Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – 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 inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Japan
4. Making a Medical Equipment & Supplies sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc
Strengths of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. This has provided Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc in Medical Equipment & Supplies industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Medical Equipment & Supplies industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Learning organization
- Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. The technology infrastructure of Japan is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Innovation driven organization
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is one of the most innovative firm in Medical Equipment & Supplies sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Medical Equipment & Supplies industry
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is one of the leading players in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry in Japan. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Japan. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc to provide better information regarding Medical Equipment & Supplies products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Medical Equipment & Supplies industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Japan, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Medical Equipment & Supplies industry.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ less understanding of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc has some of the most successful models in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring in Medical Equipment & Supplies industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Medical Equipment & Supplies industry using digital technology.
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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc are -
Loyalty marketing
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Medical Equipment & Supplies industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. Now Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can develop new processes and procedures in Medical Equipment & Supplies 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Medical Equipment & Supplies industry.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Medical Equipment & Supplies sector. 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Medical Equipment & Supplies sector.
Environmental challenges
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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. Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Medical Equipment & Supplies industry and other sectors.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Medical Equipment & Supplies sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc
– 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc.
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. Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Medical Equipment & Supplies industry are lowering. It can presents Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Medical Equipment & Supplies sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Medical Equipment & Supplies industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc is facing in Medical Equipment & Supplies sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc 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 Ship Healthcare Holdings Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.