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 - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing,
increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Geron Hes 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
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.
Analytics focus
– Geron Hes 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 Margaret L. Eaton, Clare R. Ozawa, Gerald M. Farquharson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Geron Hes in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Geron Hes has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Geron Hes 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.
Learning organization
- Geron Hes 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 Geron Hes is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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 -
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Geron Hes 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. Geron Hes even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Need for greater diversity
– 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 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 Geron Hes supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Geron Hes vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice, it seems that the employees of Geron Hes 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, 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.
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.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Geron Hes is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice HBR case study mentions - Geron Hes takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
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 -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communication industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Geron Hes can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Geron Hes 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Geron Hes in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Geron Hes 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 Geron Hes to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Geron Hes 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.
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.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Geron Hes is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Geron Hes can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Communication 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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 Geron Hes business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Geron Hes has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Geron Hes needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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
– 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Geron Hes with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 .
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.
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. Geron Hes 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Geron Hes 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 Geron Corporation and the Role of Ethics Advice .
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.