The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C)

This is a Darden case study.The Novartis Foundation and various donors undertook a risk-assessment of how REPSSI could be brought to other African countries both legally and effectively. The original initiative had to be transformed into an organization, and a host country had to be chosen to implement the program. South Africa, where the HIV/AIDS problem and its effects on children seemed the most severe, was chosen. By 2006, REPSSI, through its various organizations and institutions throughout sub-Saharan Africa, had touched the lives of more than 300,000 orphans. It had worked at various times with more than 140 aid organizations. The collaboration had, in particular, been extremely successful in "transferring best practices in labor management, leadership, and financial skills." Many of the services businesses and universities provided the NGO were pro bono. REPSSI continued to grow as 2006 came to a close and, with management stretched thin, those involved with REPSSI looked once again to Novartis's corporate human resources as well as the foundation itself to guide them to greater growth. By 2007, the project was financially secured for another three years by the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA), the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, and other donors. The Novartis Foundation's goal was to make REPSSI the "implementing agency of choice" for such programs and securing long-term financing through expanding the donor base.

Authors :: Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: Ethics, Generational issues, Health, Innovation, Leadership, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C)" written by Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Repssi Novartis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Generational issues, Health, Innovation, Leadership, Social enterprise, Social responsibility and Global Business.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C)

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Repssi Novartis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Repssi Novartis 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Repssi Novartis
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 Repssi Novartis

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Strengths The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Repssi Novartis in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry

– The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Repssi Novartis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Repssi Novartis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Global Business field

– Repssi Novartis 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 Repssi Novartis in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Repssi Novartis in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Innovation driven organization

– Repssi Novartis is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Repssi Novartis has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

High brand equity

– Repssi Novartis has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Repssi Novartis to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Repssi Novartis 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Training and development

– Repssi Novartis has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Repssi Novartis is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Repssi Novartis in the sector have low bargaining power. The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Repssi Novartis to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Learning organization

- Repssi Novartis 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 Repssi Novartis is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Repssi Novartis is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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.

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Weaknesses The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) are -

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C), is just above the industry average. Repssi Novartis 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 Repssi Novartis 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 - The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 Repssi Novartis 's lucrative customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Repssi Novartis is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Repssi Novartis 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 harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Repssi Novartis is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) HBR case study mentions - Repssi Novartis 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Repssi Novartis products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Repssi Novartis needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead suggests that, Repssi Novartis 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Repssi Novartis 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.

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Opportunities The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) | 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) are -

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Repssi Novartis to increase its market reach. Repssi Novartis 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 Repssi Novartis has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Repssi Novartis to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) case study. Repssi Novartis can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Repssi Novartis can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Loyalty marketing

– Repssi Novartis 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.

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 Repssi Novartis 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Repssi Novartis 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 Repssi Novartis to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Repssi Novartis can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Repssi Novartis operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Repssi Novartis 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Repssi Novartis 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.

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. Repssi Novartis 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. Repssi Novartis 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Repssi Novartis is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Repssi Novartis 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Repssi Novartis to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Repssi Novartis 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.

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Threats The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) are -

Consumer confidence and its impact on Repssi Novartis 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C), Repssi Novartis 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 .

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. Repssi Novartis can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Repssi Novartis 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Repssi Novartis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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 Repssi Novartis in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Repssi Novartis 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 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Repssi Novartis 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Repssi Novartis 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) .

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Repssi Novartis is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 Repssi Novartis.

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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (C) 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 Repssi Novartis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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