Written Assignment Unit 7
MBA Business Administration
University of the People
BUS 5114-01 - MIS and Technology
Dr. Charlotte Barrett
March 15, 2022
Case Study
Royal Philips is a Netherlands-based medical technology company with more than $26 billion in
revenue annually (Jagadeesan, 2017). They aim to make the world healthier using sustainable
innovative solutions. Their main goal is to improve the lives of 3 billion people by the end of the
year 2025. Philips operates in personal health, diagnosis, treatment, and health informatics. The
company has more than 73,000 employees and operates in more than 100 countries.
Royal Philips has issues with under-performing IT teams and a lack of integration. To address
this issue Philips restructured its operation into six key platforms namely Idea2Market,
Market2Order, Order2Cash, Services & Solution Delivery, Digital, and Group Functions
(Kamstra, 2021). Nevertheless, each platform operated independently, and the interdependency
between platforms wasn't addressed. Hence, Philips required an integrated solution that improves
the release cycle time, the efficiency of operation, and accelerates delivery to meet demand.
How does the company’s Agile development contribute to competitive advantage? Which
force/forces does it impact and why?
Philips adopted the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) within a program called I2M Excellence
Idea to Market. Philips implemented SAFe in software development and other complex systems
environments like hardware, mechanical engineering, customer support, and electrical teams.
Furthermore, SAFe is used in R&D activities of several businesses like Business Group,
Healthcare Informatics, and Solutions & Services (Jagadeesan, 2017).
The implementation of SAFe has helped Philips attain a significant competitive advantage. Some
of these benefits include the reduction of average release cycle time from 18 months to 6 months,
MBA Business Administration
University of the People
BUS 5114-01 - MIS and Technology
Dr. Charlotte Barrett
March 15, 2022
Case Study
Royal Philips is a Netherlands-based medical technology company with more than $26 billion in
revenue annually (Jagadeesan, 2017). They aim to make the world healthier using sustainable
innovative solutions. Their main goal is to improve the lives of 3 billion people by the end of the
year 2025. Philips operates in personal health, diagnosis, treatment, and health informatics. The
company has more than 73,000 employees and operates in more than 100 countries.
Royal Philips has issues with under-performing IT teams and a lack of integration. To address
this issue Philips restructured its operation into six key platforms namely Idea2Market,
Market2Order, Order2Cash, Services & Solution Delivery, Digital, and Group Functions
(Kamstra, 2021). Nevertheless, each platform operated independently, and the interdependency
between platforms wasn't addressed. Hence, Philips required an integrated solution that improves
the release cycle time, the efficiency of operation, and accelerates delivery to meet demand.
How does the company’s Agile development contribute to competitive advantage? Which
force/forces does it impact and why?
Philips adopted the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) within a program called I2M Excellence
Idea to Market. Philips implemented SAFe in software development and other complex systems
environments like hardware, mechanical engineering, customer support, and electrical teams.
Furthermore, SAFe is used in R&D activities of several businesses like Business Group,
Healthcare Informatics, and Solutions & Services (Jagadeesan, 2017).
The implementation of SAFe has helped Philips attain a significant competitive advantage. Some
of these benefits include the reduction of average release cycle time from 18 months to 6 months,
