New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions
Based on research in the pharmaceutical sector, the authors introduce second-generation developments and refinements of the popular marketing research technique of conjoint analysis.
Swot Analysis of "New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions" written by Erich Joachimsthaler, Paul Green includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Conjoint Guesswork facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing,
technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Conjoint Guesswork, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Conjoint Guesswork 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Conjoint Guesswork
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 Conjoint Guesswork
Strengths New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Conjoint Guesswork in New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Conjoint Guesswork 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 Conjoint Guesswork in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Conjoint Guesswork
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Conjoint Guesswork does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Conjoint Guesswork to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Conjoint Guesswork to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Conjoint Guesswork is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Conjoint Guesswork has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Conjoint Guesswork to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Conjoint Guesswork 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 Conjoint Guesswork is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Conjoint Guesswork in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Conjoint Guesswork are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Conjoint Guesswork is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Conjoint Guesswork 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Conjoint Guesswork in the sector have low bargaining power. New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Conjoint Guesswork to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Conjoint Guesswork is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions, it seems that the employees of Conjoint Guesswork don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Conjoint Guesswork is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Conjoint Guesswork has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions HBR case study mentions - Conjoint Guesswork takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Lack of clear differentiation of Conjoint Guesswork products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Conjoint Guesswork needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Conjoint Guesswork has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 Conjoint Guesswork has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Conjoint Guesswork has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Conjoint Guesswork even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions | 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Conjoint Guesswork can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Conjoint Guesswork has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Conjoint Guesswork can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Conjoint Guesswork can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Conjoint Guesswork can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Conjoint Guesswork in the consumer business. Now Conjoint Guesswork can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Conjoint Guesswork can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Conjoint Guesswork to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Conjoint Guesswork has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Conjoint Guesswork to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions, Conjoint Guesswork 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 .
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. Conjoint Guesswork needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Conjoint Guesswork 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Conjoint Guesswork 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.
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. Conjoint Guesswork can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Conjoint Guesswork is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Conjoint Guesswork.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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 Conjoint Guesswork in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Conjoint Guesswork with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Conjoint Guesswork in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Conjoint Guesswork business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 New Ways to Answer Old Questions: Conjoint Analysis Takes the Guesswork Out of Pharmaceutical Marketing Decisions 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 Conjoint Guesswork needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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