Brookdale Senior Living SWOT Analysis

1. Introduction

In the modern business world, organizations need a strong set of strategic tools to successfully handle the complex interchange between their own strengths and weaknesses, while also addressing external opportunities and threats that they encounter. The SWOT analysis framework is a basic building block of strategic management, which helps organizations in understanding these critical factors (Lynch, 2018).

This article presents a detailed SWOT analysis of Brookdale Senior Living. The SWOT analysis provides important insights into Brookdale Senior Living’s existing position within the industry and possible avenues for making informed strategic decisions. The comprehensive SWOT analysis framework also helps Brookdale Senior Living in formulating effective strategies in order to stay ahead in the competition.

2. SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is one of the most popular strategic management tools that business organizations have extensively employed to make key strategic decisions. The SWOT framework has four key dimensions- strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Sarsby, 2016).

First two dimensions- strengths and weaknesses take an inward perspective to assess firms’ micro environment. Other two dimensions (opportunities and threats) take an outward perspective to understand the firm’s macro-environment. An effective implementation of this framework guides organizations about how they can leverage their strengths and overcome weaknesses to exploit external opportunities and mitigate threats (Minsky & Aron, 2021).

Explaining further, strengths are the internal organizational attributes that offer competitive advantage. Some common examples are- extensive research and development capabilities, knowledge absorption capacity, strong brand reputation, loyal customer base, and a wide distribution network (Miller, 2007).

Weaknesses are the internal organizational limitations that inhibit the firms from giving their best performance. Some examples are- outdated technology, high employee turnover, operational inefficiency, and high recruitment costs (Namugenyi, Nimmagadda & Reiners, 2019).

Opportunities are the external organizational factors that firms can exploit to achieve their desired business objectives. It may include changing consumer needs, emergence of new technologies/markets, or favorable changes in legislations.

Finally, threats are the external organizational factors that could threaten the firm performance. It could include- economic recession, rising inflation, intensifying competition, or increase in exchange rate fluctuations (Lynch, 2018).

Business organizations conduct SWOT analysis by following several steps. First, they identify strengths and weaknesses by analyzing the internal operations, resources, and capabilities. Second, they identify opportunities and threats by assessing the external market/industry dynamics (Quincy, Lu & Huang, 2012). Based on identified factors, firms take four strategic initiatives:

1. Leverage strengths to avail opportunities

2. Address weaknesses to overcome threats

3. Capitalize on strengths to mitigate threats

4. Minimize the weaknesses to exploit opportunities

Overall, the SWOT analysis is an essential tool for businesses to better understand and assess the dynamic business environment and accomplish sustainable success.

3. SWOT Analysis of Brookdale Senior Living

The SWOT analysis can help Brookdale Senior Living in identifying strategies that can be used to capitalize on internal strengths or capabilities, overcome weaknesses, leverage opportunities and mitigate external risks or threats (Kapoor & Kaur, 2017). SWOT analysis is conducted below for Brookdale Senior Living:

3.1 Strengths of Brookdale Senior Living

Key strengths of Brookdale Senior Living are as follows:

Large product portfolio

Brookdale Senior Living has a large product portfolio, which fulfills the varying needs/preferences of existing customers and allows Brookdale Senior Living to expand to numerous market segments. With large product portfolio, the Brookdale Senior Living mitigates risks due to less dependency on a single product category (Fernhaber & Patel, 2012).

Wide distribution network

The wide distribution network of Brookdale Senior Living not only ensures efficient delivery and easy access of products to a large number of customers across different regions in a timely manner but also facilitates Brookdale Senior Living to reduce operational cost and optimize its entire value chain.

High market share

Brookdale Senior Living has a high market share as compared to its industry rivals. Due to its high market share, Brookdale Senior Living effectively negotiates with suppliers on favorable terms, and it has gained economies of scale advantage and has made it difficult for possible new entrants to gain a foothold (Miller & Le Breton-Miller, 2005).

Strong brand reputation

Brookdale Senior Living has built a strong brand reputation among customers by employing a circular economy business model and engaging in ethical and sustainable business practices. The strong brand reputation facilitates in business expansion and creates partnership opportunities for Brookdale Senior Living (Ahmad et al. 2022).

Large R&D spending

Brookdale Senior Living spends more than the industry average on research and development (R&D) activities. The large R&D spending facilitates Brookdale Senior Living to build in-depth local market knowledge in different countries where it operates and develop more innovative products than rivals (Davcik et al. 2021).

High brand awareness

Brookdale Senior Living has achieved high brand awareness through effective marketing campaigns. For instance- Brookdale Senior Living’s active involvement with the targeted audience in industry-related events, and sponsored and community programs has contributed to strong brand awareness among customers.

