Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)
The pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) sector processes prescription drug claims on behalf of companies that offer a prescription drug benefit to their employees. This case follows Bob Nease, Chief Scientist at Express Scripts, as he considers methods to promote home delivery of prescription drugs by mail-a process proven to lower prescription fill error rates, increase cost savings, and improve medication adherence.
Authors :: John Beshears, Patrick Rooney, Jenny Sanford
Swot Analysis of "Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)" written by John Beshears, Patrick Rooney, Jenny Sanford includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Prescription Scripts facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Compensation, Decision making, Personnel policies, Supply chain and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Prescription Scripts, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Prescription Scripts 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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Prescription Scripts
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Prescription Scripts
Strengths Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Prescription Scripts in Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Prescription Scripts in the sector have low bargaining power. Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Prescription Scripts to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Prescription Scripts 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 Prescription Scripts is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Prescription Scripts 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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Prescription Scripts 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Prescription Scripts 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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Prescription Scripts is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Prescription Scripts 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.
Digital Transformation in Communication segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Prescription Scripts digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Prescription Scripts has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communication industry
– Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Prescription Scripts to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communication industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Prescription Scripts to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Communication field
– Prescription Scripts 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 Prescription Scripts in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Prescription Scripts has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Prescription Scripts to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Prescription Scripts in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Prescription Scripts, firm in the HBR case study Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Prescription Scripts 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) HBR case study mentions - Prescription Scripts 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B), is just above the industry average. Prescription Scripts needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Prescription Scripts 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Prescription Scripts 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Communication 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Prescription Scripts 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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B), it seems that the employees of Prescription Scripts 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Prescription Scripts 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Prescription Scripts is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Prescription Scripts needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Prescription Scripts to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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. Prescription Scripts can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Prescription Scripts can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Prescription Scripts 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Prescription Scripts can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Prescription Scripts to increase its market reach. Prescription Scripts 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 Prescription Scripts can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Prescription Scripts in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Prescription Scripts 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Prescription Scripts 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 Communication segment.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Prescription Scripts 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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Prescription Scripts to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Prescription Scripts 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 Prescription Scripts to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Prescription Scripts in the consumer business. Now Prescription Scripts can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Prescription Scripts 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.
Threats Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Prescription Scripts 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.
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. Prescription Scripts needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Prescription Scripts 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. Prescription Scripts can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Prescription Scripts 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Prescription Scripts is facing in Communication sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Prescription Scripts can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Prescription Scripts 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B), Prescription Scripts may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Prescription Scripts 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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (B) .
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 Prescription Scripts in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Prescription Scripts has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Prescription Scripts needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (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 Prescription Scripts needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.