Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation
Traces the evolution of U.S. regulatory policy towards the pharmaceutical industry over the course of the twentieth century. A major theme is the steady shift away from a policy of 'let the buyer beware' to the creation of a complex and time-consuming review process, administered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in which both the safety and efficacy of each new drug must be demonstrated prior to sale in the United States. The basic economics of the pharmaceutical business are covered as well, including the trend toward greater emphasis on both marketing and R&D over the course of the century. The controversial issues of drug pricing, patent policy, and access to experimental drugs in the age of AIDS are explored as well. Includes a number of statistical charts and graphs of key indicators relating to the pharmaceutical industry in the post-WWII era.
Swot Analysis of "Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation" written by Willis Emmons, Jeremiah O'Regan, Monica Brand includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pharmaceutical Drug facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economics, Marketing, Personnel policies, Policy, Research & development and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pharmaceutical Drug, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pharmaceutical Drug
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pharmaceutical Drug
Strengths Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pharmaceutical Drug in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pharmaceutical Drug in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pharmaceutical Drug to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pharmaceutical Drug digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Training and development
– Pharmaceutical Drug has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Pharmaceutical Drug in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation - 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 brand equity
– Pharmaceutical Drug has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pharmaceutical Drug to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Pharmaceutical Drug
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pharmaceutical Drug does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Pharmaceutical Drug is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pharmaceutical Drug has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Pharmaceutical Drug is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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.
Weaknesses Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Pharmaceutical Drug 's lucrative customers.
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 Pharmaceutical Drug supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pharmaceutical Drug vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pharmaceutical Drug is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Willis Emmons, Jeremiah O'Regan, Monica Brand suggests that, Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pharmaceutical Drug is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Pharmaceutical Drug has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation HBR case study mentions - Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Pharmaceutical Drug 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 - Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Opportunities Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation | 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Pharmaceutical Drug can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Pharmaceutical Drug can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Pharmaceutical Drug 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. Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Pharmaceutical Drug in the consumer business. Now Pharmaceutical Drug can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Pharmaceutical Drug can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Pharmaceutical Drug 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
– Pharmaceutical Drug can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Pharmaceutical Drug to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pharmaceutical Drug is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pharmaceutical Drug to increase its market reach. Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Threats Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pharmaceutical Drug in the Global Business industry. The Global Business industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pharmaceutical Drug has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pharmaceutical Drug needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pharmaceutical Drug with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Pharmaceutical Drug can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pharmaceutical Drug 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation .
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 Pharmaceutical Drug business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pharmaceutical Drug is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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. Pharmaceutical Drug can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
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. Pharmaceutical Drug 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation 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 Pharmaceutical Drug needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
