Case Study Description of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta
Anticipating the expiration of its Prozac patent, Eli Lilly has to make tough decisions regarding the development of its next-generation antidepressant drug. In particular, the company needs to decide whether to first establish that once-a-day dosing for Cymbalta (Duloxetine) is effective in treating major depressive disorder and only after launch get FDA approval for treating painful physical symptoms, or to first establish efficacy in treating pain and later get FDA approval for once-a-day dosing. The decision needs to take into account how Cymbalta can be differentiated in the marketplace vis-a-vis other antidepressants and the marketing challenges to getting adoption that the new drug will face. Lilly's new antidepressant team making this decision has several market research inputs on physicians and patients at its disposal.
Swot Analysis of "Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta" written by Elie Ofek, Ron Laufer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cymbalta Treating facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Pricing, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cymbalta Treating, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cymbalta Treating operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cymbalta Treating
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cymbalta Treating
Strengths Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cymbalta Treating in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Cymbalta Treating is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Cymbalta Treating in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Cymbalta Treating is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Cymbalta Treating is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cymbalta Treating is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cymbalta Treating has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cymbalta Treating has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Analytics focus
– Cymbalta Treating is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Elie Ofek, Ron Laufer can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cymbalta Treating is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Cymbalta Treating is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cymbalta Treating has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Cymbalta Treating has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cymbalta Treating has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cymbalta Treating has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cymbalta Treating in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cymbalta Treating, firm in the HBR case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cymbalta Treating has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Cymbalta Treating supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cymbalta Treating vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Cymbalta Treating 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Cymbalta Treating has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cymbalta Treating is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cymbalta Treating has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Cymbalta Treating has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cymbalta Treating has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta, in the dynamic environment Cymbalta Treating has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cymbalta Treating has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cymbalta Treating can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cymbalta Treating in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Cymbalta Treating can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cymbalta Treating is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cymbalta Treating to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cymbalta Treating can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Cymbalta Treating can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cymbalta Treating to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Cymbalta Treating to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cymbalta Treating has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cymbalta Treating to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta case study. Cymbalta Treating can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Cymbalta Treating can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Cymbalta Treating in the consumer business. Now Cymbalta Treating can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cymbalta Treating can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Cymbalta Treating can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cymbalta Treating can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Threats Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cymbalta Treating can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cymbalta Treating has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cymbalta Treating needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cymbalta Treating is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cymbalta Treating can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Cymbalta Treating in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Cymbalta Treating needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Cymbalta Treating will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Increasing wage structure of Cymbalta Treating
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Cymbalta Treating.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cymbalta Treating demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta, Cymbalta Treating may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cymbalta Treating can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Cymbalta Treating needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Cymbalta Treating needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
