Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine
PIavix, one of the world's best selling drugs in 2010, appears to have a limited future. Its patent was due to expire soon and recently new data had been discovered which indicated that a small subset of the population would be at risk for stroke, heart attack or even death if they took PIavix. As a result the FDA had added a black box warning-the agency's most severe--to Plavix's label in 2010. In addition, it had been discovered that the common combination of Plavix and Prilosec, an over-the-counter drug, could adversely affect patients. Finally, Plavix faced new competition from two new drugs with different mechanisms of action. This case reviews the recent history of Plavix in greater detail to encourage a discussion of the following questions: How might the current manufacturers of Plavix handle these emerging threats to their leading blockbuster? How might Plavix's potential competitors utilize Plavix's mixed history to their advantage? How should genotyping be integrated into the clinical care of patients in the light of emerging knowledge?
Authors :: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall, Rachel Gordon
Swot Analysis of "Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall, Rachel Gordon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Plavix Plavix's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Plavix Plavix's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Plavix Plavix's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Plavix Plavix's
Strengths Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Plavix Plavix's in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Plavix Plavix's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Plavix Plavix's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine - 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 lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix Plavix's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix Plavix's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Plavix Plavix'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 Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall, Rachel Gordon 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 Plavix Plavix's 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Plavix Plavix's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Plavix Plavix's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Plavix Plavix's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Plavix Plavix'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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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.
Training and development
– Plavix Plavix's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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.
Weaknesses Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine are -
Need for greater diversity
– Plavix Plavix's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Plavix Plavix's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Plavix Plavix's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Plavix Plavix's, firm in the HBR case study Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine, it seems that the employees of Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix Plavix's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Plavix Plavix's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine HBR case study mentions - Plavix Plavix'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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Plavix Plavix's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Plavix Plavix's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Plavix Plavix's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Plavix Plavix'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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine, in the dynamic environment Plavix Plavix's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Plavix Plavix's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine | 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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Plavix Plavix's can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Plavix Plavix'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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Plavix Plavix'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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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. Plavix Plavix's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Plavix Plavix'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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Plavix Plavix'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.
Buying journey improvements
– Plavix Plavix's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Plavix Plavix's 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 Plavix Plavix's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Plavix Plavix's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Plavix Plavix's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Plavix Plavix's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Plavix Plavix's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Plavix Plavix's in the consumer business. Now Plavix Plavix's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Plavix Plavix's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine are -
Increasing wage structure of Plavix Plavix's
– 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 Plavix Plavix's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Plavix Plavix'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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Plavix Plavix'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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine .
Environmental challenges
– Plavix Plavix'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. Plavix Plavix's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Plavix Plavix's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Plavix Plavix's is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Plavix Plavix's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Plavix Plavix's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Plavix Plavix's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Plavix Plavix'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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Plavix Plavix'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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine, Plavix Plavix'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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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 Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine 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 Plavix Plavix's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.