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Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development


Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ: PCYC), a pharmaceutical company that manufactures products that will improve existing therapeutic treatments for cancer, arteriosclerosis, and retinal disease, was considering a $60 million private placement in February 2000. The company had more cash than ever before, but projections of R&D and marketing expenses were also unprecedented. PCYC's most promising oncology drug, a radiation enhancer called Xcytrin, was in Phase III clinical trials--the rigorous final phase before FDA approval for commercialization. Analysts gave the drug a slightly better than 50% chance of success. This case focuses on stage financing and a simple decision-tree evaluation. Students have the opportunity to consider the impact of past staged financing decisions on the ownership structure of the firm and to evaluate the current stock market price in light of analyst forecasts of the cash flow and the probability of success for each drug. These two analyses help inform the private placement decision.

Authors :: Richard S. Ruback, Malcolm P. Baker, Aldo Sesia

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Decision making, Entrepreneurship, Financial analysis, Financial management, Marketing, Research & development, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development" written by Richard S. Ruback, Malcolm P. Baker, Aldo Sesia includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pharmacyclics Drug facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Entrepreneurship, Financial analysis, Financial management, Marketing, Research & development and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pharmacyclics Drug, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pharmacyclics Drug 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pharmacyclics Drug
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pharmacyclics Drug




Strengths Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pharmacyclics Drug in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development Harvard Business Review case study are -

Training and development

– Pharmacyclics Drug has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics Drug in the sector have low bargaining power. Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pharmacyclics Drug to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Learning organization

- Pharmacyclics Drug 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 Pharmacyclics Drug is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Pharmacyclics Drug is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Diverse revenue streams

– Pharmacyclics Drug is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Pharmacyclics Drug 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pharmacyclics Drug digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pharmacyclics Drug has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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

– Pharmacyclics Drug has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Pharmacyclics Drug in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.






Weaknesses Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development are -

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pharmacyclics Drug is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Pharmacyclics Drug 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 bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Richard S. Ruback, Malcolm P. Baker, Aldo Sesia suggests that, Pharmacyclics Drug is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pharmacyclics Drug is planning to shift buying processes online.

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 Pharmacyclics Drug supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pharmacyclics Drug vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Need for greater diversity

– Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Pharmacyclics Drug 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 - Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development, it seems that the employees of Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics Drug 's lucrative customers.




Opportunities Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development | 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Pharmacyclics Drug 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pharmacyclics Drug to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Developing new processes and practices

– Pharmacyclics Drug can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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 Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pharmacyclics Drug to increase its market reach. Pharmacyclics Drug will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pharmacyclics Drug can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pharmacyclics Drug is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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.

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 Pharmacyclics Drug in the consumer business. Now Pharmacyclics Drug can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Pharmacyclics Drug can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Pharmacyclics Drug has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pharmacyclics Drug to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development case study. Pharmacyclics Drug 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. Pharmacyclics Drug can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pharmacyclics Drug 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, Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.




Threats Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development are -

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Pharmacyclics Drug is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Pharmacyclics Drug can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Pharmacyclics Drug business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Pharmacyclics Drug.

Increasing wage structure of Pharmacyclics Drug

– 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 Pharmacyclics Drug.

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.

Environmental challenges

– Pharmacyclics Drug needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Pharmacyclics Drug can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Pharmacyclics Drug has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pharmacyclics Drug needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.

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. Pharmacyclics Drug needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting 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. Pharmacyclics Drug 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pharmacyclics Drug in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.

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 Pharmacyclics Drug in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Pharmacyclics Drug 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics: Financing Research & Development 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 Pharmacyclics Drug needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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