SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for M1 Kliniken (Germany)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , M1 Kliniken is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that M1 Kliniken can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the M1 Kliniken, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of M1 Kliniken
2. Improving business portfolio management of M1 Kliniken
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Germany
4. Making a Healthcare Facilities sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of M1 Kliniken
Strengths of M1 Kliniken | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of M1 Kliniken are -
Learning organization
- M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at M1 Kliniken emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Healthcare Facilities industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For M1 Kliniken digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. M1 Kliniken 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that M1 Kliniken 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Healthcare Facilities industry
– M1 Kliniken has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled M1 Kliniken to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Healthcare Facilities industry. The sustainable margins have also helped M1 Kliniken to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– M1 Kliniken 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of M1 Kliniken in the Healthcare sector have low bargaining power. M1 Kliniken has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps M1 Kliniken to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management in the Healthcare Facilities industry
– M1 Kliniken is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– M1 Kliniken 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 Germany 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
– M1 Kliniken is one of the most innovative firm in Healthcare Facilities sector.
Diverse revenue streams
– M1 Kliniken is present in almost all the verticals within the Healthcare Facilities industry. This has provided M1 Kliniken 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.
Organizational Resilience of M1 Kliniken
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing M1 Kliniken does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Healthcare Facilities
– M1 Kliniken is one of the leading players in the Healthcare Facilities industry in Germany. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Healthcare Facilities industry in Germany but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled M1 Kliniken in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of M1 Kliniken | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of M1 Kliniken are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, M1 Kliniken has high operating costs in the Healthcare Facilities industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract M1 Kliniken lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, M1 Kliniken has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Healthcare Facilities industry over the last five years. M1 Kliniken even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As M1 Kliniken 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at M1 Kliniken, in the dynamic environment of Healthcare Facilities industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. M1 Kliniken has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 M1 Kliniken supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, M1 Kliniken is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left M1 Kliniken vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, M1 Kliniken is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help M1 Kliniken to provide better information regarding Healthcare Facilities products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Healthcare Facilities industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Germany, M1 Kliniken 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 Healthcare Facilities industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, M1 Kliniken 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 Healthcare Facilities industry using digital technology.
Need for greater diversity
– M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Germany, M1 Kliniken needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
M1 Kliniken Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of M1 Kliniken are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of M1 Kliniken has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Healthcare Facilities industry. This can help M1 Kliniken to build a more holistic ecosystem for M1 Kliniken products in the Healthcare Facilities industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help M1 Kliniken to increase its market reach. M1 Kliniken 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken 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.
Buying journey improvements
– M1 Kliniken 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at M1 Kliniken 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 Healthcare Facilities industry.
Developing new processes and practices
– M1 Kliniken 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for M1 Kliniken 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, M1 Kliniken can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that M1 Kliniken operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Healthcare Facilities sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken 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 Healthcare Facilities industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for M1 Kliniken in the Healthcare Facilities industry. Now M1 Kliniken can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for M1 Kliniken 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects M1 Kliniken can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats M1 Kliniken External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of M1 Kliniken are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken prominent markets.
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 M1 Kliniken business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– M1 Kliniken 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on M1 Kliniken 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Healthcare Facilities industry are lowering. It can presents M1 Kliniken with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Healthcare Facilities sector.
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. M1 Kliniken needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Healthcare Facilities industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 M1 Kliniken in the Healthcare Facilities sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. M1 Kliniken can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– M1 Kliniken 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– M1 Kliniken has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Healthcare Facilities industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, M1 Kliniken 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.
Increasing wage structure of M1 Kliniken
– 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 M1 Kliniken.
Regulatory challenges
– M1 Kliniken 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.
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. M1 Kliniken 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of M1 Kliniken Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken 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 M1 Kliniken needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.