Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A)
By 2009, Crucell had become the largest biopharma company in the Netherlands and a symbol of national pride. The case traces the evolution of the company from a University spin-off into a fully-integrated company. Crucell's success, particularly in the vaccine space, had begun to attract the attention of much larger pharmaceutical companies. While there was much appeal to working with these companies, these relationships could also challenge Crucell's independence. This issue is highlighted by the decision whether to partner with companies that wanted ownership of 10-20% of Crucell as part of the business development deals.
Authors :: Richard G. Hamermesh, Marianne Van Der Steen, Susan S. Harmeling
Swot Analysis of "Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A)" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Marianne Van Der Steen, Susan S. Harmeling includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Crucell Crucell's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Intellectual property, Joint ventures, Negotiations and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Crucell Crucell's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Crucell Crucell'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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Crucell Crucell'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 Crucell Crucell's
Strengths Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Crucell Crucell's in Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Crucell Crucell'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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Crucell Crucell's in the sector have low bargaining power. Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Crucell Crucell's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Crucell Crucell'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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Crucell Crucell's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Crucell Crucell's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Crucell Crucell's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Crucell Crucell'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 Crucell Crucell's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Crucell Crucell's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Crucell Crucell's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Crucell Crucell's has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Crucell Crucell'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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Crucell Crucell's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Crucell Crucell's 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Crucell Crucell'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 Crucell Crucell's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Crucell Crucell's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Crucell Crucell's 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. Crucell Crucell's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Crucell Crucell'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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Crucell Crucell's 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Crucell Crucell's 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 - Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Crucell Crucell's is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Crucell Crucell's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Crucell Crucell's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Crucell Crucell's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Crucell Crucell's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Crucell Crucell's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Crucell Crucell's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) HBR case study mentions - Crucell Crucell'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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A), in the dynamic environment Crucell Crucell's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Crucell Crucell's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) | 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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Crucell Crucell's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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.
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. Crucell Crucell's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Crucell Crucell's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Crucell Crucell'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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Crucell Crucell's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Crucell Crucell's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Crucell Crucell's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) case study. Crucell Crucell's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Crucell Crucell's 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Manufacturing automation
– Crucell Crucell'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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Crucell Crucell's can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Crucell Crucell'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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Crucell Crucell'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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Crucell Crucell's can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Crucell Crucell's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Crucell Crucell'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 Crucell Crucell's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Crucell Crucell's is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Crucell Crucell's will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Environmental challenges
– Crucell Crucell'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. Crucell Crucell's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Crucell Crucell's 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Crucell Crucell's 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.
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 Crucell Crucell's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Crucell Crucell'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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) .
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Crucell Crucell'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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Crucell Crucell's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Crucell Crucell'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 Crucell Crucell's.
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 Crucell Crucell's.
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 Crucell Crucell's in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A) 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 Crucell Crucell's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