Strong brand recall

Brookdale Senior Living has developed a strong brand recall through consistent messaging, a recognizable brand logo and an attractive color scheme, store layout and product packaging. The Brookdale Senior Living invests substantially in creative advertising campaigns that leave long-lasting impressions in customers’ minds (Keller, 2013).

High customer loyalty

Brookdale Senior Living enjoys a high customer loyalty, which results into lower marketing costs because less effort is required to persuade already satisfied customers to make repeat purchases.The high customer loyalty makes it challenging for new entrants to attract the existing customer base of Brookdale Senior Living (Watson et al. 2015).

User-friendly website

Brookdale Senior Living earns a significant proportion of revenue from its online platform. It has developed a user-friendly website that offers convenience and 24/7 accessibility. It includes interactive features like live chats, surveys and contests to enhance user engagement and provide a seamless user experience (Shin, Pang & Kim, 2015).

High profitability

Brookdale Senior Living has achieved high profitability in several past years due to its customer-centric and innovative offerings, effective pricing, and strong partnerships. Overall, the financial health of Brookdale Senior Living is strong as compared to industry rivals.

Strong geographic presence

By tapping into diverse regions across the world, Brookdale Senior Living enhances brand visibility and customer base. The strong geographic presence also offers opportunities to collaborate with regional or international partners, suppliers and other important stakeholders to fuel an innovation engine (Yeung & Coe, 2015).

Well-developed IT infrastructure

Brookdale Senior Living has a well-developed IT infrastructure that automates internal activities, improves workflow efficiency and accommodates large amounts of user transactions. It protects intellectual property and confidential information, and facilitates the deployment of state-of-the-art technologies for new product lines (Jennex, Amoroso & Adelakun, 2004).

Easy access to suppliers

Brookdale Senior Living’s easy access to suppliers facilitates with flexible sourcing, reduced lead times and just-in-time inventory management. Easy access to suppliers also allows Brookdale Senior Living to become agile and responsive towards unforeseen disruptions and changing market trends.

3.2 Weaknesses of Brookdale Senior Living

Key weaknesses of Brookdale Senior Living are as follows:

High prices

Brookdale Senior Living charges high prices on its products and services, which limits its appeal to budget-conscious customer segments. Due to increased economic uncertainty, people are becoming more price-sensitive and are actively pursuing brands that are offering products at lower prices (CANA, 2020).

Weak organizational culture

Brookdale Senior Living has a weak organizational culture because core organizational values are not clearly defined by Brookdale Senior Living’s management and are not widely accepted by all organizational members. Employees are not encouraged to share their inputs during an important decision-making process (Thokozani & Maseko, 2017).

Lack of workforce diversity

There is a lack of workforce diversity in Brookdale Senior Living. Brookdale Senior Living does not consider applications of candidates from different racial/ethnic backgrounds despite their strong profiles during the recruitment process. This results into a loss of talent (Whysall, Owtram & Brittain, 2019).

Ineffective leadership

Brookdale Senior Living’s leadership lacks a clear vision and direction for the company. Company’s leaders possess ineffective communication and leadership skills, and do not promote diversity and inclusion. Ineffective leadership has led to low employee engagement, motivation and high staff turnover (Schyns & Schilling, 2013).

Lack of proper financial planning

Brookdale Senior Living conducts an improper and inefficient financial planning, which leads to cash flow problems. Due to a lack of proper financial planning, Brookdale Senior Living usually misses out on opportunities for strategic investments that could be important for organizational growth and innovation.

High job stress

Employees at Brookdale Senior Living are experiencing high job stress due to the heavy workload. The reasons behind the heavy workload are- high customer demand, lack of delegation and staffing issues like understaffing and prolonged/unanticipated staff absences (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014).

Low employee morale

Low employee morale is another key challenge that Brookdale Senior Living is facing. The lack of empowerment and non-recognition of individual’s efforts and achievements lowers employee morale. Limited career growth opportunities also decrease their level of motivation and morale (Gregory, 2011).

High employee turnover

Brookdale Senior Living has a high employee turnover rate than rivals. Weak organizational culture, high work demand, lack of recognition, non-competitive basic pay and compensation packages, limited career growth and consistent work stress are some key factors that lower employees’ organizational commitment (Al Mamun & Hasan, 2017).

Supply chain inefficiencies

Brookdale Senior Living is experiencing supply chain inefficiencies such as- overstocking and delays in the flow of goods due to inaccurate demand forecasting and ineffective communication with suppliers and partners (Whipple & Russell, 2007).

