Case Study Description of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics
University of California, Berkeley-Haas collectionThe OncoMed case study illustrates the significant challenges facing a company that pursues novel therapies in the biotechnology industry. This is as opposed to me-too or second generation drug companies, such as Proteolix, where the company is attempting to make an improved treatment directed against a target for which there is significant clinical validation (a challenging pursuit as well--see the Proteolix case study, also published at the Berkeley-Haas School of Business). OncoMed Pharmaceuticals was a clinical stage cancer stem cell (CSC) company founded in August 2004. The company's novel idea in cancer research was that tumors are composed of heterogeneous cell types, and that cancer growth and metastasis are driven by a sub-population of cells within the tumor coined "cancer stem cells." By 2012, although the company had no revenue and no product candidates in pivotal clinical trials or approved for sale, the team had successfully achieved significant scientific milestones that led it to file for an initial public offering on May 11, 2012. By that time, OncoMed had four clinical trials occurring and another starting later that year, thus achieving unlikely, partial success as a novel drug development company in the challenging field of biotechnology where failure far exceeded success.
Swot Analysis of "OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics" written by Larry Lasky includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Oncomed Cancer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Oncomed Cancer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Oncomed Cancer 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Oncomed Cancer
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 Oncomed Cancer
Strengths OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Oncomed Cancer in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Oncomed Cancer has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Oncomed Cancer 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Oncomed Cancer 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.
Training and development
– Oncomed Cancer has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Oncomed Cancer is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Oncomed Cancer 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 Larry Lasky 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Oncomed Cancer digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Oncomed Cancer 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Oncomed Cancer 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics - 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
– Oncomed Cancer 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 Oncomed Cancer in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Oncomed Cancer has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Oncomed Cancer to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Oncomed Cancer 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Oncomed Cancer is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Oncomed Cancer 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 Oncomed Cancer is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Oncomed Cancer is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Oncomed Cancer 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Oncomed Cancer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Oncomed Cancer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Oncomed Cancer 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 Oncomed Cancer has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics, is just above the industry average. Oncomed Cancer 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Oncomed Cancer is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Oncomed Cancer 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Oncomed Cancer 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 - OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Oncomed Cancer has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Opportunities OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics | 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Oncomed Cancer 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Oncomed Cancer to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Oncomed Cancer 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Oncomed Cancer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Oncomed Cancer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Oncomed Cancer to increase its market reach. Oncomed Cancer 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.
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. Oncomed Cancer 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 Oncomed Cancer 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Oncomed Cancer can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Oncomed Cancer can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Oncomed Cancer 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.
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 Oncomed Cancer in the consumer business. Now Oncomed Cancer can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Oncomed Cancer 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Oncomed Cancer can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 Oncomed Cancer has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Oncomed Cancer to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics case study. Oncomed Cancer can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Oncomed Cancer 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Oncomed Cancer is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Oncomed Cancer 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.
Environmental challenges
– Oncomed Cancer 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. Oncomed Cancer can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Oncomed Cancer 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics .
Increasing wage structure of Oncomed Cancer
– 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 Oncomed Cancer.
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. Oncomed Cancer 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Oncomed Cancer 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Oncomed Cancer with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Oncomed Cancer.
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. Oncomed Cancer needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Oncomed Cancer has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Oncomed Cancer 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.
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 Oncomed Cancer business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 OncoMed Pharmaceuticals: Novel Anti-Cancer Stem Cell Therapeutics 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 Oncomed Cancer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
