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 - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, 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 -
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.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Burroughs Wellcome's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Burroughs Wellcome's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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.
Training and development
– Burroughs Wellcome's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– 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.
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.
Learning organization
- Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Burroughs Wellcome's 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 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 -
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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Burroughs Wellcome's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Burroughs Wellcome's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Burroughs Wellcome's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Burroughs Wellcome's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Burroughs Wellcome's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) HBR case study mentions - Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B), in the dynamic environment Burroughs Wellcome's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Burroughs Wellcome's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B) 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 Burroughs Wellcome's 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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 -
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. Burroughs Wellcome's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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.
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.
Manufacturing automation
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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.
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 Burroughs Wellcome's in the consumer business. Now Burroughs Wellcome's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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.
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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Burroughs Wellcome's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Burroughs Wellcome's 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 Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (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. 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Burroughs Wellcome's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Burroughs Wellcome's 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. Burroughs Wellcome's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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.
