Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later

This case is part of a four part series that examines the merger of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Military Center at Bethesda - the most expensive, controversial and largest hospital merger in US history. The series includes: A case + A teaching note (Leadership of VADM Mateczun); B case + B teaching note (Army/Navy cultural issues); Epilogue (short conclusion); Film - award winning short documentary. The A case focuses on the leadership of Vice Admiral Dr. John Mateczun, a three-star Navy admiral who led the merger. Mateczun achieved what many considered to be a minor miracle - integrating Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval in the face of fierce institutional resistance. But in his drive to see the plan through, Mateczun stretched the limit of military authority, expended his political capital and alienated friends and colleagues. The case allows discussion of leadership styles and the importance of persuasion, negotiation, communication issues, and personal character. There are two companion cases and a 17-minute film. The film shows a brief history of the hospitals, explains the BRAC (Base Closure Commission), and shows the intensity and urgency of the medical needs of patients being cared for at Walter Reed during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The B Case focuses on the difficulties of merging organizations with significant cultural differences. It may be taught together with the (A) case or on its own with the video. The short Epilogue looks at the outcome in 2014, 3 years after the merger. Case number 2035.0

Authors :: Linda Bilmes, Matt Mabe

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Government, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later" written by Linda Bilmes, Matt Mabe includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mateczun Walter facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions and Leadership & Managing People.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mateczun Walter, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mateczun Walter 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mateczun Walter
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 Mateczun Walter

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Strengths Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Mateczun Walter in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later Harvard Business Review case study are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Mateczun Walter in the sector have low bargaining power. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mateczun Walter to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Strong track record of project management

– Mateczun Walter is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Training and development

– Mateczun Walter has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Mateczun Walter in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Mateczun Walter is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Mateczun Walter 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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.

Learning organization

- Mateczun Walter 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 Mateczun Walter is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of Mateczun Walter

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mateczun Walter 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 Mateczun Walter 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.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Mateczun Walter 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 Mateczun Walter in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Innovation driven organization

– Mateczun Walter is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

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Weaknesses Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later are -

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mateczun Walter 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. Mateczun Walter 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Mateczun Walter 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mateczun Walter is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Linda Bilmes, Matt Mabe suggests that, Mateczun Walter 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Mateczun Walter, firm in the HBR case study Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Need for greater diversity

– Mateczun Walter 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Mateczun Walter has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Mateczun Walter 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 - Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Lack of clear differentiation of Mateczun Walter products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mateczun Walter needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mateczun Walter 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, Mateczun Walter 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.

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Opportunities Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later | 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later are -

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mateczun Walter 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 Mateczun Walter to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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. Mateczun Walter can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mateczun Walter is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Mateczun Walter has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– Mateczun Walter 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mateczun Walter 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mateczun Walter 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, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mateczun Walter can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mateczun Walter operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Mateczun Walter 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.

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 Mateczun Walter in the consumer business. Now Mateczun Walter can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mateczun Walter to increase its market reach. Mateczun Walter 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mateczun Walter 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Mateczun Walter 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mateczun Walter to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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Threats Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later, Mateczun Walter 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 .

Increasing wage structure of Mateczun Walter

– 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 Mateczun Walter.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Mateczun Walter 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Mateczun Walter 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mateczun Walter with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Mateczun Walter has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mateczun Walter 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mateczun Walter 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mateczun Walter 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later .

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Mateczun Walter is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Mateczun Walter needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Mateczun Walter 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 Mateczun Walter in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Mateczun Walter 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Epilogue): JTF CapMed: Three Years Later 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 Mateczun Walter needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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