Case Study Description of Specialty Medical Chemicals
A new general manager is supposed to rekindle growth. Seven months later, he questions the abilities of his direct reports. An organizational psychologist is brought in to assess his people. The general manager now has to decide who to keep and how to structure his direct report team.
Swot Analysis of "Specialty Medical Chemicals" written by Richard G. Hamermesh, Lucinda Doran includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Psychologist Rekindle facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Specialty Medical Chemicals case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Decision making, Developing employees, Human resource management, Leading teams, Organizational structure, Psychology, Succession planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Specialty Medical Chemicals casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Specialty Medical Chemicals
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Specialty Medical Chemicals case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Psychologist Rekindle, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Psychologist Rekindle 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Specialty Medical Chemicals case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Psychologist Rekindle
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Psychologist Rekindle
Strengths Specialty Medical Chemicals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Psychologist Rekindle in Specialty Medical Chemicals Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Psychologist Rekindle
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Psychologist Rekindle does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Psychologist Rekindle has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Psychologist Rekindle to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Psychologist Rekindle has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Specialty Medical Chemicals Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Psychologist Rekindle in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Specialty Medical Chemicals firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Psychologist Rekindle to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Psychologist Rekindle to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Psychologist Rekindle has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Psychologist Rekindle 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
- Psychologist Rekindle 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 Psychologist Rekindle is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Specialty Medical Chemicals Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Psychologist Rekindle digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Psychologist Rekindle 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.
Analytics focus
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Richard G. Hamermesh, Lucinda Doran 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.
Weaknesses Specialty Medical Chemicals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Specialty Medical Chemicals are -
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 Psychologist Rekindle supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Specialty Medical Chemicals, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Psychologist Rekindle vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Psychologist Rekindle is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Psychologist Rekindle needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Psychologist Rekindle to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Psychologist Rekindle 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Psychologist Rekindle 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Richard G. Hamermesh, Lucinda Doran suggests that, Psychologist Rekindle 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Specialty Medical Chemicals, is just above the industry average. Psychologist Rekindle needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Specialty Medical Chemicals HBR case study mentions - Psychologist Rekindle 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Psychologist Rekindle has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Psychologist Rekindle products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Psychologist Rekindle needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Psychologist Rekindle is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Specialty Medical Chemicals 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals | 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Psychologist Rekindle has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Psychologist Rekindle to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Specialty Medical Chemicals case study. Psychologist Rekindle can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Psychologist Rekindle is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Specialty Medical Chemicals 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Psychologist Rekindle 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Manufacturing automation
– Psychologist Rekindle can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Psychologist Rekindle to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Psychologist Rekindle 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
– Psychologist Rekindle 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Psychologist Rekindle can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Psychologist Rekindle can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Psychologist Rekindle in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Psychologist Rekindle can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Specialty Medical Chemicals 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.
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 Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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. Psychologist Rekindle can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Specialty Medical Chemicals External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Specialty Medical Chemicals are -
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.
Environmental challenges
– Psychologist Rekindle 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. Psychologist Rekindle can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Psychologist Rekindle 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.
Increasing wage structure of Psychologist Rekindle
– 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 Psychologist Rekindle.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Psychologist Rekindle with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Psychologist Rekindle 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Psychologist Rekindle can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Psychologist Rekindle.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Psychologist Rekindle has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Psychologist Rekindle needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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. Psychologist Rekindle needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Specialty Medical Chemicals 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals 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 Psychologist Rekindle needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.