Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...?
Endo Pharmaceuticals was formed in 1997 as a leveraged buyout spin-off from DuPont Merck. In 1999, it must decide whether to do an IPO or merge with a smaller company.
Swot Analysis of "Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...?" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Brian J. Delacey includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Endo Pharmaceuticals facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, IPO, Mergers & acquisitions and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Endo Pharmaceuticals, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Endo Pharmaceuticals 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Endo Pharmaceuticals
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 Endo Pharmaceuticals
Strengths Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Endo Pharmaceuticals in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Endo Pharmaceuticals has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Endo Pharmaceuticals to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Endo Pharmaceuticals is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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
– Endo Pharmaceuticals has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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.
Analytics focus
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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, Brian J. Delacey 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.
Organizational Resilience of Endo Pharmaceuticals
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Endo Pharmaceuticals does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Endo Pharmaceuticals is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Endo Pharmaceuticals is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Endo Pharmaceuticals is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Endo Pharmaceuticals is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Endo Pharmaceuticals supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Endo Pharmaceuticals vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? HBR case study mentions - Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...?, in the dynamic environment Endo Pharmaceuticals has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Endo Pharmaceuticals has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Endo Pharmaceuticals is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Endo Pharmaceuticals, firm in the HBR case study Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Endo Pharmaceuticals products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Endo Pharmaceuticals needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...?, it seems that the employees of Endo Pharmaceuticals 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Endo Pharmaceuticals is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Endo Pharmaceuticals needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Endo Pharmaceuticals to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? | 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? are -
Loyalty marketing
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Endo Pharmaceuticals can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Endo Pharmaceuticals in the consumer business. Now Endo Pharmaceuticals can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
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 Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Endo Pharmaceuticals to increase its market reach. Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Endo Pharmaceuticals can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Endo Pharmaceuticals has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Endo Pharmaceuticals to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? case study. Endo Pharmaceuticals can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Endo Pharmaceuticals 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. Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Threats Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Endo Pharmaceuticals 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Endo Pharmaceuticals in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Endo Pharmaceuticals
– 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals.
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 Endo Pharmaceuticals business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
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. Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Endo Pharmaceuticals has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
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 Endo Pharmaceuticals.
Regulatory challenges
– Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Endo Pharmaceuticals with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to ...? 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 Endo Pharmaceuticals needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
