Case Study Description of Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership
Companies regularly face difficulties, but sometimes they have to face a "life threatening" crisis. Such events challenge leadership, not least because of their complexity - technological puzzles, loyalty and political maneuvering, branding and communication issues, to name a few. But they can also be are powerful integrative moments, and when "well navigated" they can become opportunities for wider company reforms.
Swot Analysis of "Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership" written by D. Charles Galunic, Philippe Ombregt includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Octapharma Maneuvering facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Government, Growth strategy, Influence, Leadership, Strategy execution and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Octapharma Maneuvering, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Octapharma Maneuvering
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 Octapharma Maneuvering
Strengths Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Octapharma Maneuvering in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Octapharma Maneuvering is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Octapharma Maneuvering in the sector have low bargaining power. Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Octapharma Maneuvering to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Octapharma Maneuvering
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Octapharma Maneuvering does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma Maneuvering in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Octapharma Maneuvering digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Octapharma Maneuvering in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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 D. Charles Galunic, Philippe Ombregt 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Octapharma Maneuvering has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Octapharma Maneuvering is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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
– Octapharma Maneuvering has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Octapharma Maneuvering to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Octapharma Maneuvering 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 - Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Octapharma Maneuvering has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 Octapharma Maneuvering has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, D. Charles Galunic, Philippe Ombregt suggests that, Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Octapharma Maneuvering products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Octapharma Maneuvering needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership, is just above the industry average. Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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 Octapharma Maneuvering supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Octapharma Maneuvering vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership | 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Octapharma Maneuvering has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Octapharma Maneuvering to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership case study. Octapharma Maneuvering can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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. Octapharma Maneuvering can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Octapharma Maneuvering can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Octapharma Maneuvering operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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 Octapharma Maneuvering in the consumer business. Now Octapharma Maneuvering can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Octapharma Maneuvering to increase its market reach. Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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. Octapharma Maneuvering 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. Octapharma Maneuvering 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, Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Octapharma Maneuvering can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership .
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. Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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 Octapharma Maneuvering.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Octapharma Maneuvering is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Octapharma Maneuvering with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership, Octapharma Maneuvering 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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 Octapharma Maneuvering in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 Octapharma (A): Crisis and Leadership 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 Octapharma Maneuvering needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.