Components of a SWOT Analysis and Journal Entry

To:Functional Managers

From:William Sellums (Marketing Manager)

Product & Industry Background

We are developing an advertising theme, which will focus on the history of our product, its labor-saving and productivity features, and its high degree of reliability. We will be asking each of you for your input as we develop the advertising plan.

Most of you are aware of the background of our product and our industry. To summarize:

· Three companies entered the Reader technology business in 2018 and began selling products in the first quarter of 2019.  The Reader was developed to satisfy a need to reduce the time hospital nurses devote to paperwork and administration.  Several independent studies revealed that approximately 40% of a nurse's time was consumed in non-patient activities.  Trial installations of standard computer terminals at nurse's stations have not solved the problem because data entry and computer training requirements placed resource demands on the hospital staffs that were unattainable.

· Hamada, Ltd., a Japanese electronics producer, developed a pick-up cell constructed as a solid-state magnetic sensor using tunnel diodes and special ceramics.  This pick-up cell detects marks made with magnetic ink and records their position on a predesigned form.  The cell is extremely tolerant of registration errors and allows the remainder of the Reader device to be relatively simple and inexpensive to build using off-the-shelf materials.  The Reader is an input peripheral that can be programmed to work with virtually all hospital computer systems.  Each Reader requires one pick up-cell. 

· When installed, a Reader system includes a Reader, a special pen containing magnetic ink, and preprinted, computer-generated patient forms.  These forms are coated with a special chemical compound similar to that used on heat-sensitive paper for fax machines.  Using the pen provided, a nurse marks the form to indicate procedures, drugs, dosages administered, and other information relating to the patient.  The form is inserted into the Reader, which converts the marks to computer sensible form for transmission to a database.

Like our competitors, we sell Readers to hospital equipment distributors who package the Reader and its ancillary components for sale to some 5,300 hospitals in the United States.  We believe that we make a quality product that will get better. We sell at a competitive price. The industry is healthy and on the verge of tremendous growth. Aggressive advertising, marketing, and pricing strategies will stimulate demand.