Case Study Description of Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing
The case relates the growth story of a transformative medical diagnostics company as it moves from idea to maturity at a critical time when leaders must determine what to do about the falling stock price. As the case unfolds, it shows how an idea for transforming cervical cancer testing was converted to a proof-of-concept, followed by years of scientific and technological research to create products. The case portrays gaining FDA approval while short on resources, persuading skeptical insurers to pay for a new diagnostic test, and managing the challenges of subsequent growth, profit, and maturity while facing the emergence of new technologies and competitors. Students are asked to adopt the role of a newly hired vice president of business development to decide how to address the company's situation. They must identify and frame the problem, generate alternatives and evaluate them critically, then prepare recommendations for an upcoming board meeting. Students take into account industry and company data as well as strategic realities. They examine what makes creating, growing, and managing a science- and medicine-based company different from doing so with other technology companies, especially consumer hardware and software with which students tend to be most familiar. Color printing of the case is recommended for clear interpretation of exhibits.
Swot Analysis of "Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing" written by Gaurab Bhardwaj, Matthew Regele includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cervical Maturity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cervical Maturity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cervical Maturity 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cervical Maturity
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 Cervical Maturity
Strengths Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cervical Maturity in Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cervical Maturity to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cervical Maturity to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Cervical Maturity 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 Cervical Maturity is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cervical Maturity in the sector have low bargaining power. Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cervical Maturity to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cervical Maturity digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cervical Maturity 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.
High brand equity
– Cervical Maturity has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cervical Maturity to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Cervical Maturity is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cervical Maturity 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cervical Maturity 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cervical Maturity in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cervical Maturity
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cervical Maturity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cervical Maturity 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Cervical Maturity products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cervical Maturity needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing, in the dynamic environment Cervical Maturity has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cervical Maturity has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cervical Maturity 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cervical Maturity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cervical Maturity is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cervical Maturity 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 - Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing, 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 Cervical Maturity supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cervical Maturity vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cervical Maturity 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gaurab Bhardwaj, Matthew Regele suggests that, Cervical Maturity 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing, is just above the industry average. Cervical Maturity needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing | 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing are -
Buying journey improvements
– Cervical Maturity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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.
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. Cervical Maturity can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Cervical Maturity 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. Cervical Maturity 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cervical Maturity has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cervical Maturity to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing case study. Cervical Maturity can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Cervical Maturity in the consumer business. Now Cervical Maturity can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cervical Maturity can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cervical Maturity 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cervical Maturity 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cervical Maturity 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cervical Maturity to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cervical Maturity 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cervical Maturity 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cervical Maturity 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cervical Maturity 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 Cervical Maturity to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cervical Maturity 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.
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 Cervical Maturity.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cervical Maturity 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing .
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 Cervical Maturity in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Cervical Maturity 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 Cervical Maturity 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.
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. Cervical Maturity needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Cervical Maturity 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. Cervical Maturity can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 Cervical Maturity business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cervical Maturity is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cervical Maturity 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cervical Maturity with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cytyc: Transforming Cervical Cancer Testing 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 Cervical Maturity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
