Case Study Description of Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff
Kim Markey began as executive director of revenue cycle at Huntington Hospital (HH) in November 2012. Located in Pasadena, California, HH was a 625-bed non-profit regional medical center that was named among the top-performing hospitals in 2012 by U.S. News & World Report. To further HH's focus on high-quality, patient-centered care, Jim Noble, executive VP-COO/CFO, was looking for a change in direction, particularly in the Business Services Office. Accounts Receivable (AR), a key billing metric, could be lower and Noble hired Markey with the mandate to improve performance. Markey's long-term vision involved re-examining the revenue cycle and the hospital's processes to ensure that HH would become a stronger performer. She needed to get her metrics under control as a first step before transforming the departments she oversaw-Admitting, Business Services, Data Services, Medical Records, and Revenue Integrity-into truly patient-focused business centers. The next step would be removing barriers for patients and evolving the mindset of her departments so that HH would become known as "an organization that is going to work with you to help you understand what's going on." This case begins by detailing the environment that Markey found in the Business Services Office when she began. Because morale was low and an atmosphere of tension permeated, Markey was thoughtful and deliberate about her approach and actions as executive director. Huntington Hospital was also deep into preparations for a major software conversion, and from past experience, Markey knew that the implementation would negatively impact AR days. She needed to get the existing processes cleaned up and AR days as efficient as possible to minimize the increase that she knew was coming. To do so, she brought in two consultants. This case leaves off with a description of the initial work that the consultants did with the Medicare team and their assessment of roadblocks to moving forward. Students are asked to develop a proposal for what Markey and the consultants should do.
Swot Analysis of "Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff" written by Sarah A Soule, Davina Drabkin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Markey Hh facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Informal leadership, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Performance measurement, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Markey Hh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Markey Hh 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Markey Hh
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 Markey Hh
Strengths Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Markey Hh in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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.
Analytics focus
– Markey Hh 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 Sarah A Soule, Davina Drabkin 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Markey Hh 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Markey Hh is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Markey Hh 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.
Training and development
– Markey Hh has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Markey Hh is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Markey Hh 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 Markey Hh in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Markey Hh has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Learning organization
- Markey Hh 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 Markey Hh is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Markey Hh
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Markey Hh does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Markey Hh has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Markey Hh to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Markey Hh 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Markey Hh 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Markey Hh 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff, it seems that the employees of Markey Hh 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff, is just above the industry average. Markey Hh 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Markey Hh has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sarah A Soule, Davina Drabkin suggests that, Markey Hh 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.
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 Markey Hh supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Markey Hh vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Markey Hh is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Markey Hh is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Markey Hh needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Markey Hh to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Markey Hh 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.
Opportunities Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff | 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Markey Hh 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Markey Hh can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Markey Hh 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Markey Hh can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Markey Hh in the consumer business. Now Markey Hh can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Markey Hh 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.
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. Markey Hh 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. Markey Hh 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 Markey Hh to increase its market reach. Markey Hh 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Markey Hh is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Markey Hh 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Markey Hh can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Markey Hh operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Markey Hh can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Markey Hh 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, Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff, 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff, Markey Hh 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 .
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. Markey Hh needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Markey Hh 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Markey Hh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Markey Hh 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 Markey Hh 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Markey Hh has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Markey Hh 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.
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. Markey Hh will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Markey Hh can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Markey Hh.
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. Markey Hh can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Markey Hh 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. Markey Hh can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Huntington Hospital (A): Empowering Staff 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 Markey Hh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
