Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
What do you do when your rising professional career is cut short by an unexpected cancer diagnosis? Kathy Giusti shifted careers, built a new organization that transformed how cancer research is done, and now faces the challenge of sustaining the organization and its funding for its newest venture.Since she was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) in 1996, Giusti had led an effort to better understand and treat the disease. She had co-founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), helped form the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC), and brought together a diverse body of academics, researchers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, physicians, and patients to combine their efforts around the disease. The MMRF had helped facilitate clinical trials for promising drugs, sponsored research, and raised a substantial amount of money for these purposes.
Authors :: Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble
Swot Analysis of "Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Myeloma Giusti facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Health, Leadership, Managing people and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Myeloma Giusti, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Myeloma Giusti 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Myeloma Giusti
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 Myeloma Giusti
Strengths Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Myeloma Giusti in Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Myeloma Giusti has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Myeloma Giusti to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Myeloma Giusti 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Myeloma Giusti has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Myeloma Giusti 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.
Learning organization
- Myeloma Giusti 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 Myeloma Giusti is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Myeloma Giusti 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 Myeloma Giusti in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Myeloma Giusti is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Myeloma Giusti is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Myeloma Giusti 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Myeloma Giusti
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Myeloma Giusti does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Myeloma Giusti in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Myeloma Giusti to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Myeloma Giusti to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Myeloma Giusti 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. Myeloma Giusti even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Myeloma Giusti 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Myeloma Giusti is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Myeloma Giusti 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Myeloma Giusti is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Richard G. Hamermesh, Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble suggests that, Myeloma Giusti 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Myeloma Giusti is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Myeloma Giusti needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Myeloma Giusti to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation HBR case study mentions - Myeloma Giusti 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, is just above the industry average. Myeloma Giusti needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Myeloma Giusti 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 - Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Myeloma Giusti 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.
Opportunities Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation | 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation are -
Buying journey improvements
– Myeloma Giusti can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Myeloma Giusti 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Myeloma Giusti 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 Myeloma Giusti to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Myeloma Giusti can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Developing new processes and practices
– Myeloma Giusti 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Myeloma Giusti to increase its market reach. Myeloma Giusti 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Myeloma Giusti has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Myeloma Giusti to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation case study. Myeloma Giusti can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Myeloma Giusti can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Myeloma Giusti operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Myeloma Giusti 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Myeloma Giusti 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Myeloma Giusti 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.
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. Myeloma Giusti can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Myeloma Giusti 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.
Threats Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation are -
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. Myeloma Giusti can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Myeloma Giusti is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Myeloma Giusti 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Myeloma Giusti 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Myeloma Giusti with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Myeloma Giusti business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Myeloma Giusti 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Myeloma Giusti has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Myeloma Giusti 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, Myeloma Giusti 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Myeloma Giusti 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. Myeloma Giusti can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Increasing wage structure of Myeloma Giusti
– 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 Myeloma Giusti.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Myeloma Giusti high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Kathy Giusti and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation 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 Myeloma Giusti needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.