Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice
In the spring of 1999, scientists, biotechnology companies, ethicists, religious leaders, patient advocates, abortion opponents, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and members of Congress were all engaged in a protracted debate about human embryo research. Geron Corporation, a publicly traded biotechnology company in Menlo Park, California, was at the center of this debate. Geron had been financing research at three U.S. universities to isolate human embryonic stem (hES) cells--the primordial, or master, cells from which all human tissues evolve. Executives knew that this research was likely to stir up public debate on the ethics of the science; senior managers suggested forming a board that could provide an external evaluation of the ethics of the research methods and goals. In 1998, Thomas Okarma, PhD and MD, vice president of research and development, had set up the Geron Ethics Advisory Board (EAB). Details the controversy surrounding Geron's hES cell research and the role that the EAB played in shaping Geron's response and actions. Okarma evaluates the EAB's efficacy in the hES controversy to determine if any changes are needed to the mandate, structure, and scope of the EAB, especially considering the highly controversial nature of Geron's future research. A recent acquisition had given Geron the in-house capacity to clone tissues and animals. Because this technology could potentially lead to the cloning of embryos and people, Geron could face more ethically controversial decisions in the future than it had with hES.
Authors :: Margaret L. Eaton, Clare R. Ozawa, Gerald M. Farquharson
Swot Analysis of "Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice" written by Margaret L. Eaton, Clare R. Ozawa, Gerald M. Farquharson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Geron Hes facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy, Research & development and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing,
increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Geron Hes, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Geron Hes 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Geron Hes
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Geron Hes
Strengths Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Geron Hes in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Geron Hes 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Geron Hes is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Communication industry
– Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Geron Hes to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Communication industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Geron Hes to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Geron Hes
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Geron Hes does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Geron Hes 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice - 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 Communication segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Geron Hes digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Geron Hes 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 Communication field
– Geron Hes 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 Geron Hes in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Geron Hes is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Geron Hes is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Geron Hes in the sector have low bargaining power. Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Geron Hes to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Geron Hes has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Geron Hes to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Geron Hes 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Geron Hes 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Hes has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Geron Hes 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Margaret L. Eaton, Clare R. Ozawa, Gerald M. Farquharson suggests that, Geron Hes 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Geron Hes 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Communication strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice, in the dynamic environment Geron Hes has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Geron Hes has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Geron Hes is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Geron Hes needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Geron Hes to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Geron Hes 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Geron Hes 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 Geron Hes 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 - Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice | 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice are -
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 Geron Hes in the consumer business. Now Geron Hes can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Geron Hes can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Geron Hes to increase its market reach. Geron Hes 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. Geron Hes can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Geron Hes 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.
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 Geron Hes 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Geron Hes 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, Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Geron Hes can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Communication industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Geron Hes can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Geron Hes can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Geron Hes has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Geron Hes to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice case study. Geron Hes 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 Geron Hes can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Communication segment.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Geron Hes can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Geron Hes operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Geron Hes 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Geron Hes to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice are -
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 Geron Hes in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Geron Hes 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Geron Hes 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 Geron Hes is facing in Communication sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Geron Hes.
Regulatory challenges
– Geron Hes 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 Communication industry regulations.
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. Geron Hes needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice, Geron Hes may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
Increasing wage structure of Geron Hes
– 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 Geron Hes.
Environmental challenges
– Geron Hes 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. Geron Hes can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Communication field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Geron Hes can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Geron Hes 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Hes needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.