Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
This case study is about a California-based biotechnology company that has experienced many ups and downs throughout its 17-year history. Despite many setbacks, it ultimately succeeded in developing and getting approval for an orphan drug used to treat IPF, a deadly lung disease. InterMune was acquired by Roche/Genentech for $8.3 billion in September 2014; the price represented a significant premium over InterMune's trading price at the time. The protagonist, InterMune's CEO, Dan Welch, joined the company in 2003 and has led InterMune through numerous strategic pivots, leadership changes, clinical trial disappointments, multiple divestitures, and ultimately the sale of the company. Resilience and the capacity to bounce back are at the core of this case study. The narrative focuses on strategic, cultural, and leadership changes and decisions made by Welch, the Board and the leadership team throughout Welch's tenure. Specifically, Welch sharpened InterMune's strategic focus on a few indications, evolved the Board and the leadership team, and orchestrated a grassroots initiative to re-invent InterMune's core values and cultural pillars.
Swot Analysis of "Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death" written by Homa Bahrami includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Intermune's Intermune facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Human resource management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Intermune's Intermune, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Intermune's Intermune 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Intermune's Intermune
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 Intermune's Intermune
Strengths Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Intermune's Intermune in Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Intermune's Intermune has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Intermune's Intermune 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Intermune's Intermune 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.
High brand equity
– Intermune's Intermune has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Intermune's Intermune to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Intermune's Intermune 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 Intermune's Intermune in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Intermune's Intermune 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Intermune's Intermune 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Intermune's Intermune digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Intermune's Intermune 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.
Learning organization
- Intermune's Intermune 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 Intermune's Intermune is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Intermune's Intermune is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Intermune's Intermune
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Intermune's Intermune does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Intermune's Intermune to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Intermune's Intermune to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Intermune's Intermune 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.
Weaknesses Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Intermune's Intermune products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Intermune's Intermune needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Intermune's Intermune 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 Intermune's Intermune 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 - Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Intermune's Intermune is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Intermune's Intermune, firm in the HBR case study Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, it seems that the employees of Intermune's Intermune 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, Intermune's Intermune 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Homa Bahrami suggests that, Intermune's Intermune 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.
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 Intermune's Intermune supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Intermune's Intermune vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Intermune's Intermune is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Intermune's Intermune needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Intermune's Intermune to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Intermune's Intermune 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. Intermune's Intermune 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.
Opportunities Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death | 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Intermune's Intermune has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Intermune's Intermune to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death case study. Intermune's Intermune can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Intermune's Intermune can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Intermune's Intermune can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Intermune's Intermune 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, Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Intermune's Intermune 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Intermune's Intermune 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Intermune's Intermune can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Intermune's Intermune operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Intermune's Intermune to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Intermune's Intermune to increase its market reach. Intermune's Intermune 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Intermune's Intermune 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.
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 Intermune's Intermune in the consumer business. Now Intermune's Intermune can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Intermune's Intermune can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Intermune's Intermune 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 Intermune's Intermune to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Intermune's Intermune is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Intermune's Intermune 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. Intermune's Intermune can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Intermune's Intermune 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Intermune's Intermune 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 .
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 Intermune's Intermune in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Intermune's Intermune 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 Intermune's Intermune.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Intermune's Intermune 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Intermune's Intermune 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.
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. Intermune's Intermune 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.
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 Intermune's Intermune business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Intermune's Intermune 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 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 Resilience at InterMune: A Journey Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death 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 Intermune's Intermune needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
