The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B) 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 (B)

This is a Darden case study.The increasing problems of millions of HIV/AIDS orphans and the perceived need for an innovative and creative solution to tackle the psychological, social, and economic needs of vulnerable children tipped the scales in favor of accepting sociologist Kurt Madorin's proposal: Klaus Leisinger and Karin Schmitt of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development gave Madorin the go-ahead for setting up a pilot program in Tanzania to address the psychosocial needs of children who had lost parents to AIDS. This case describes the pilot program in Tanzania, Novartis's role in creating it, and-in 2001-the launch of a Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI) to address the psychosocial problems on a wider scale. The Novartis Foundation and the other organizations involved had to assess different countries and determine which one would be the best headquarters for REPSSI, and they had to focus on creating a strong and effective organizational operation.

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 (B)" written by Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) 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 (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, 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 (B)

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 (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Psychosocial Repssi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) 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 (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Psychosocial Repssi
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 Psychosocial Repssi

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

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

Innovation driven organization

– Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Analytics focus

– Psychosocial Repssi 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 Pat Werhane, Jenny Mead 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 Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Psychosocial Repssi 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 The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of Psychosocial Repssi

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Psychosocial Repssi does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Strong track record of project management

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

Digital Transformation in Global Business segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Psychosocial Repssi digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Psychosocial Repssi 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 brand equity

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

Low bargaining power of suppliers

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

Learning organization

- Psychosocial Repssi 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 Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B) 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.

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

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Psychosocial Repssi 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B) 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 Psychosocial Repssi has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Psychosocial Repssi 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. Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Psychosocial Repssi, firm in the HBR case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B), in the dynamic environment Psychosocial Repssi has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Psychosocial Repssi has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

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 Psychosocial Repssi supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Psychosocial Repssi vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Psychosocial Repssi needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

Lack of clear differentiation of Psychosocial Repssi products

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

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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

Increase in government spending

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

Leveraging digital technologies

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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 Psychosocial Repssi to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Developing new processes and practices

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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. Psychosocial Repssi can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Loyalty marketing

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Psychosocial Repssi can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development: Tackling HIV/AIDS and Poverty in South Africa (B) 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

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

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Psychosocial Repssi to increase its market reach. Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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. Psychosocial Repssi can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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. Psychosocial Repssi 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. Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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

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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Psychosocial Repssi 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 (B) .

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

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. Psychosocial Repssi needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Psychosocial Repssi.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Psychosocial Repssi 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 Psychosocial Repssi business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Psychosocial Repssi 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.

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

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