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 - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
Innovation driven organization
– Wyeth Discovery is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
Training and development
– Wyeth Discovery has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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.
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.
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wyeth Discovery 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 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wyeth Discovery in the sector have low bargaining power. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wyeth Discovery to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wyeth Discovery to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wyeth Discovery to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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 -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics, it seems that the employees of Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
Need for greater diversity
– Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wyeth Discovery products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wyeth Discovery needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
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 -
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 Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Wyeth Discovery can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Wyeth Discovery can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wyeth Discovery can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wyeth Discovery operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Wyeth Discovery can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Wyeth Discovery.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wyeth Discovery 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.
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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wyeth Discovery is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.