Swot Analysis of "Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months" written by Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fritz Hans facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Mergers & acquisitions and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fritz Hans, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fritz Hans 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fritz Hans
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 Fritz Hans
Strengths Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fritz Hans in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fritz Hans in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fritz Hans 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Fritz Hans in the sector have low bargaining power. Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fritz Hans to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Fritz Hans is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fritz Hans 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.
Learning organization
- Fritz Hans 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 Fritz Hans is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Fritz Hans 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 Fritz Hans in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fritz Hans to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fritz Hans to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fritz Hans is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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.
Training and development
– Fritz Hans has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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.
High brand equity
– Fritz Hans has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fritz Hans to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months, it seems that the employees of Fritz Hans 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fritz Hans products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fritz Hans needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop suggests that, Fritz Hans 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Fritz Hans 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 - Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Fritz Hans supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fritz Hans vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fritz Hans is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months, in the dynamic environment Fritz Hans has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fritz Hans has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fritz Hans 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Fritz Hans, firm in the HBR case study Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fritz Hans is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Fritz Hans needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fritz Hans to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Fritz Hans 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.
Opportunities Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months | 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months are -
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. Fritz Hans can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fritz Hans 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 Fritz Hans to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Fritz Hans 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fritz Hans 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fritz Hans has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fritz Hans to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months case study. Fritz Hans can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Fritz Hans 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fritz Hans 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fritz Hans can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fritz Hans 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
– Fritz Hans can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fritz Hans to increase its market reach. Fritz Hans will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fritz Hans 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fritz Hans 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 Fritz Hans 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.
Threats Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months are -
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. Fritz Hans needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Fritz Hans.
Regulatory challenges
– Fritz Hans 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fritz Hans 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
– Fritz Hans has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fritz Hans 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 Fritz Hans in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Fritz Hans with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Fritz Hans can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Fritz Hans business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Environmental challenges
– Fritz Hans 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. Fritz Hans can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fritz Hans 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months, Fritz Hans may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (B): The First Six Months 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 Fritz Hans needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
