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Analyzing an organization using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) framework generates crucial insights for decisions on major new initiatives. For example, when considering an acquisition or launching a new product or service, a SWOT analysis can raise warnings about customer sensitivities or gaps in expertise; alternatively, it can reveal new lines of business and unmet needs that may lead to new business opportunities. A SWOT analysis also serves as a typical first step in a broader strategic planning process. This technical note focuses on the use of a SWOT analysis in the healthcare sector, including recommendations for key questions to ask when initiating a SWOT analysis and advice for arranging information in a way that supports strategic decision-making.<br><br>The SWOT approach has gained importance in the healthcare sector in recent years due to both market and policy shifts. Healthcare is a site for major reform as policy-makers seek to reduce costs and encourage innovation. Across the developed world and in many developing countries, better strategic decision-making is essential to healthcare providers and finance organizations as they care for ageing populations, seek to reduce the impacts of lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, and work to manage expenses associated with treating chronic diseases. This technical note is ideal for use with product no. 9B16M084.

The eHomemakers project was founded in 1998 to provide skills and employment for disadvantaged women in Malaysia. The women worked from home, weaving baskets out of recycled magazines from which they could generate income. This means of self-support was particularly beneficial to stay-at-home mothers and disabled women who were unable to work. By 2011, the enterprise was struggling for viability in Malaysia, which led the founder to consider crossing the border to Singapore to explore opportunities in that country to avoid having to give up on her social enterprise altogether.

In 2015, the new chief executive officer of Wichita County Health Center (WCHC) was evaluating his organization’s strengths and weaknesses in light of a changing environment for health-care delivery in rural Kansas. WCHC faced three key issues: whether to sign a service agreement with Colorado-based Centura Health; whether to hire additional full-time nursing staff instead of paying high fees to an external staffing company; and identifying opportunities to grow its patient base. To assist with these three decisions, WCHC needed to conduct a strategic planning process using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) framework. For the related technical note, please see product no. 9B16M076.

The two co-founders of India’s online retail aggregator Baggout needed to come up with some ideas that would create new growth for their company. Baggout’s e-shopping website had been operational for two and a half years, and during that time, the start-up had enjoyed considerable success in the highly competitive and rapidly growing online retail market. The two partners wanted to establish a strategic growth plan for the upcoming year in 2016, but they knew they would first have to address some important questions if they hoped to identify ways to capture a larger share of the digital marketspace: What technical and digital capabilities would Baggout need for success in the future? What were the possible scalability issues for Baggout? What marketing strategies could the company implement to ensure increased adoption of the Baggout mobile application?

In the summer of 2015, India-based Amtek Auto Ltd., one of the country’s largest companies in the manufacturing of automotive components, was on the brink of financial ruin. After more than a decade of being immersed in a spending spree on acquisitions to build capacity and expand its clientèle in both the European and Asian auto markets, Amtek’s stock plummeted by 50 per cent within two days as nervous investors worried about the company’s ability to make its scheduled debt payments. Tensions were high as the company faced mounting pressure over its liquidity issues, and after reporting a net loss for the first time in two decades. With rumours of bankruptcy on the horizon, what steps could the company take to decrease its debt burden at a time when the automotive industry was in a slump? Should Amtek consider selling off some of its assets to raise the needed cash, or should it look to banks and investors?

In early 2013, an analyst at an insurance company was examining whether IndusInd Bank, a mid-size bank in India, would be a good investment for the insurance fund’s equity portfolio. From January 2008 until March 30, 2013, the bank’s stock had tripled under its new management. The analyst wondered whether deploying funds in the bank would yield any significant returns. He decided to use the available financial information and the residual income valuation method to forecast the company’s stock price.

PowerPoint for product 8B16M084.

Instructor Spreadsheet for product 8B16N015.

Student Spreadsheet for product 9B16N015.

A tense situation arose in 2015 after a faculty member at the Premier School of Management in New Delhi, India, mistakenly emailed a test paper to a group email address that included the school’s students, faculty, and alumni. An alumna who received the email responded to the professor using the “reply to all” option. The tone of her email was considered to be disrespectful to the professor. The professor responded by sending his own “reply to all,” explaining his error to the alumna and chastising her for using a tone inappropriate for a student-to-teacher communication. The alumna apologized, but one of the students on the group email then wrote his own offensive email to the alumna. Was there a way to defuse the mounting tension and avoid a possible rift between the alumna and her former school?

Too many people fall into the trap of accepting that it is appropriate to use technicalities and loopholes to break the principles behind rules when they think they can get away with it. According to Andrew Fastow, this is a problem approaching endemic proportions as seen in business deals, political fundraising, and tax avoidance. And as the former chief financial officer of Enron, he knows what he’s talking about. In 1999, Fastow’s unique financing techniques were being called ground-breaking. He felt like a creative corporate hero, not a criminal. That changed in 2002, when he was indicted on multiple counts of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. Fastow, of course, went to jail for bending accounting rules. As he recently told Ivey Business Journal, “The fact that I did not see what I was doing as fraud, and the fact that I was not thinking that what I was doing could hurt people, doesn’t mitigate what I did…. When I was in business school, there was only one word — shareholder. And I thought what I was doing was good for shareholders and employees, so I thought I was doing my fiduciary duty.” Fastow had a good upbringing and education, and still inadvertently ended up a participant in one of the largest corporate frauds in U.S. history. Although business education has come a long way since Fastow got his MBA, students may eventually be tempted to cross the line and make ethically challenged decisions under intense pressure to perform from bosses, peers and stakeholders/shareholders. It is imperative that they develop an awareness of the need to internalize a core set of principles by which to live and lead.

