A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials
This note describes the history and regulation of clinical trials, managerial challenges related to pharmaceutical product testing, and current debates regarding prescription drug safety. Since clinical testing takes between five and seven years, and consumes up to 70 percent of a drug's total development costs, pharmaceutical and biotechnology leaders need to understand clinical trial management. Likewise, with a growing variety of new product introductions requiring pre-market testing, managers and analysts in many business sectors will benefit from understanding clinical trials.
Swot Analysis of "A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials" written by Arthur A. Daemmrich includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Clinical Trials facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development, Regulation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Clinical Trials, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Clinical Trials
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 Clinical Trials
Strengths A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Clinical Trials in A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Clinical Trials has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Clinical Trials 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.
Organizational Resilience of Clinical Trials
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Clinical Trials is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Clinical Trials 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Clinical Trials 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Clinical Trials to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Clinical Trials to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Clinical Trials has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Clinical Trials to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Clinical Trials is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Clinical Trials is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Clinical Trials digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Clinical Trials 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.
Weaknesses A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials, is just above the industry average. Clinical Trials 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Clinical Trials 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Clinical Trials 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 - A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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 Clinical Trials has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials, it seems that the employees of Clinical Trials 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Arthur A. Daemmrich suggests that, Clinical Trials is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials, in the dynamic environment Clinical Trials has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Clinical Trials has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Clinical Trials 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Clinical Trials is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Clinical Trials needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Clinical Trials to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Clinical Trials is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials | 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials are -
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. Clinical Trials can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Clinical Trials to increase its market reach. Clinical Trials 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Clinical Trials 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Clinical Trials 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, A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Clinical Trials 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.
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. Clinical Trials 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 Clinical Trials 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Clinical Trials can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Clinical Trials operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Clinical Trials can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Clinical Trials to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Clinical Trials 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Clinical Trials 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Clinical Trials 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 Clinical Trials to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Clinical Trials with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Clinical Trials is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Clinical Trials 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. Clinical Trials can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Clinical Trials 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Clinical Trials 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.
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 Clinical Trials in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Clinical Trials has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Clinical Trials 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Clinical Trials 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.
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 Clinical Trials.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials, Clinical Trials may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
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 Clinical Trials business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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 A Managerial Perspective on Clinical Trials 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 Clinical Trials needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
