Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version
Provides a broad overview of the numerous internal and external forces that were driving change in the global pharmaceutical industry in 2003. These forces--including downward price pressures, political and social pressures, increased development costs, new technologies, new and different competitors, consolidation, and threats to its basic business models--were changing the way drugs were discovered, developed, manufactured, tested, regulated, marketed, sold, and purchased. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Swot Analysis of "Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version" written by Stephen P. Bradley, James Weber includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pressures Forces facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing,
there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pressures Forces, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pressures Forces 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pressures Forces
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 Pressures Forces
Strengths Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pressures Forces in Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Pressures Forces has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pressures Forces to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pressures Forces to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pressures Forces to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Pressures Forces 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 Pressures Forces in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Pressures Forces
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pressures Forces does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pressures Forces has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pressures Forces 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.
Learning organization
- Pressures Forces 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 Pressures Forces is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Pressures Forces is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Pressures Forces is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pressures Forces 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Pressures Forces 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 Stephen P. Bradley, James Weber 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pressures Forces 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version - 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Pressures Forces 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pressures Forces is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version, in the dynamic environment Pressures Forces has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pressures Forces has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Pressures Forces 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Pressures Forces 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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 Pressures Forces 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pressures Forces 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. Pressures Forces 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Pressures Forces has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Pressures Forces is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Pressures Forces needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pressures Forces to focus more on services rather than just following the product 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 Pressures Forces supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pressures Forces vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Pressures Forces, firm in the HBR case study Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version | 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pressures Forces is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pressures Forces can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Pressures Forces 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pressures Forces 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Pressures Forces can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Pressures Forces has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pressures Forces to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version case study. Pressures Forces can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Pressures Forces can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pressures Forces 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 Pressures Forces to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Pressures Forces 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Pressures Forces can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pressures Forces 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pressures Forces to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Pressures Forces can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Pressures Forces can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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.
Threats Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pressures Forces with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pressures Forces 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pressures Forces 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version .
Environmental challenges
– Pressures Forces 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. Pressures Forces can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pressures Forces 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.
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.
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. Pressures Forces needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Pressures Forces 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
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.
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 Pressures Forces in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pressures Forces has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pressures Forces needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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. Pressures Forces 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pressures Forces 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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 Pharmaceutical Industry: Challenges in the New Century, Spanish Version 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 Pressures Forces needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
