VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic
Details the efforts of VaxGen and its president, Don Francis, to obtain approval to conduct Phase III clinical trials in Thailand for AIDSVAX, an experimental vaccine designed to protect against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. Francis must grapple with a host of ethical questions, from how certain he needs to be of the effectiveness of AIDSVAX to warrant the involvement of thousands of subjects in clinical trials to what type of compensation or treatment, if any, to offer to volunteer subjects in developing countries where the standard for AIDS treatment is much lower than in the United States.
Authors :: Margaret L. Eaton, Jennifer Wilds, Betty Pang
Swot Analysis of "VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic" written by Margaret L. Eaton, Jennifer Wilds, Betty Pang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aidsvax Vaxgen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Health and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aidsvax Vaxgen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aidsvax Vaxgen
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 Aidsvax Vaxgen
Strengths VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Aidsvax Vaxgen in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Aidsvax Vaxgen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 Aidsvax Vaxgen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Aidsvax Vaxgen is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Aidsvax Vaxgen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Aidsvax Vaxgen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 Margaret L. Eaton, Jennifer Wilds, Betty Pang 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.
Training and development
– Aidsvax Vaxgen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 Aidsvax Vaxgen
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Aidsvax Vaxgen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Aidsvax Vaxgen in the sector have low bargaining power. VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Aidsvax Vaxgen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Weaknesses VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 Aidsvax Vaxgen has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Aidsvax Vaxgen products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Aidsvax Vaxgen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Aidsvax Vaxgen 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. Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Aidsvax Vaxgen, firm in the HBR case study VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 Aidsvax Vaxgen 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic, it seems that the employees of Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic HBR case study mentions - Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic, is just above the industry average. Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Aidsvax Vaxgen is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Aidsvax Vaxgen needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Aidsvax Vaxgen to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic | 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic are -
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 Aidsvax Vaxgen in the consumer business. Now Aidsvax Vaxgen can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Aidsvax Vaxgen 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. Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
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 Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
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. Aidsvax Vaxgen can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Aidsvax Vaxgen has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Aidsvax Vaxgen to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic case study. Aidsvax Vaxgen can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
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. Aidsvax Vaxgen can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Aidsvax Vaxgen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Aidsvax Vaxgen 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, VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Aidsvax Vaxgen has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Aidsvax Vaxgen 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
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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. Aidsvax Vaxgen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Aidsvax Vaxgen with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Aidsvax Vaxgen.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic, Aidsvax Vaxgen 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
Increasing wage structure of Aidsvax Vaxgen
– 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 Aidsvax Vaxgen.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
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. Aidsvax Vaxgen 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.
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 Aidsvax Vaxgen in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 VaxGen, Inc., Fighting the AIDS Epidemic 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 Aidsvax Vaxgen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
