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 - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, 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, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, 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 -
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Psychologist Rekindle is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Specialty Medical Chemicals 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Psychologist Rekindle 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
– 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Psychologist Rekindle is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Specialty Medical Chemicals are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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.
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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Specialty Medical Chemicals Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Psychologist Rekindle in the sector have low bargaining power. Specialty Medical Chemicals has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Psychologist Rekindle to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
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 -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Psychologist Rekindle 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. Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Psychologist Rekindle 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Psychologist Rekindle can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Psychologist Rekindle operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Psychologist Rekindle 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. Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Psychologist Rekindle 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 Psychologist Rekindle to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Psychologist Rekindle 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.
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.
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.
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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Psychologist Rekindle 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, Psychologist Rekindle 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, Specialty Medical Chemicals, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Psychologist Rekindle in the consumer business. Now Psychologist Rekindle can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Psychologist Rekindle 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 Specialty Medical Chemicals .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Psychologist Rekindle in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Psychologist Rekindle is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Psychologist Rekindle in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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.
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.
