St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis
St. Mary Maternity Hospital, a nonprofit organization, had a mission to deliver healthy babies at normal weight and to offer medical care to expectant mothers regardless of their financial situation. This case demonstrates the value of staying focused on achieving a mission statement. To achieve the hospital's mission, it was important to identify factors that could affect the weight and health of babies. This case demonstrates how a few factors related to birth could result in insightful and actionable recommendations for doctors, administrators, and policy makers.
Swot Analysis of "St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis" written by Satyendra Singh, Meera Kaur includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Babies Maternity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Babies Maternity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Babies Maternity 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Babies Maternity
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 Babies Maternity
Strengths St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Babies Maternity in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Babies Maternity
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Babies Maternity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Babies Maternity has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Babies Maternity 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Babies Maternity 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 Babies Maternity in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Babies Maternity is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Babies Maternity in the sector have low bargaining power. St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Babies Maternity to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Babies Maternity is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Babies Maternity has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Babies Maternity 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.
High brand equity
– Babies Maternity has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Babies Maternity to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Babies Maternity is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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
– Babies Maternity 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 Satyendra Singh, Meera Kaur 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.
Weaknesses St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 Babies Maternity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 Babies Maternity 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis, 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Babies Maternity has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Babies Maternity even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Satyendra Singh, Meera Kaur suggests that, Babies Maternity 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Babies Maternity 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Babies Maternity 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis, in the dynamic environment Babies Maternity has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Babies Maternity has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Babies Maternity is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Babies Maternity is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Babies Maternity 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis | 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Babies Maternity 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, St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Babies Maternity 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Babies Maternity to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Babies Maternity 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 Babies Maternity to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Babies Maternity 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, Babies Maternity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Babies Maternity can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Babies Maternity operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Babies Maternity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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.
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 Babies Maternity 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Babies Maternity 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Babies Maternity 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Babies Maternity 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Babies Maternity to increase its market reach. Babies Maternity will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Manufacturing automation
– Babies Maternity 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis are -
Regulatory challenges
– Babies Maternity 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Babies Maternity 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.
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 Babies Maternity.
Increasing wage structure of Babies Maternity
– 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 Babies Maternity.
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. Babies Maternity needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Babies Maternity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Babies Maternity 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Babies Maternity is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Babies Maternity 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.
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 Babies Maternity business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Babies Maternity 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Babies Maternity 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis .
Environmental challenges
– Babies Maternity 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. Babies Maternity can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 St. Mary Maternity Hospital: Introduction to SPSS and Statistical Analysis 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 Babies Maternity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.