Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care
Former law firm chairman/CEO Harvey Freishtat was actively involved in the formation of The Conversation Project, a national public engagement campaign to promote earlier end-of-life care discussions among loved ones and then with providers to ensure that end-of-life care wishes were both expressed and respected. The Conversation Project's media campaign and three-pronged strategy of targeting people where they live, work, and pray, was beginning to yield results. However, questions still remained. Would the health care industry create the mechanisms needed to follow people's end-of-life wishes? Was The Conversation Project taking the right steps to fulfill its mission of culture change?
Swot Analysis of "Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone, Oludamilola Aladesanmi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Freishtat Conversation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Policy, Social enterprise and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Freishtat Conversation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Freishtat Conversation 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Freishtat Conversation
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 Freishtat Conversation
Strengths Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Freishtat Conversation in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Freishtat Conversation has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Freishtat Conversation 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Freishtat Conversation is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Freishtat Conversation in the sector have low bargaining power. Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Freishtat Conversation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Freishtat Conversation 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 Freishtat Conversation
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Freishtat Conversation does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Freishtat Conversation in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Freishtat Conversation 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 Freishtat Conversation is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Freishtat Conversation 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Freishtat Conversation digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Freishtat Conversation 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Freishtat Conversation 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.
High brand equity
– Freishtat Conversation has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Freishtat Conversation to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Freishtat Conversation has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care HBR case study mentions - Freishtat Conversation takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Freishtat Conversation 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.
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 Freishtat Conversation supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Freishtat Conversation vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Freishtat Conversation 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Freishtat Conversation is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Freishtat Conversation needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Freishtat Conversation to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Freishtat Conversation is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care, is just above the industry average. Freishtat Conversation needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Freishtat Conversation has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Freishtat Conversation 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
– Freishtat Conversation 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Freishtat Conversation 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.
Opportunities Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care | 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care are -
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. Freishtat Conversation 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. Freishtat Conversation 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Freishtat Conversation to increase its market reach. Freishtat Conversation 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Freishtat Conversation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Freishtat Conversation 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Freishtat Conversation is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Freishtat Conversation 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Freishtat Conversation 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, Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Freishtat Conversation 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Freishtat Conversation 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Freishtat Conversation 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. Freishtat Conversation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Freishtat Conversation 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.
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 Freishtat Conversation in the consumer business. Now Freishtat Conversation can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care are -
Regulatory challenges
– Freishtat Conversation 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Freishtat Conversation 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.
Increasing wage structure of Freishtat Conversation
– 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 Freishtat Conversation.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Freishtat Conversation is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Freishtat Conversation with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Freishtat Conversation 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.
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. Freishtat Conversation needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Freishtat Conversation 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Freishtat Conversation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Freishtat Conversation 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.
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.
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 Freishtat Conversation 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 Freishtat Conversation in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care, Freishtat Conversation 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care 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 Freishtat Conversation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
