Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation
In 2014, the Patient Room of the Future (PRoF) was the largest European open innovation consortium in the healthcare sector. Established in 2009 by a group of manufacturers who were suppliers to the health care sector, PRoF brought more than 300 professionals from multiple disciplines and industries together to think about and contribute to the future of the health care industry. The consortium derived its power from a novel interdisciplinary approach, resulting in the successful completion of four projects. Yet its future presented many unanswered questions: How would PRoF continue to provide an innovative and dynamic environment for its members and stakeholders in the healthcare sector? How would PRoF's projects achieve large-scale adoption, and what resources were needed to do that? What was the next step in the consortium's development? Wim Vanhaverbeke is affiliated with Hasselt University.
Swot Analysis of "Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation" written by Wim Vanhaverbeke, Piet Verhoeve includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Prof Consortium facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Prof Consortium, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Prof Consortium 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Prof Consortium
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 Prof Consortium
Strengths Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Prof Consortium in Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Prof Consortium 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Prof Consortium digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Prof Consortium 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.
Analytics focus
– Prof Consortium 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 Wim Vanhaverbeke, Piet Verhoeve 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Prof Consortium 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Prof Consortium 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Prof Consortium 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Prof Consortium 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 Prof Consortium is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Prof Consortium has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Prof Consortium to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Prof Consortium is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Prof Consortium is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Prof Consortium is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Prof Consortium has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Prof Consortium 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.
Weaknesses Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Prof Consortium is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Prof Consortium needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Prof Consortium to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation, in the dynamic environment Prof Consortium has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Prof Consortium has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Prof Consortium 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. Prof Consortium 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Prof Consortium 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Piet Verhoeve suggests that, Prof Consortium 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Prof Consortium 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 - Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation, is just above the industry average. Prof Consortium 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Prof Consortium has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Prof Consortium is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 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 Prof Consortium supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Prof Consortium vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation HBR case study mentions - Prof Consortium 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.
Opportunities Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation | 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation are -
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 Prof Consortium 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Prof Consortium 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
– Prof Consortium 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Prof Consortium to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Prof Consortium 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Prof Consortium 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Prof Consortium is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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.
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. Prof Consortium 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. Prof Consortium 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.
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 Prof Consortium in the consumer business. Now Prof Consortium can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Prof Consortium can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Prof Consortium can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Prof Consortium operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Prof Consortium 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Prof Consortium 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, Prof Consortium 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.
Threats Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation are -
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 Prof Consortium.
Increasing wage structure of Prof Consortium
– 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 Prof Consortium.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Prof Consortium has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Prof Consortium 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.
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 Prof Consortium business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Prof Consortium 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Prof Consortium 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.
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. Prof Consortium 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Prof Consortium 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Prof Consortium 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. Prof Consortium can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Prof Consortium in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Prof Consortium 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Patient Room of the Future: User-Oriented Innovation 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 Prof Consortium needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
