Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
Gordon Zong is trying to teach Chinese universities and research institutes how to do effective technology transfer and IP licensing, but he is trying to do it in an environment with weak property rights and an underdeveloped support infrastructure. As the managing director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, he works with researchers at the forefront of biology and biotech, yet he faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles to getting the technology commercialized within domestic Chinese companies, so he has turned to global multinational pharma companies, for now. The purpose of the case is to help present and future managers at global multinationals who have responsibility for R&D strategy to understand some of the complexities of the Chinese intellectual property environment so that they can build effective participation strategies for their organizations. Understanding the misaligned incentives that result in the production of junk patents and the challenges of patent enforcement, as well as the direction of change are vital, because as the Chinese system evolves quickly, the implications of those changes will have important commercial consequences.
Authors :: Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki, Courtney Hyland
Swot Analysis of "Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences" written by Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki, Courtney Hyland includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Institutes Transfer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Government, Intellectual property, Knowledge management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Institutes Transfer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Institutes Transfer 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Institutes Transfer
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 Institutes Transfer
Strengths Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Institutes Transfer in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Institutes Transfer 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.
Learning organization
- Institutes Transfer 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 Institutes Transfer is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Institutes Transfer has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Institutes Transfer 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.
Analytics focus
– Institutes Transfer 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 Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki, Courtney Hyland 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Institutes Transfer 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.
Organizational Resilience of Institutes Transfer
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Institutes Transfer does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Institutes Transfer has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Institutes Transfer to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Institutes Transfer is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Institutes Transfer has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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
– Institutes Transfer is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Global Business field
– Institutes Transfer 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 Institutes Transfer in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Institutes Transfer, firm in the HBR case study Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Institutes Transfer 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences HBR case study mentions - Institutes Transfer 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Institutes Transfer 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, is just above the industry average. Institutes Transfer 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Institutes Transfer has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Institutes Transfer 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Willy Shih, Sen Chai, Kamen Bliznashki, Courtney Hyland suggests that, Institutes Transfer 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Institutes Transfer 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. Institutes Transfer 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, it seems that the employees of Institutes Transfer 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Institutes Transfer 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences | 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Institutes Transfer can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Institutes Transfer 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Institutes Transfer 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Institutes Transfer to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Institutes Transfer 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.
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 Institutes Transfer in the consumer business. Now Institutes Transfer can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Institutes Transfer 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Institutes Transfer in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Institutes Transfer 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 Global Business segment.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Institutes Transfer has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Institutes Transfer to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences case study. Institutes Transfer 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, Institutes Transfer 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, Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Institutes Transfer 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Institutes Transfer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Institutes Transfer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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. Institutes Transfer 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. Institutes Transfer 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.
Threats Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Institutes Transfer is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Institutes Transfer demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Environmental challenges
– Institutes Transfer 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. Institutes Transfer can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Institutes Transfer 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.
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 Institutes Transfer business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Institutes Transfer
– 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 Institutes Transfer.
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. Institutes Transfer needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Institutes Transfer has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Institutes Transfer 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.
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 Institutes Transfer.
Regulatory challenges
– Institutes Transfer 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 Institutes Transfer with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Institutes Transfer may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Institutes Transfer 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Office of Technology Transfer - Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences 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 Institutes Transfer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