Ineffective quality control system

Brookdale Senior Living has allocated a smaller budget to its quality control unit than industry rivals, and thus, it receives numerous customer complaints. Brookdale Senior Living is also facing a challenge of product recalls due to its inefficient and ineffective quality control system.

Less social media presence

Brookdale Senior Living has less social media presence or fan-following base than competitors. Nowadays, the number of social media users is significantly increasing worldwide. But, Brookdale Senior Living focuses less on promoting products via well-known or emerging platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter (Choudhary et al. 2020).

High recruitment costs

Brookdale Senior Living bears high recruitment costs due to frequent/high staff turnover. Brookdale Senior Living conducts multiple series of interviews that prolongs the hiring process and requires additional resources. It has partnered with third-party agencies for the initial recruitment process, due to which it has to pay significant commissions and fees.

3.3 Opportunities for Brookdale Senior Living

Key opportunities for Brookdale Senior Living are as follows:

Growing population

In regions where the population is significantly growing, Brookdale Senior Living has an opportunity to strengthen its presence and meet an increasing demand. With a growing population, the adoption of technology is substantially increasing. Brookdale Senior Living can capitalize on this trend by expanding its online customer base.

Increased globalization

The on-going process of increased globalization offers Brookdale Senior Living an opportunity to extend its access to the international market, embrace cultural diversity and enhance brand visibility. Increased globalization trends can also facilitate Brookdale Senior Living to access a wider pool of resources (Mandler, Bartsch & Han, 2021).

Expansion into emerging markets

Brookdale Senior Living has an opportunity to expand into emerging markets that hold substantial growth potential. Through expansion into emerging markets, Brookdale Senior Living can target a large untapped customer base whose disposable income and demand for a wide range of products is increasing (Paul, 2020).

Business-friendly foreign investment regulations

Majority of emerging markets have recently introduced business-friendly foreign investment regulations. Brookdale Senior Living can easily perform operations by tapping into such emerging markets. Business-friendly foreign investment regulations can ensure long-term growth and sustainability for Brookdale Senior Living (Thanetsunthorn & Wuthisatian, 2023).

Strategic alliance or partnership

Brookdale Senior Living has an opportunity to make strategic alliances or partnerships with complementary businesses. This would unlock synergies, accelerate joint innovation efforts, enhance market reach and would grant Brookdale Senior Living access to new technological solutions. Brookdale Senior Living can also benefit from cross-promotional opportunities (Tjemkes et al. 2017).

Merger and acquisition (M&A)

By employing a merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy, Brookdale Senior Living can develop in-depth knowledge of local market trends and customers’ preferences. It can quickly enter and expand its reach in foreign markets where there is less brand recognition (Faulkner, Teerikangas & Joseph, 2012).

Increase in consumer spending

An increase in consumer spending in emerging economies can enhance the consumption of Brookdale Senior Living’s products and services. With increased consumer spending, Brookdale Senior Living can also exploit cross-selling and product portfolio diversification opportunities (Cavusgil et al. 2018).

Rise of e-commerce

The significant rise of e-commerce offers a favorable opportunity to Brookdale Senior Living. Company can strengthen digital capabilities and access the global customer base without any physical constraints. By investing on e-commerce platforms, Brookdale Senior Living can minimize overhead costs and offer a personalized shopping experience (Billewar et al. 2022).

Mobile-app development

Besides an online website, many international brands have now launched their own mobile application to better serve the needs and preferences of tech-savvy customers. Thus, Brookdale Senior Living also has an opportunity to develop a user-friendly mobile app to offer a convenient shopping experience and enhance interaction with customers.

Social media influencer marketing

In today’s digital age, there is an on-going trend of social media (SM) influencer marketing. Many online users purchase products that are recommended by their favorite SM influencers. By hiring SM influencers, Brookdale Senior Living can build trust and confidence among potential customers towards the brand (Ki et al. 2020).

Technological advancements

With increasing technological advancements, Brookdale Senior Living has an opportunity to integrate IoT and engage in data-driven decision-making. It can enhance customer experience via AI-powered chatbots, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies (Billewar et al. 2022).

Growing health consciousness

Due to COVID-19, health consciousness among people has grown significantly. Growing health consciousness presents an opportunity for Brookdale Senior Living to introduce healthier and more nutritious products in its product portfolio. It can not only attract a growing customer segment but can also promote an active lifestyle (Aksoy et al. 2021).

