Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company
Describes the growth of a biotechnology company as it shifts from a service research organization to an integrated human therapeutic company. Maps the management changes from 1982 to 1998, as the company responds to volatile market pressure.
Swot Analysis of "Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company" written by Alicia Loffler, Liisa Bayko includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Biotech Scios facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Decision making, Financial management, Growth strategy, Managing people, Manufacturing, Product development, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Biotech Scios, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Biotech Scios
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 Biotech Scios
Strengths Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Biotech Scios in Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Biotech Scios 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 Biotech Scios in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Biotech Scios to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Biotech Scios to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Biotech Scios in the sector have low bargaining power. Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Biotech Scios to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Biotech Scios 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 Alicia Loffler, Liisa Bayko 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.
Learning organization
- Biotech Scios 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 Biotech Scios is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Biotech Scios is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Biotech Scios has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Biotech Scios 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Biotech Scios 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Biotech Scios is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Biotech Scios 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.
Weaknesses Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Biotech Scios, firm in the HBR case study Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company, it seems that the employees of Biotech Scios 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Biotech Scios 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Alicia Loffler, Liisa Bayko suggests that, Biotech Scios 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Biotech Scios 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 - Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Biotech Scios 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Biotech Scios 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. Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Biotech Scios 's lucrative customers.
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 Biotech Scios supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Biotech Scios vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company, is just above the industry average. Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company | 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Biotech Scios is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Biotech Scios can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Biotech Scios 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Biotech Scios 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, Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Biotech Scios 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Biotech Scios can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Biotech Scios 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.
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. Biotech Scios can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Biotech Scios 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.
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 Biotech Scios 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Biotech Scios 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Biotech Scios can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Biotech Scios operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Biotech Scios to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company are -
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. Biotech Scios needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Biotech Scios business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Biotech Scios
– 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 Biotech Scios.
Environmental challenges
– Biotech Scios 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. Biotech Scios can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Biotech Scios 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.
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 Biotech Scios 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. Biotech Scios can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Biotech Scios is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company .
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. Biotech Scios 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.
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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Biotech Scios 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Survivor Scios: Reality Biotech--The Anatomy of a Growing Biotech Company 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 Biotech Scios needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
