Swot Analysis of "Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B)" written by John A. Quelch, James Weber includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Astrazeneca Pfizer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Government, Health, Marketing, Mergers & acquisitions and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Astrazeneca Pfizer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Astrazeneca Pfizer 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Astrazeneca Pfizer
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 Astrazeneca Pfizer
Strengths Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Astrazeneca Pfizer in Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Astrazeneca Pfizer to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Astrazeneca Pfizer to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Astrazeneca Pfizer 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Astrazeneca Pfizer has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Astrazeneca Pfizer in the sector have low bargaining power. Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Astrazeneca Pfizer to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Astrazeneca Pfizer has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Astrazeneca Pfizer is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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
– Astrazeneca Pfizer is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Astrazeneca Pfizer is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Astrazeneca Pfizer in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Astrazeneca Pfizer 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B), it seems that the employees of Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) HBR case study mentions - Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Astrazeneca Pfizer needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B), is just above the industry average. Astrazeneca Pfizer needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Astrazeneca Pfizer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Astrazeneca Pfizer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Astrazeneca Pfizer 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 - Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Astrazeneca Pfizer is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Astrazeneca Pfizer needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Astrazeneca Pfizer to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Astrazeneca Pfizer 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. Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B), 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.
Opportunities Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) | 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Astrazeneca Pfizer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Astrazeneca Pfizer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Astrazeneca Pfizer has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Astrazeneca Pfizer to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) case study. Astrazeneca Pfizer can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Astrazeneca Pfizer 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, Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Astrazeneca Pfizer is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Astrazeneca Pfizer can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Astrazeneca Pfizer can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Astrazeneca Pfizer in the consumer business. Now Astrazeneca Pfizer 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. Astrazeneca Pfizer 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. Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
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. Astrazeneca Pfizer can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) are -
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 Astrazeneca Pfizer.
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. Astrazeneca Pfizer needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
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. Astrazeneca Pfizer 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
– Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Astrazeneca Pfizer is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Astrazeneca Pfizer
– 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 Astrazeneca Pfizer.
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 Astrazeneca Pfizer in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Astrazeneca Pfizer 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Astrazeneca Pfizer with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Astrazeneca Pfizer high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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 Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (B) 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 Astrazeneca Pfizer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
