Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B)
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.Designed to be used with the (A) case.
Swot Analysis of "Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B)" written by Boston Globe includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Site.designed Copy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Corporate governance, Decision making, Leadership, Managing people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Site.designed Copy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Site.designed Copy 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Site.designed Copy
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 Site.designed Copy
Strengths Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Site.designed Copy in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Site.designed Copy is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Site.designed Copy 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 Site.designed Copy is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Site.designed Copy 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 Boston Globe 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Site.designed Copy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Site.designed Copy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Site.designed Copy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Site.designed Copy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Site.designed Copy 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Site.designed Copy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Site.designed Copy in the sector have low bargaining power. Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Site.designed Copy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Site.designed Copy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Site.designed Copy 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.
Training and development
– Site.designed Copy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Site.designed Copy 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Site.designed Copy has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Site.designed Copy to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) HBR case study mentions - Site.designed Copy 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Boston Globe suggests that, Site.designed Copy 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B), in the dynamic environment Site.designed Copy has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Site.designed Copy has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B), is just above the industry average. Site.designed Copy 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Site.designed Copy 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. Site.designed Copy 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 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 Site.designed Copy supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Site.designed Copy vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Site.designed Copy is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Site.designed Copy 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Site.designed Copy 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Site.designed Copy 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Site.designed Copy is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) | 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Site.designed Copy 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Site.designed Copy 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, Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B), 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 Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Site.designed Copy 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. Site.designed Copy 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Site.designed Copy 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Site.designed Copy can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Site.designed Copy to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Site.designed Copy 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Site.designed Copy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Site.designed Copy 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Site.designed Copy can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Site.designed Copy 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 Site.designed Copy to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Site.designed Copy 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Site.designed Copy 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.
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 Site.designed Copy in the consumer business. Now Site.designed Copy can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Site.designed Copy 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Site.designed Copy 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Site.designed Copy 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Site.designed Copy with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B), Site.designed Copy may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
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 Site.designed Copy in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Site.designed Copy 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Site.designed Copy 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. Site.designed Copy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Site.designed Copy
– 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 Site.designed Copy.
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 Site.designed Copy.
Regulatory challenges
– Site.designed Copy 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Site.designed Copy in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Paul Levy: Taking Charge of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (B) 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 Site.designed Copy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.