Case Study Description of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics
Describes the reorganization of the drug discovery organization at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and focuses on the decisions to: (1) centralize decision-making within drug discovery and (2) institute numerical metrics--jointly affecting all R&D scientists--for the progression of compounds through the Wyeth pipeline. Highlights issues concerning the degree to which scientific activity can be evaluated via numerical metrics, the extent to which R&D can be structured as a process, and the degree to which decision-making should be centralized in commercial R&D activities. May be used in combination with HBS case 605-074 (GlaxoSmithKline: Reorganizing Drug Discovery (A)) to contrast the use of centralized and decentralized models of decision-making in pharmaceutical R&D.
Authors :: Gary P. Pisano, Mark Rennella, Robert S. Huckman
Swot Analysis of "Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics" written by Gary P. Pisano, Mark Rennella, Robert S. Huckman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wyeth Discovery facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational structure, Performance measurement, Productivity, Reorganization, Research & development and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wyeth Discovery, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wyeth Discovery
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 Wyeth Discovery
Strengths Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wyeth Discovery in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Wyeth Discovery is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Technology & Operations field
– Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Discovery in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Discovery is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wyeth Discovery 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.
High brand equity
– Wyeth Discovery has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wyeth Discovery to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Wyeth Discovery is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Wyeth Discovery 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 Gary P. Pisano, Mark Rennella, Robert S. Huckman 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wyeth Discovery digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wyeth Discovery 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wyeth Discovery is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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
– Wyeth Discovery has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Discovery 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.
Weaknesses Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics HBR case study mentions - Wyeth Discovery takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Wyeth Discovery 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. Wyeth Discovery 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wyeth Discovery 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Wyeth Discovery, firm in the HBR case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics, in the dynamic environment Wyeth Discovery has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wyeth Discovery has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wyeth Discovery is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Wyeth Discovery 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Wyeth Discovery 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Wyeth Discovery 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wyeth Discovery 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Wyeth Discovery 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.
Opportunities Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics | 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics are -
Loyalty marketing
– Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Discovery 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wyeth Discovery to increase its market reach. Wyeth Discovery 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wyeth Discovery to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Wyeth Discovery can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wyeth Discovery 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Discovery to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Discovery 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.
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. Wyeth Discovery can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Wyeth Discovery can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wyeth Discovery has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wyeth Discovery to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics case study. Wyeth Discovery can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wyeth Discovery 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, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics, 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics are -
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. Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Wyeth Discovery
– 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 Wyeth Discovery.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wyeth Discovery 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.
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. Wyeth Discovery needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Wyeth Discovery in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Wyeth Discovery 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. Wyeth Discovery can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wyeth Discovery with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Wyeth Discovery 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.
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 Wyeth Discovery business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wyeth Discovery has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wyeth Discovery needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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 Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Wyeth Discovery can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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 Wyeth Discovery needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.