CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
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Case Study Description of CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth
Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo describes the challenges and opportunities of running one of the world's most successful global medical technology companies. In a wide ranging interview, he explains the thinking behind the different types of acquisitions his company has made; the cultural hiccup that one of those acquisitions led to, and how it was handled; and the importance of focusing on the mid-tier market in emerging markets.
Swot Analysis of "CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth" written by Kevin Lobo, William Mitchell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lobo Kevin facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lobo Kevin, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lobo Kevin 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lobo Kevin
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 Lobo Kevin
Strengths CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lobo Kevin in CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Lobo Kevin is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lobo Kevin has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lobo Kevin 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lobo Kevin is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lobo Kevin 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Lobo Kevin has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lobo Kevin to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lobo Kevin 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lobo Kevin digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lobo Kevin 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lobo Kevin 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
– Lobo Kevin 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 Lobo Kevin in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Lobo Kevin
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lobo Kevin does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lobo Kevin in the sector have low bargaining power. CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lobo Kevin to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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.
Weaknesses CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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 Lobo Kevin 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lobo Kevin 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lobo Kevin 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 - CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Lobo Kevin supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lobo Kevin vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lobo Kevin 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kevin Lobo, William Mitchell suggests that, Lobo Kevin 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth, is just above the industry average. Lobo Kevin 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth, it seems that the employees of Lobo Kevin don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lobo Kevin is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lobo Kevin, firm in the HBR case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth | 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth are -
Loyalty marketing
– Lobo Kevin 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lobo Kevin can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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.
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. Lobo Kevin 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. Lobo Kevin 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lobo Kevin can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lobo Kevin 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lobo Kevin to increase its market reach. Lobo Kevin 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lobo Kevin in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lobo Kevin 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 Lobo Kevin to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lobo Kevin 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, CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Lobo Kevin can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Lobo Kevin in the consumer business. Now Lobo Kevin can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lobo Kevin 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.
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 Lobo Kevin 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.
Threats CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lobo Kevin has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lobo Kevin 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.
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
– Lobo Kevin 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
– Lobo Kevin 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.
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 Lobo Kevin business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lobo Kevin is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth, Lobo Kevin 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 .
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. Lobo Kevin 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 Lobo Kevin 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lobo Kevin
– 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 Lobo Kevin.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lobo Kevin 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.
Environmental challenges
– Lobo Kevin 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. Lobo Kevin can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lobo Kevin with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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 CEO Spotlight: Kevin Lobo on Stryker's Approach to Global Growth 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 Lobo Kevin needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.