An entrepreneur puts his entire lifetime into building an organization. When it comes to health care in India, it is all the more difficult as there are so many hurdles, such as a huge population that cannot afford to pay, shortage of trained manpower and increasing cost of supplies. LV Prasad Eye Institute has been successful, largely because of its founder's dedication, hard work and innovative pyramid model of organizational structure. In spite of its success, this healthcare institution faces challenges from increased competition and the lack of a succession strategy. Author S. Ramakrishna Velamuri is affiliated with Indian School of Business-Gachibowli and Wei Zhang is affiliated with CEIBS Health Care Policy Management Center
Authors :: Vasantha Kumar, S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, Wei Zhang
Swot Analysis of "LV Prasad Eye Institute" written by Vasantha Kumar, S. Ramakrishna Velamuri, Wei Zhang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lv Prasad facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LV Prasad Eye Institute case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LV Prasad Eye Institute casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LV Prasad Eye Institute
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LV Prasad Eye Institute case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lv Prasad, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lv Prasad 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LV Prasad Eye Institute case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lv Prasad
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 Lv Prasad
Strengths LV Prasad Eye Institute | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lv Prasad in LV Prasad Eye Institute Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Lv Prasad 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 Lv Prasad is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in LV Prasad Eye Institute Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lv Prasad is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in LV Prasad Eye Institute case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lv Prasad in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lv Prasad is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the LV Prasad Eye Institute are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lv Prasad digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lv Prasad 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lv Prasad 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lv Prasad has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lv Prasad 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lv Prasad 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– LV Prasad Eye Institute firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lv Prasad to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lv Prasad to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Lv Prasad is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the LV Prasad Eye Institute 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.
Organizational Resilience of Lv Prasad
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lv Prasad does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses LV Prasad Eye Institute | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of LV Prasad Eye Institute are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lv Prasad 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Lv Prasad has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Lv Prasad 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 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 Lv Prasad supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - LV Prasad Eye Institute, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lv Prasad vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lv Prasad products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lv Prasad needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Lv Prasad 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lv Prasad 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lv Prasad 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 - LV Prasad Eye Institute should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lv Prasad is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Lv Prasad needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lv Prasad to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As LV Prasad Eye Institute HBR case study mentions - Lv Prasad 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study LV Prasad Eye Institute, 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.
Opportunities LV Prasad Eye Institute | 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lv Prasad 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lv Prasad can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lv Prasad operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lv Prasad can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lv Prasad 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, LV Prasad Eye Institute, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lv Prasad is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. LV Prasad Eye Institute 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lv Prasad can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. LV Prasad Eye Institute 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lv Prasad 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lv Prasad to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Lv Prasad 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lv Prasad 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lv Prasad has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lv Prasad to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the LV Prasad Eye Institute case study. Lv Prasad can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Lv Prasad 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. Lv Prasad 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. Lv Prasad 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 Lv Prasad in the consumer business. Now Lv Prasad can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats LV Prasad Eye Institute External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LV Prasad Eye Institute are -
Increasing wage structure of Lv Prasad
– 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 Lv Prasad.
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 Lv Prasad in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lv Prasad 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lv Prasad 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lv Prasad with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lv Prasad is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Lv Prasad can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Lv Prasad needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lv Prasad 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lv Prasad has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lv Prasad 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LV Prasad Eye Institute, Lv Prasad 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of LV Prasad Eye Institute 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute 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 LV Prasad Eye Institute 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 Lv Prasad needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.