Case Study Description of GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships
Three years into a major public-private partnership between GlaxoSmithKline and Fiocuz, Brazil's principal health institute, the company assesses technology transfer and joint research under the agreement. GSK was selling its Synflorix vaccine (against pediatric pneumonia) at fixed prices even as it transferred technology and know-how to Brazil for eventual domestic production. At the same time, GSK was co-sponsoring research into a new vaccine for Dengue fever with the Brazilian government. GSK's management must consider whether the PPP provides strategic advantage to its consumer healthcare businesses in Brazil and to access other emerging markets as well as the risks posed by the aggressive product obsolescence built into the technology transfer agreement.
Authors :: Arthur A. Daemmrich, Ian McKown Cornell
Swot Analysis of "GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships" written by Arthur A. Daemmrich, Ian McKown Cornell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vaccine Brazil facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Global strategy, Government, Health, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vaccine Brazil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vaccine Brazil 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vaccine Brazil
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 Vaccine Brazil
Strengths GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vaccine Brazil in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Vaccine Brazil in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vaccine Brazil is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Vaccine Brazil is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Vaccine Brazil 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 Vaccine Brazil is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Vaccine Brazil
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Vaccine Brazil does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Vaccine Brazil 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 Arthur A. Daemmrich, Ian McKown Cornell 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Vaccine Brazil digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Vaccine Brazil 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vaccine Brazil is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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.
High brand equity
– Vaccine Brazil has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Vaccine Brazil to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Vaccine Brazil 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 Vaccine Brazil 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
– Vaccine Brazil has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vaccine Brazil 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.
Weaknesses GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Vaccine Brazil 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Vaccine Brazil 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships, is just above the industry average. Vaccine Brazil 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships HBR case study mentions - Vaccine Brazil 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vaccine Brazil is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Vaccine Brazil 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vaccine Brazil, firm in the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Vaccine Brazil supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Vaccine Brazil vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Vaccine Brazil 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. Vaccine Brazil 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Vaccine Brazil 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 - GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships | 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Vaccine Brazil can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Vaccine Brazil can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Vaccine Brazil 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vaccine Brazil 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
– Vaccine Brazil 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Vaccine Brazil 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.
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. Vaccine Brazil can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Vaccine Brazil 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, GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships, 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
– Vaccine Brazil can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vaccine Brazil is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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.
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. Vaccine Brazil 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. Vaccine Brazil 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.
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 Vaccine Brazil in the consumer business. Now Vaccine Brazil can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Vaccine Brazil 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.
Threats GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Vaccine Brazil 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 Vaccine Brazil
– 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 Vaccine Brazil.
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 Vaccine Brazil business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Vaccine Brazil is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Vaccine Brazil 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 Vaccine Brazil with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vaccine Brazil has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vaccine Brazil 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
– Vaccine Brazil 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vaccine Brazil 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vaccine Brazil 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.
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 Vaccine Brazil in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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 GlaxoSmithKline in Brazil: Public-Private Vaccine Partnerships 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 Vaccine Brazil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
