This short case details Mayo Clinics assessment of its external environment.

Read the case below and then answer the questions that follow.

Very often when organizations project environmental trends into the future, they see a bleak picture. Such gloom and doom scenarios, however, might actually be the result of a tendency to be selective about what we see or, even more often, our inability to see possible opportunities in what might seem like unrelated or peripheral developments.

Take the case of Mayo Clinic, the internationally known not-for-profit health system based in Rochester, Minnesota. In 2018, U.S. News & World Report again names the Mayo Clinic best hospital nationwide, and number one in more specialties than any other health system. An outstanding achievement for any health system, but at Mayo it seems routine. Leadership at the Mayo Clinic set a bold agenda with the goal of solving humanitys most serious and complex medical challenges. In order to do this the company has to determine which problem is most pressing and commit resources to achieve the ambitious goal. The future is challengingan aging population, changes and uncertainty in how health care is financed, increased scrutiny and demand for results, and pressure to implement community wellness measures. The health system has many choices:

-Invest in building their provider network.

-Acquire rival health systems to achieve economies of scale and scope.

-Develop Mayo Clinic campuses in additional states.

-Focus on process improvement to gain efficiency and cost reduction.

-Pursue leadership in community wellness initiatives.

-Embrace technology and drive R&D toward digital innovation.

Being a leading research hospital, the Mayo Clinic had developed over the years an enormous amount of knowledge about how to diagnose, manage, and cure a variety of diseases and health conditions. The goal to solving humanitys most serious health issues can only be accomplished by embracing technology and developing their knowledge database.

Previously, Mayo developed and sold a CD that users could access for information that would help them to determine how to treat nonlife threatening issues and avoid costly and time-consuming trips to the emergency room. Leadership in creating this expert database established the Mayo Clinic as the thought leader in this area. Implementing this early system risked the reputation of the clinic, but the philosophy of the clinic puts the patient and patient needs first.

One of the things missing from health care that limits the ability of health systems to solve the most pressing problems is a health carecentric platform built around clinical knowledge. Google, Uber, and Facebook are platforms and health care needs a technology system that can drill into research data and use artificial intelligence to find more efficient and cost-effective ways to treat patients. This system can also be critical in identifying potentially valuable business opportunities. The Mayo Clinic has 150 years of patient data and exceptional partnerships that can be leveraged through their recently completed electronic health records platform.

The founders of the clinic created the first unified medical record and the first united health care system, and this new initiative will extend that legacy. In order to achieve their ambitious goals, they will need to work closely with partners, government, industry, biopharma, patients, and consumers. This is a major undertaking and the Mayo Clinic is directing significant treasure based on their prediction for the future.

Today, when one visits MayoClinic.com, they see their slogan Tools for healthier lives, which it claims draws on the expertise of more than 3,300 physicians, scientists, and researchers. The website lets one search for information on a wide variety of topics, including diseases and conditions, symptoms, drugs and supplements, and first aid. It also includes new and updated information on such topics as trends for cancer survivors, options for dealing with adversity, and how to spot and take action when experiencing job burnout.

If you conducted a SWOT analysis for Mayo Clinic and knew the clinic would be creating a platform for healthcare informatics to solve humanitys greatest health issues, would you classify the increasing number of mobile phones as a(n) ________ and Mayo's knowledge of health issues, as a(n) ________?

Multiple Choice

1. opportunity; strength

2) strength; weakness

3) weakness; opportunity

4) threat; strength

5) threat; opportunity