Increasing environmental awareness

As a result of massive environmental activists’ campaigns, people are increasingly becoming aware of environmental issues. With its green products, eco-friendly packaging and sustainable business practices, Brookdale Senior Living can appeal to environmentally-conscious potential customers (Vijai & Anitha, 2020).

3.4 Threats for Brookdale Senior Living

Key threats for Brookdale Senior Living are as follows:

Global political unrest

The long-standing U.S-China political disputes and on-going wars between Russia and Ukraine have created a significant global political unrest. Global political unrest may pose a threat to Brookdale Senior Living Company’s trade activities and relationships with key international suppliers.

Economic uncertainty

Growing economic uncertainty due to COVID-19 and Omicron variants may have a long-term impact on consumers’ discretionary spending and offline buying behaviors. An increasing economic uncertainty may also disrupt global supply chains and result into lower profit margins for Brookdale Senior Living (Vij, Kakra & Kumar, 2023).

Exchange rate fluctuations

Fluctuations in the exchange rate due to economic uncertainty may affect Brookdale Senior Living’s manufacturing costs, pricing in foreign markets and trade operations. Exchange rate fluctuations may result into increased currency conversion costs. It can also enhance financial risks for Brookdale Senior Living during market expansion.

Increasing taxes

Increasing taxes are posing a threat to Brookdale Senior Living’s operational viability and financial stability. It may force Brookdale Senior Living to reduce its budget for marketing and R&D activities. Escalating taxes may also affect Brookdale Senior Living’s strategic investment decisions and may elevate the cost of exports/ imports.

Growing inflationary pressure

The inflation rate has risen significantly in regions where Brookdale Senior Living operates. Consumers may seek affordable alternatives due to rising inflation, leading to a decline in the company’s sales. As a result of growing inflationary pressure, Brookdale Senior Living may also need to raise the wage rate, which could lead to higher operational costs (Dube, 2022).

Increasing costs of inputs

Increased global economic uncertainty, exchange rate fluctuations, and supply and demand gap have led to a rise in the costs of raw materials. Technological advancements and changes in regulations related to- environmental protection, quality control and safety standards, are also increasing the costs of inputs.

Increasing competition

Increasing competition in existing market segments may threaten Brookdale Senior Living’s leadership position and current market share. This growing competition may lead to significant price wars, lower customer switching costs and reduced profitability.

High availability of substitutes

High availability of substitutes within the industry can weaken brand loyalty and lower switching cost for Brookdale Senior Living’s customers. It can change industry dynamics as both price-sensitive and non- price-sensitive consumers may get attracted towards easily accessible and affordable substitute products.

Shortage of skilled professionals

The shortage of skilled professionals can make it challenging for Brookdale Senior Living to hire the right talent required for particularly technical or specialized jobs. Shortage of skilled professionals can hinder creativity and limit Brookdale Senior Living’s ability to offer unique and high-quality products and services.

Ageing population

Ageing population threatens the Brookdale Senior Living’s competitive positioning because the company mainly targets young customers. Older people may also have longer product lifecycles, which may ultimately affect demand for Brookdale Senior Living’s innovative and new products and services (Rybaczewska & Sparks, 2022).

Risk of cyber-attacks

With increased digitization and technological advancements, the risk of cyber-attacks has also increased. Cyber-attack can have negative consequences for Brookdale Senior Living, like- misuse of customer data and intellectual property theft. Company’s inability to cope with any cyber incident can lead to reputational damage, loss of customer trust and legal penalties.

Changing consumer preferences

Consumers’ interests and preferences are evolving with time. Quickly changing demand patterns are shortening the product life cycle. Brookdale Senior Living Company’s inability to keep pace with evolving consumer needs can lower demand for its products, which may ultimately affect its competitive positioning in the market.

Stringent environmental regulations

The imposition of stringent environmental regulations presents a significant threat to Brookdale Senior Living. Failure to comply with strict environmental laws can result in reputational risks, legal penalties, supply chain complexities and market entry barriers (Wijen & van Tulder, 2011).

4. Conclusion

The SWOT analysis of Brookdale Senior Living offers a holistic view of the company’s strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats. Key internal strengths of Brookdale Senior Living include- a large product portfolio, wide distribution network, high customer loyalty, strong brand reputation and well-developed IT infrastructure etc. While, some internal weaknesses include- high prices, lack of workforce diversity, high employee turnover and supply chain inefficiencies etc. By harnessing its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses, Brookdale Senior Living can be in a better position to leverage opportunities like expansion into emerging markets, investing on e-commerce platforms and product diversification (healthy product line) etc. However, there might be some potential dangers, such as- economic uncertainty and exchange rate fluctuations etc., that can hinder a company’s growth and long-term success.

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