SWOT Analysis Matrix
Abstract
Kaiser Permanente is one of the recognized healthcare institutions in the U.S. It was established in 1945. A SWOT analysis for such an organization is important as it can help identify new opportunities for continued growth along with threats that may hinder the performance of the organization. Notably, the organization has long enjoyed a strong brand image that has enabled it to act as a market leader for many years. A second critical factor for the remarkable success of the organization has been its continuous innovative culture. Nevertheless, the organization faces various weaknesses like low staffing allegations along with threats from the external environment such as legal suits by labour unions. Opportunely, the organization still has a huge potential for growth due to the increasing consumer base from the global market. The advancement in information technology is also an opportunity for the organization since it can device efficient ways of data management.
Introduction
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated consortium for managed care that is located in Oakland, California. Henry J. Kaiser, along with Sidney Garfield, established the organization in 1945 (Selevan et al 2015). In today’s market, carrying out an environmental scan should be a continuous process and must be incorporated into the strategic management plan for the organization. Although Kaiser Permanente is widely recognized as one of the leading healthcare organizations in the U.S., a SWOT analysis can help to identify its strengths, its weaknesses, the current opportunities it can explore in the market, and the threats in the environment and industry it operates in. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Strengths
1. Brand name: Kaiser Permanente enjoys a strong brand name. Even though the company does not have so many established markets in the southeast region, providers, insurers, regulators, and customers still rate the company highly. Thus, competing companies have to do a lot to overcome the defendable qualitative factor that this organization derives from its sharp brand image. 2. Innovative culture: the company’s culture of continuous innovation helps them to come up with unique services and products that meet the ever-changing needs of the consumers. Besides, the company’s culture promotes organizational learning via its in-house journal, workshops, local clinical champions, and site visits. 3. Technology continuity: the company’s comprehensive system for health information management encourages the integration of electronic health records with decision support, physician order entry, appointments, patient-panel management tools, and billing and registration systems. Moreover, consumers are also able to access educational resources and online health information from the organization’s website. | Weaknesses
1. Low staffing allegations: Allegations from the Nurses union show that low staffing is a chronic problem in various Kaiser emergency rooms and other departments. This aspect, if not completely solved, may ruin the reputation of the organization and lead to a low quality of care. 2. Weak inventory management system 3. Kaiser Permanente’s organizational structure and the structure of its functional units require regular monitoring for quality to be maintained.
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Opportunities1. Global growth opportunities: Kaiser Permanente has a great propensity to explore new markets abroad and boost its profitability. 2. New and affordable technologies: Kaiser Permanente can take advantage of the emerging technologies in supply chain management and information technology to improve efficiency in its delivery of services. 3. Growing demand for the company’s products and services: the demand for healthcare services and insurance products has continued to increase, an opportunity that Kaiser Permanente can explore to continue making profits or to increase its profits.
| Threats 1. Growing competition: the continued growth of the industry means that Kaiser Permanente must continue innovating new ways of doing business in order to keep off emerging competitors. 2. Political and legal factors: new regulations may affect the performance of Kaiser Permanente in future, especially if it does not remain alert and vigilant about any new rules by the government. |
Goals
- To raise the profit margins by 30 percent by the end of the next five years.
- To increase the number of the nursing staff by 5 percent within the next five months
Further Discussion
From the above SWOT analysis, the strength that Kaiser Permanente should capitalize on is the innovative culture. With the highly dynamic and ever-changing healthcare industry, Kaiser Permanente should endeavor to be creative in order to meet the changing consumer demands (McHugh et al, 2019). In regards to opportunities, Kaiser Permanente should focus on continued growth to meet the needs of the growing market. Given its strong brand name, the organization should also focus on global expansion to grow its consumer base.
About the weaknesses, the weakness that carries the most weight is low staffing allegations. The organization should always ensure that it has adequate nursing personnel to meet the needs of its consumers. If Kaiser Permanente does not hire enough staff, the quality of care offered to patients may decline (Selevan et al, 2015). Again, the organization’s reputation may be ruined if the nurses organize go-slows and frequent strikes because of being overworked. A goal in this aspect of the organization would be to reinvest some of its profits in the business, especially in recruiting, training, compensating, and motivating its nursing staff.
About the threats to the operation of Kaiser Permanente, the organization has to remain vigilant about any new regulations that may be proposed in the market. To achieve this goal, Kaiser Permanente should employ quality assurance professionals to ensure that all its departments adhere to already set and emerging government regulations (Guppy et al, 2019). In order to remain a top company in the industry and beat its competitors, the company should invest heavily in research and development to discover new ways of ensuring that consumers needs are met as well as new ways of improving operational efficiency.
In conclusion, Kaiser Permanente is in a strong position to continue being a highly rated organization in the healthcare industry. Continuous improvement demands massive investment in staff training, research and development, as well as in information technology. Kaiser Permanente should also minimize the potentiality of any disputes either with employee unions or with regulators.
References
Guppy, K. H., Harris, J., Bernbeck, J. A., & Brara, H. S. (2019). Impact of Quality Assessment on Clinical Practice, Kaiser Permanente. In Quality Spine Care (pp. 315-339). Springer, Cham.
McHugh, M. D., Aiken, L. H., Eckenhoff, M. E., & Burns, L. R. (2016). Achieving kaiser permanente quality. Health care management review, 41(3), 178.
Selevan, J., Kindermann, D., Pines, J. M., & Fields, W. W. (2015). What accountable care organizations can learn from Kaiser Permanente California’s acute care strategy. Population health management, 18(4), 233-236.