Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B)
Describes Burroughs Wellcome's response to protests over the pricing of its AIDS drug AZT in September 1989. Also presents short-term reactions by government officials, AIDS activists, and investors to Burroughs Wellcome's strategy.
Swot Analysis of "Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B)" written by Willis Emmons includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Burroughs Wellcome's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Pricing, Public relations, Risk management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Burroughs Wellcome's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Burroughs Wellcome's
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 Burroughs Wellcome's
Strengths Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Burroughs Wellcome's in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Burroughs Wellcome's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Burroughs Wellcome's in the sector have low bargaining power. Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Burroughs Wellcome's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Burroughs Wellcome's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Burroughs Wellcome's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Burroughs Wellcome's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Burroughs Wellcome's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Willis Emmons 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Burroughs Wellcome's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Burroughs Wellcome's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Burroughs Wellcome's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Burroughs Wellcome's 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. Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Willis Emmons suggests that, Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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 Burroughs Wellcome's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Burroughs Wellcome's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B), 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Burroughs Wellcome's, firm in the HBR case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Burroughs Wellcome's 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 - Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B), it seems that the employees of Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Opportunities Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Burroughs Wellcome's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) 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, Burroughs Wellcome's 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, Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Burroughs Wellcome's to increase its market reach. Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Burroughs Wellcome's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Burroughs Wellcome's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Burroughs Wellcome's to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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. Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Burroughs Wellcome's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) case study. Burroughs Wellcome's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Burroughs Wellcome's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) are -
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. Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B), Burroughs Wellcome's 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 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. Burroughs Wellcome's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Burroughs Wellcome's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Burroughs Wellcome's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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 Burroughs Wellcome's.
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. Burroughs Wellcome's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Burroughs Wellcome's is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Burroughs Wellcome's in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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 Burroughs Wellcome's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.