Fresenius Medical Care ADR (FMS) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Healthcare Facilities
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Fresenius Medical Care ADR (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Fresenius Medical Care ADR is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fresenius Medical Care ADR
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Fresenius Medical Care ADR can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fresenius Medical Care ADR, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Fresenius Medical Care ADR
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fresenius Medical Care ADR
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Healthcare Facilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Fresenius Medical Care ADR
Strengths of Fresenius Medical Care ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fresenius Medical Care ADR are -
Training and development
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has one of the best training and development program in Healthcare industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR is one of the leading players in the Healthcare Facilities industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Fresenius Medical Care ADR in the Healthcare sector have low bargaining power. Fresenius Medical Care ADR has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fresenius Medical Care ADR to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Healthcare Facilities industry. The technology infrastructure of United States 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.
Ability to lead change in Healthcare Facilities
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR is one of the leading players in the Healthcare Facilities industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Healthcare Facilities industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Fresenius Medical Care ADR in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Fresenius Medical Care ADR staying ahead in the Healthcare Facilities industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Healthcare Facilities industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Fresenius Medical Care ADR have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Fresenius Medical Care ADR comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Healthcare Facilities 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Healthcare Facilities industry
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fresenius Medical Care ADR to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Healthcare Facilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fresenius Medical Care ADR to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 of Fresenius Medical Care ADR | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fresenius Medical Care ADR are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fresenius Medical Care ADR is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Healthcare Facilities industry, but Fresenius Medical Care ADR needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fresenius Medical Care ADR to focus more on services in the Healthcare Facilities industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Fresenius Medical Care ADR needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Fresenius Medical Care ADR is one of the leading players in the Healthcare Facilities industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Healthcare Facilities industry in last five years.
High dependence on Fresenius Medical Care ADR ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Fresenius Medical Care ADR still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Healthcare Facilities industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Fresenius Medical Care ADR has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ less understanding of Fresenius Medical Care ADR strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Fresenius Medical Care ADR is just above the Healthcare Facilities industry average. It 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Fresenius Medical Care ADR, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Healthcare Facilities 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fresenius Medical Care ADR products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fresenius Medical Care ADR needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Fresenius Medical Care ADR is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fresenius Medical Care ADR vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Fresenius Medical Care ADR, in the dynamic environment of Healthcare Facilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fresenius Medical Care ADR has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Fresenius Medical Care ADR Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Fresenius Medical Care ADR are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Healthcare Facilities industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 in Healthcare Facilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Fresenius Medical Care ADR in the Healthcare Facilities industry. Now Fresenius Medical Care ADR can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fresenius Medical Care ADR is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fresenius Medical Care ADR can utilize new technology in the field of Healthcare Facilities industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Healthcare Facilities sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Fresenius Medical Care ADR to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fresenius Medical Care ADR to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Fresenius Medical Care ADR can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fresenius Medical Care ADR in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Healthcare Facilities industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR can develop new processes and procedures in Healthcare Facilities 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
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fresenius Medical Care ADR has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Healthcare Facilities industry. This can help Fresenius Medical Care ADR to build a more holistic ecosystem for Fresenius Medical Care ADR products in the Healthcare Facilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Fresenius Medical Care ADR can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fresenius Medical Care ADR operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Healthcare Facilities sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Healthcare Facilities 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Healthcare Facilities 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.
Threats Fresenius Medical Care ADR External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Fresenius Medical Care ADR are -
Environmental challenges
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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. Fresenius Medical Care ADR can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Healthcare Facilities industry.
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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Fresenius Medical Care ADR may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Healthcare Facilities sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Healthcare Facilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fresenius Medical Care ADR needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Healthcare Facilities 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.
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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR in the Healthcare Facilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Healthcare Facilities industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fresenius Medical Care ADR is facing in Healthcare Facilities 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 Healthcare Facilities industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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. Fresenius Medical Care ADR needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Healthcare Facilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Healthcare Facilities industry and other sectors.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Healthcare Facilities industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fresenius Medical Care ADR Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR 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 Fresenius Medical Care ADR needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
