Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A)
This case examines Millennium's strategic and organizational responses to the rapid evolution of the biopharmaceutical industry. In the early 2000s, as Millennium's competitive advantage in early-stage research slipped away and its losses mounted, founder and CEO Mark Levin moved the firm downstream away from research and towards drug development and commercialization, while narrowing horizontal breadth from over a dozen therapeutic classes to just three. In 2005, Levin hired Deborah Dunsire from Novartis as CEO to lead Millennium's continuing transformation. Students are asked to put themselves in the shoes of incoming CEO Dunsire and to provide organizational recommendations to execute the new strategy.
Swot Analysis of "Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A)" written by Julie M. Wulf, Scott Waggoner includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Millennium's Dunsire facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leading teams, Reorganization, Strategy, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Millennium's Dunsire, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Millennium's Dunsire 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Millennium's Dunsire
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 Millennium's Dunsire
Strengths Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Millennium's Dunsire in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Millennium's Dunsire has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Millennium's Dunsire to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Millennium's Dunsire in the sector have low bargaining power. Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Millennium's Dunsire to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Millennium's Dunsire is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Millennium's Dunsire to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Millennium's Dunsire to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Millennium's Dunsire 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Millennium's Dunsire
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Millennium's Dunsire does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Millennium's Dunsire is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Millennium's Dunsire has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Millennium's Dunsire 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Millennium's Dunsire is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Millennium's Dunsire 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 Millennium's Dunsire in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Millennium's Dunsire has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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.
Weaknesses Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Millennium's Dunsire is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Julie M. Wulf, Scott Waggoner suggests that, Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Millennium's Dunsire has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A), in the dynamic environment Millennium's Dunsire has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Millennium's Dunsire has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Millennium's Dunsire 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A), 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Millennium's Dunsire 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Millennium's Dunsire products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Millennium's Dunsire needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Millennium's Dunsire is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Millennium's Dunsire needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Millennium's Dunsire to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) | 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Millennium's Dunsire can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Millennium's Dunsire can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Millennium's Dunsire operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Millennium's Dunsire 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
– Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Millennium's Dunsire 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 Millennium's Dunsire 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 Millennium's Dunsire to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Millennium's Dunsire is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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. Millennium's Dunsire can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Millennium's Dunsire can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Millennium's Dunsire 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, Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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. Millennium's Dunsire 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 Millennium's Dunsire business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A), Millennium's Dunsire may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Millennium's Dunsire has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Millennium's Dunsire 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.
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. Millennium's Dunsire can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Millennium's Dunsire 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Millennium's Dunsire with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Millennium's Dunsire 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, Millennium's Dunsire 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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 Organization and Strategy at Millennium (A) 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 Millennium's Dunsire needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.