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WuXi PharmaTech SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of WuXi PharmaTech


To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.WuXi Pharmatech has gone from zero to $21 million in sales in three years. The company must decide its growth strategy and how best to finance and organize for rapid growth. Includes color exhibits.

Authors :: Richard G. Hamermesh, Simin Zhou

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Financial markets, Growth strategy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "WuXi PharmaTech" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Simin Zhou includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pharmatech Color.wuxi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in WuXi PharmaTech case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Growth strategy and Strategy & Execution.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the WuXi PharmaTech casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of WuXi PharmaTech


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




Strengths WuXi PharmaTech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Pharmatech Color.wuxi in WuXi PharmaTech Harvard Business Review case study are -

Organizational Resilience of Pharmatech Color.wuxi

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pharmatech Color.wuxi does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the WuXi PharmaTech 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in WuXi PharmaTech 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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 WuXi PharmaTech HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Successful track record of launching new products

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

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the WuXi PharmaTech are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– WuXi PharmaTech firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pharmatech Color.wuxi to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pharmatech Color.wuxi to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Pharmatech Color.wuxi in the sector have low bargaining power. WuXi PharmaTech has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pharmatech Color.wuxi to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Training and development

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in WuXi PharmaTech 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.

Superior customer experience

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

High brand equity

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pharmatech Color.wuxi to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.






Weaknesses WuXi PharmaTech | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of WuXi PharmaTech are -

Products dominated business model

– Even though Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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 - WuXi PharmaTech should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Pharmatech Color.wuxi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Pharmatech Color.wuxi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pharmatech Color.wuxi to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study WuXi PharmaTech, it seems that the employees of Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Pharmatech Color.wuxi products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pharmatech Color.wuxi needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As WuXi PharmaTech HBR case study mentions - Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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. Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study WuXi PharmaTech, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.

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 Pharmatech Color.wuxi supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - WuXi PharmaTech, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pharmatech Color.wuxi vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.




Opportunities WuXi PharmaTech | 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 WuXi PharmaTech are -

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 Pharmatech Color.wuxi in the consumer business. Now Pharmatech Color.wuxi can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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, WuXi PharmaTech, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pharmatech Color.wuxi to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Pharmatech Color.wuxi to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pharmatech Color.wuxi is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. WuXi PharmaTech 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.

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. Pharmatech Color.wuxi can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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 WuXi PharmaTech - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pharmatech Color.wuxi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Pharmatech Color.wuxi has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pharmatech Color.wuxi to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the WuXi PharmaTech case study. Pharmatech Color.wuxi can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Reforming the budgeting process

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

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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. Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pharmatech Color.wuxi in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.




Threats WuXi PharmaTech External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study WuXi PharmaTech are -

Easy access to finance

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

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pharmatech Color.wuxi in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.

Environmental challenges

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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. Pharmatech Color.wuxi can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.

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 Pharmatech Color.wuxi.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pharmatech Color.wuxi with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Pharmatech Color.wuxi can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Pharmatech Color.wuxi 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.

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 Pharmatech Color.wuxi in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Pharmatech Color.wuxi is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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.

Increasing wage structure of Pharmatech Color.wuxi

– 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 Pharmatech Color.wuxi.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pharmatech Color.wuxi can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study WuXi PharmaTech .




Weighted SWOT Analysis of WuXi PharmaTech 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 WuXi PharmaTech 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 WuXi PharmaTech 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 WuXi PharmaTech 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 WuXi PharmaTech 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 Pharmatech Color.wuxi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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