GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy
In Africa, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) confronted the reality of the AIDS crisis every day, and its decisions impacted thousands. There were no ready answers to the crisis, but everyone--governments, nongovernmental organizations, the media, shareholders, and others--had an opinion. GSK had to determine how to address the crisis while maintaining business viability in developing countries in the midst of all the pressures. Throughout the late 1990s, the CEO of GSK, Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Dr. Jean-Pierre Garnier, was at the forefront of the controversy over antiretroviral drug pricing, patent protection, and drug access. Proactive in addressing critics, he was seen as the de facto spokesperson for the pharmaceutical industry in addressing these critical issues. He responded to the criticism by speaking out at every opportunity, including writing two letters to the editor of the Financial Times to clarify the industry position on drug pricing, research and development costs, and drug access. These communications set the tone for the company and its worldwide operations.
Authors :: David P. Baron, Soon Jin Lim, Deborah Liu
Swot Analysis of "GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy" written by David P. Baron, Soon Jin Lim, Deborah Liu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gsk Drug facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Health, Policy, Public relations, Strategy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gsk Drug, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gsk Drug 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gsk Drug
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 Gsk Drug
Strengths GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gsk Drug in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Gsk Drug 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 David P. Baron, Soon Jin Lim, Deborah Liu can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Gsk Drug 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gsk Drug in the sector have low bargaining power. GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gsk Drug to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gsk Drug 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gsk Drug is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Gsk Drug has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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.
Learning organization
- Gsk Drug 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 Gsk Drug is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Gsk Drug is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Gsk Drug 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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
– Gsk Drug 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 Gsk Drug in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gsk Drug to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gsk Drug to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Gsk Drug
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Gsk Drug does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gsk Drug 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 - GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gsk Drug is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Gsk Drug needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gsk Drug 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 Gsk Drug 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Gsk Drug has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Gsk Drug has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy, it seems that the employees of Gsk Drug 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 Gsk Drug has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Gsk Drug products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Gsk Drug needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gsk Drug 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Gsk Drug 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. Gsk Drug 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.
Opportunities GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy | 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gsk Drug 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.
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. Gsk Drug 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. Gsk Drug 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Gsk Drug can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Global Business segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gsk Drug to increase its market reach. Gsk Drug 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gsk Drug can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gsk Drug 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, GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gsk Drug 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.
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 Gsk Drug in the consumer business. Now Gsk Drug can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Gsk Drug can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Gsk Drug is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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.
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. Gsk Drug can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gsk Drug has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gsk Drug to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy case study. Gsk Drug can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gsk Drug 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 Gsk Drug to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gsk Drug 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.
Environmental challenges
– Gsk Drug 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. Gsk Drug can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Gsk Drug 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 Gsk Drug with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gsk Drug is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gsk Drug has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gsk Drug 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.
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. Gsk Drug can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Gsk Drug
– 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 Gsk Drug.
Regulatory challenges
– Gsk Drug 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Gsk Drug 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy .
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 Gsk Drug in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gsk Drug 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 GlaxoSmithKline and AIDS Drugs Policy 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 Gsk Drug needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
