Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property
Top officials at Pfizer are assessing their strategy for improving protection of Pfizer's patents around the world. The outcome of the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiations is uncertain, and it is not clear whether an acceptable intellectual property protection agreement will emerge. The case describes how Pfizer helped transform intellectual property from a lawyer's specialty to an international trade issue of concern around the world through close cooperation with the U.S. government, leadership in forming a tripartite coalition among U.S., Japanese, and European industry, and mobilization of the Pfizer organization. Shows how far a company may go to protect its intellectual property in a world where the concept of intellectual property is not universally recognized or accepted. May also be used to discuss the effectiveness and legitimacy of Pfizer's strategy, the conflicts between industrialized country and developing country perspectives on international trade and national sovereignty, and the question of appropriate norms of intellectual property protection.
Swot Analysis of "Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property" written by Lynn Sharp Paine, Michael A. Santoro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Intellectual Pfizer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Intellectual property, Joint ventures, Negotiations, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Intellectual Pfizer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Intellectual Pfizer 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Intellectual Pfizer
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 Intellectual Pfizer
Strengths Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Intellectual Pfizer in Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Intellectual Pfizer 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Intellectual Pfizer has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Intellectual Pfizer to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Intellectual Pfizer is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Intellectual Pfizer
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Intellectual Pfizer does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Intellectual Pfizer is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Intellectual Pfizer 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Intellectual Pfizer has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Intellectual Pfizer 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
– Intellectual Pfizer is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Intellectual Pfizer in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Intellectual Pfizer 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 Lynn Sharp Paine, Michael A. Santoro 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Intellectual Pfizer is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Intellectual Pfizer is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Intellectual Pfizer 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 Intellectual Pfizer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Intellectual Pfizer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Intellectual Pfizer 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Intellectual Pfizer 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 - Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Intellectual Pfizer supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Intellectual Pfizer vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lynn Sharp Paine, Michael A. Santoro suggests that, Intellectual Pfizer is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Intellectual Pfizer is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Intellectual Pfizer needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Intellectual Pfizer to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Intellectual Pfizer 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property, in the dynamic environment Intellectual Pfizer has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Intellectual Pfizer has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Intellectual Pfizer, firm in the HBR case study Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property | 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Intellectual Pfizer 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Intellectual Pfizer to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Intellectual Pfizer to increase its market reach. Intellectual Pfizer 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
– Intellectual Pfizer 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.
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. Intellectual Pfizer 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. Intellectual Pfizer 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Intellectual Pfizer can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Intellectual Pfizer 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 Intellectual Pfizer 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.
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 Intellectual Pfizer in the consumer business. Now Intellectual Pfizer can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Intellectual Pfizer 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 Intellectual Pfizer 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, Intellectual Pfizer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Intellectual Pfizer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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. Intellectual Pfizer can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Intellectual Pfizer 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Intellectual Pfizer 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.
Threats Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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.
Increasing wage structure of Intellectual Pfizer
– 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 Intellectual Pfizer.
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 Intellectual Pfizer.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property, Intellectual Pfizer 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 .
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. Intellectual Pfizer 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.
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 Intellectual Pfizer business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Intellectual Pfizer 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Intellectual Pfizer can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Intellectual Pfizer has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Intellectual Pfizer 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.
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 Intellectual Pfizer in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Intellectual Pfizer with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Intellectual Pfizer 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.
Environmental challenges
– Intellectual Pfizer 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. Intellectual Pfizer can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Pfizer: Global Protection of Intellectual Property 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 Intellectual Pfizer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.