Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc.
This case examines the career path of Merck's CFO, Judy C. Lewent, as a way of tracing changes over time in Merck's finance function. It describes the adoption of innovative quantitative analytical models, changes in job definitions and in the organization of the financial area, and the evolution of professional relationships between finance and other professionals at Merck. These issues are all examined in the context of changes in the drug business.
Swot Analysis of "Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc." written by Timothy A. Luehrman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lewent Judy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Financial management, Innovation, Organizational structure and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lewent Judy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lewent Judy 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lewent Judy
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 Lewent Judy
Strengths Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lewent Judy in Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lewent Judy is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Lewent Judy 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.
Analytics focus
– Lewent Judy 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 Timothy A. Luehrman 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Lewent Judy is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Lewent Judy in the sector have low bargaining power. Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Lewent Judy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Lewent Judy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lewent Judy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lewent Judy in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lewent Judy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lewent Judy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Lewent Judy 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 Lewent Judy in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lewent Judy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lewent Judy digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lewent Judy 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lewent Judy 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Lewent Judy 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lewent Judy 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.
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 Lewent Judy supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lewent Judy vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc., in the dynamic environment Lewent Judy has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lewent Judy has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Lewent Judy 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lewent Judy is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lewent Judy 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. Lewent Judy 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Lewent Judy 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lewent Judy is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Lewent Judy needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lewent Judy to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Timothy A. Luehrman suggests that, Lewent Judy 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lewent Judy, firm in the HBR case study Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. | 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lewent Judy to increase its market reach. Lewent Judy 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lewent Judy can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lewent Judy operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Lewent Judy can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Lewent Judy 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. Lewent Judy 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lewent Judy in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lewent Judy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lewent Judy has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lewent Judy to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. case study. Lewent Judy can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Lewent Judy 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lewent Judy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Lewent Judy 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lewent Judy 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lewent Judy 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lewent Judy 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
– Lewent Judy 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.
Threats Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. are -
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.
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 Lewent Judy.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lewent Judy 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.
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 Lewent Judy business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Lewent Judy 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 Lewent Judy 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.
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
– Lewent Judy 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. Lewent Judy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lewent Judy 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lewent Judy
– 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 Lewent Judy.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc., Lewent Judy may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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. Lewent Judy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Lewent Judy in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Evolving Finance Function: Judy C. Lewent at Merck & Co., Inc. 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 Lewent Judy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.