Swot Analysis of "Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B)" written by Mary Gentile, Sarah B. Gant includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Landgraf Kurt facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Diversity, Downsizing, Leadership, Personnel policies and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Landgraf Kurt, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Landgraf Kurt 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Landgraf Kurt
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 Landgraf Kurt
Strengths Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Landgraf Kurt in Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Landgraf Kurt is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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.
Analytics focus
– Landgraf Kurt 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 Mary Gentile, Sarah B. Gant 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Landgraf Kurt 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.
Organizational Resilience of Landgraf Kurt
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Landgraf Kurt does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Landgraf Kurt to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Landgraf Kurt to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Landgraf Kurt has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Landgraf Kurt is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Landgraf Kurt in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Landgraf Kurt is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Landgraf Kurt digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Landgraf Kurt 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Landgraf Kurt 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Landgraf Kurt has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Landgraf Kurt 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Landgraf Kurt supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Landgraf Kurt vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Landgraf Kurt, firm in the HBR case study Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Landgraf Kurt has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Landgraf Kurt 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Landgraf Kurt 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Landgraf Kurt is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Landgraf Kurt 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B), 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Landgraf Kurt has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mary Gentile, Sarah B. Gant suggests that, Landgraf Kurt 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Landgraf Kurt is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) | 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Landgraf Kurt can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Landgraf Kurt 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Landgraf Kurt 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Landgraf Kurt to increase its market reach. Landgraf Kurt 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Landgraf Kurt can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Landgraf Kurt operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Landgraf Kurt 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Landgraf Kurt to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Landgraf Kurt 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. Landgraf Kurt 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Landgraf Kurt has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Landgraf Kurt to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) case study. Landgraf Kurt 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, Landgraf Kurt is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Landgraf Kurt 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, Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Landgraf Kurt 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. Landgraf Kurt 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 Landgraf Kurt 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 Landgraf Kurt to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Landgraf Kurt 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Landgraf Kurt 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.
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. Landgraf Kurt can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Landgraf Kurt
– 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 Landgraf Kurt.
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 Landgraf Kurt.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Landgraf Kurt will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Landgraf Kurt 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) .
Environmental challenges
– Landgraf Kurt 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. Landgraf Kurt can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Landgraf Kurt business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Landgraf Kurt 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
– Landgraf Kurt 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.
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 Landgraf Kurt in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Kurt Landgraf and Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. (B) 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 Landgraf Kurt needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.