Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning
In November of 2010, the board of Stanford Hospital and Clinics announced that Amir Dan Rubin, at the time chief operating officer of the UCLA Hospital System, would become the next CEO at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. Although by 2010 Stanford hospital had largely recovered from a failed merger with the hospital of the University of California, San Francisco, and was financially stable, Rubin would lead an organization that still faced significant challenges. These included creating a focus on patient care and improving operational performance, especially in the wake of an increasingly competitive health system landscape. Rubin's success depended on obtaining the support of a large existing internal staff as well as the medical center faculty. The faculty reported to the dean of the medical school, not to Rubin. The case describes what Rubin did to transform the culture and operations of Stanford Health Care and, specifically, what he did to build support among the various constituencies so critical to his being successful: the medical school physicians, the board of the hospital, and the colleagues already at Stanford. The case also looks at the next steps that Rubin planned in 2014 for continuing to move the hospital forward and the challenges with which he would need to grapple. The case is useful in classes on leadership, organizational culture and culture change, and in classes on power and influence where outside succession and the task of building internal support is a topic.
Swot Analysis of "Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning" written by Jeffrey Pfeffer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rubin Stanford facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Corporate governance, Leadership, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rubin Stanford, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rubin Stanford 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rubin Stanford
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Rubin Stanford
Strengths Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rubin Stanford in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Rubin Stanford 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 Rubin Stanford is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rubin Stanford is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rubin Stanford in the sector have low bargaining power. Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rubin Stanford to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Rubin Stanford 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 Jeffrey Pfeffer 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Rubin Stanford 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 Rubin Stanford in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rubin Stanford 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Rubin Stanford is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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
– Rubin Stanford has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Rubin Stanford digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Rubin Stanford 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Rubin Stanford is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rubin Stanford has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rubin Stanford 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rubin Stanford to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rubin Stanford to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Rubin Stanford 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Rubin Stanford 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rubin Stanford 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 - Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning, is just above the industry average. Rubin Stanford 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Rubin Stanford 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rubin Stanford 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning, it seems that the employees of Rubin Stanford 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning HBR case study mentions - Rubin Stanford 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Rubin Stanford, firm in the HBR case study Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Rubin Stanford has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning | 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Rubin Stanford 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rubin Stanford can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Rubin Stanford 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Rubin Stanford can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rubin Stanford 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rubin Stanford to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Rubin Stanford is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Rubin Stanford in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rubin Stanford 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 Rubin Stanford to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rubin Stanford can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Rubin Stanford to increase its market reach. Rubin Stanford 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rubin Stanford can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rubin Stanford operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rubin Stanford has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rubin Stanford to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning case study. Rubin Stanford can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Rubin Stanford 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, Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning are -
Environmental challenges
– Rubin Stanford 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. Rubin Stanford can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Rubin Stanford in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rubin Stanford 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rubin Stanford has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rubin Stanford needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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 Rubin Stanford is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Rubin Stanford can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Rubin Stanford 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rubin Stanford 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 Rubin Stanford.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rubin Stanford 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.
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. Rubin Stanford needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People 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. Rubin Stanford 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Amir Dan Rubin: Success from the Beginning 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 Rubin Stanford needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.