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 Southwick Errors to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Southwick Errors 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Southwick Errors is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Southwick Errors 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, Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Southwick Errors 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. Southwick Errors 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Southwick Errors 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Southwick Errors can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Southwick Errors operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Southwick Errors to increase its market reach. Southwick Errors 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.
Threats Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Southwick Errors has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Southwick Errors needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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.
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 Southwick Errors 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 Southwick Errors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Southwick Errors 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors, Southwick Errors 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 .
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.
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. Southwick Errors 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Southwick Errors can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Southwick Errors.
Environmental challenges
– Southwick Errors 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. Southwick Errors can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Southwick Errors 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 Southwick Errors 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Frederick Southwick and Reducing Medical Errors 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 Southwick Errors needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