Andrew Fastow, chief financial officer at Enron during one of the largest corporate frauds in U.S. history, knows how easy it is for businesses to misbehave when faced with grey-area decision-making. He sees principle-breaking everywhere today — in business deals, political fundraising, and tax avoidance. There can be a contradiction between “doing what’s right” and “doing what the rules permit.” It is important for managers to understand where judgment needs to be applied in financial reporting, keeping in mind that the use of differing accounting estimates and policies can result in significant variation within financial results. Leaders must also consider the alignment between an organization’s long-term strategy and its incentive systems. <br><br> When it comes to misleading numbers in the marketplace, it is important not to confuse “accounting” with “reporting.” An analysis last year of results from 500 major companies warned that the gap between the so-called “adjusted” profits that analysts often cite when advising investors and actual bottom-line earnings, which companies are legally obliged to report, has widened dramatically in recent years. A more recent study found that 90 per cent of the companies listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index used non-GAAP results when reporting results to the market last year, a significant increase since 2009. Ultimately, board members should ask tough questions whenever official result figures vary significantly from the numbers used to entice investment. Or as Fastow puts it, it is time for directors of companies to “Stop worrying about personal liability and start worrying about shareholders and other stakeholders by looking at the real risks and dealing with them, instead of looking the other way and being happy not knowing what is really going on.”

In 2015, the City of Montreal issued an international request for interest for the implementation of an all-electric carsharing service. This situation represented both a threat and an opportunity for car2go, a carsharing service company and a subsidiary of Daimler that had successfully operated 29 carsharing systems across Europe and North America. Would it be worthwhile for car2go to respond to the request for interest and, in doing so, adapt its successful business model to fit the needs of the local market? If so, what would be the implications for the overall competitiveness of the firm? Would it be worth the cost to develop a new four-seat vehicle to meet the City of Montreal’s requirements?

Lenovo, China’s largest personal computer manufacturer, had just replaced its American chief executive officer (CEO), the third replacement since the company’s 2005 acquisition of IBM’s personal computer business. The leadership shakeup was seemingly caused by the worsening conditions in Lenovo’s key target market and the company’s subsequent disastrous financial loss, but, in reality, the reasons were more complicated. Lenovo was dealing with the most challenging internal issues that a globalizing Chinese company could experience: retaining international executives under severe distress, integrating two companies with distinct cultural roots, and dealing with changed power relations on the board, including the awkward relationship between a Chinese executive chairperson and a foreign CEO.

Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL), the world’s largest manufacturer of three-wheel vehicles, was about to launch India’s first quadricycle, built indigenously for applications that were uniquely useful for urban transportation in developing markets such as India. The four-wheel vehicle was being launched as a completely new category in the Indian market by BAL’s Commercial Vehicle division. The dilemma facing the BAL team was whether to brand the new product as an extension of the company’s three-wheel market leader or as an independent brand. Furthermore, what degree of endorsement would be required from the master brand, “Bajaj”? The potential success of this vehicle would have a profound effect on BAL’s ability to develop its brand image and carve out a leadership position in a new category of commercial vehicles in India.

In November 2005, World Peace Industrial Group was at an important milestone as it prepared to join two other major electronics components distributors to form the WPG Holdings and become a dominant player in its industry. As its chief executive officer prepared for the merger, it became apparent that the company’s financial position was threatened by inventory management and forecasting problems. Although sales and market share were increasing, profit margins were dropping as a result of increasing inventory costs. The chief executive officer asked the director of the Business Effective Promotion Group to resolve the worsening problem. How would the director identify the sources of weakness and recommend a plan of action as soon as possible?

In 2012, Graham’s Pharmacy opened to offer more traditional pharmacy services and counselling in contrast to franchise pharmacies. The business was the brainchild of a pharmacist and entrepreneur with a strong commitment to the pharmacist profession. Located in the heart of the historic business sector of Kingston, Ontario, Graham’s Pharmacy had taken over a historic building that formerly housed a bank. The pharmacy was intended to improve the quality of life of its clients through prevention and active engagement, rather than merely through the passive and mundane role of a pill dispensary. However, the pharmacy needed to be profitable if the vision was to be fully realized. Although the founder was confident in the capabilities of his team, and that a market existed for a pharmacy that provided personalized service and advice, he wondered how to market the business in light of competition from much larger rivals.

In May 2016, Target Corporation was one of America’s largest retail chains, with nearly 2,000 well-located general merchandise stores and a reputation for being stylish and chic. However, in the wake of the 2008 U.S. financial recession, profitability had weakened as a result of allocating more space to low-margin groceries in an attempt to continue to attract customers. Once the recession was over, Target Corporation had to decide whether to reduce or even eliminate the grocery category in order to offer a broader selection of clothing and household goods.

In October 2014, the owner of Rajwant Engineering Pvt. Ltd., a small-scale manufacturing business in Jamshedpur, India, needed to make some key strategic decisions. The immediate challenge was that the company had recently been asked for a bribe by the procurement manager of its most important client. The business owner was a highly ethical entrepreneur, so he was tempted to discontinue his relationship with the client on ethical grounds. However, the business was facing major financial difficulties, and the owner felt great responsibility toward his employees. The business owner wondered if he should instead compromise on his values in order to save his business from bankruptcy.

The number and value of Chinese enterprises’ cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are increasing, but their success rate remains very low. The failure of cultural integration is one of the most important reasons. In 2005, Lenovo Group Ltd., acquired IBM’s PC division in what was called a “snake swallows elephant” acquisition that caused a sensation worldwide. During the ten years after the M&A, Lenovo integrated IBM’s PC division’s culture through several stages of acculturation, which ended with great success. In 2014, Lenovo acquired IBM’s x86 Server. Lenovo faced a challenge: Should the first acquisition’s cultural integration be replayed and copied for the x86 Server acquisition? Or should Lenovo look for a new approach?