Case Study Description of British Columbia's Pharmanet Project
A proposal to give all pharmacists computer database access to the prescription histories of all British Columbians was meeting stiff media criticism over privacy issues. While the Ministry of Health foresaw many benefits of the proposed Pharmanet to consumers, pharmacists, and government regulators, many others felt access to so much information would lead to misuse or abuse. With provincewide implementation only two months away, the Pharmanet project director had to decide what, if any, additional changes to the database system had to be made to ensure public support.
Swot Analysis of "British Columbia's Pharmanet Project" written by Scott Schneberger, Emily Chee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pharmanet Pharmacists facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in British Columbia's Pharmanet Project case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Security & privacy and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the British Columbia's Pharmanet Project casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of British Columbia's Pharmanet Project
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in British Columbia's Pharmanet Project case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pharmanet Pharmacists, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in British Columbia's Pharmanet Project case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pharmanet Pharmacists
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pharmanet Pharmacists
Strengths British Columbia's Pharmanet Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pharmanet Pharmacists in British Columbia's Pharmanet Project Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pharmanet Pharmacists digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Training and development
– Pharmanet Pharmacists has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Pharmanet Pharmacists in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pharmanet Pharmacists in the sector have low bargaining power. British Columbia's Pharmanet Project has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pharmanet Pharmacists to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Pharmanet Pharmacists has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pharmanet Pharmacists to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pharmanet Pharmacists has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pharmanet Pharmacists does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of British Columbia's Pharmanet Project are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Scott Schneberger, Emily Chee suggests that, Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pharmanet Pharmacists is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As British Columbia's Pharmanet Project HBR case study mentions - Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Pharmanet Pharmacists products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pharmanet Pharmacists needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Pharmanet Pharmacists supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - British Columbia's Pharmanet Project, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pharmanet Pharmacists vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study British Columbia's Pharmanet Project, it seems that the employees of Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 - British Columbia's Pharmanet Project should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities British Columbia's Pharmanet Project | 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pharmanet Pharmacists in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pharmanet Pharmacists to increase its market reach. Pharmanet Pharmacists will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Buying journey improvements
– Pharmanet Pharmacists can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Pharmanet Pharmacists has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pharmanet Pharmacists to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the British Columbia's Pharmanet Project case study. Pharmanet Pharmacists can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pharmanet Pharmacists to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pharmanet Pharmacists can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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, Pharmanet Pharmacists can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pharmanet Pharmacists operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pharmanet Pharmacists 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, British Columbia's Pharmanet Project, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Pharmanet Pharmacists can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats British Columbia's Pharmanet Project External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study British Columbia's Pharmanet Project are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pharmanet Pharmacists in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
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 Pharmanet Pharmacists in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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. Pharmanet Pharmacists can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study British Columbia's Pharmanet Project, Pharmanet Pharmacists may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pharmanet Pharmacists is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Pharmanet Pharmacists
– 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pharmanet Pharmacists 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pharmanet Pharmacists 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 British Columbia's Pharmanet Project 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 Pharmanet Pharmacists needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
