Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A)
In 2005, Kevin Sharer reflects on the challenges of sustaining the growth and success that have brought Amgen to the position of third-largest U.S. pharmaceuticals company by market capitalization and the challenge of maintaining the higher P/E ratio it traditionally held. Profiles the leadership and development of Sharer, tracing his career from the U.S. Navy through McKinsey and Co., GE, and MCI to his entrance at Amgen as president and COO. Provides information on the history and business of Amgen and its science-based discovery model. Provides information about the protagonist's career, management style, learning style, aspirations, and motivations. Raises questions about leadership in sustaining discovery-driven growth and leadership succession.
Swot Analysis of "Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A)" written by William W. George, Andrew N. McLean includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Amgen Sharer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Informal leadership, Leadership, Leadership development, Managing people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) casestudy better are - – technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Amgen Sharer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Amgen Sharer 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Amgen Sharer
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 Amgen Sharer
Strengths Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Amgen Sharer in Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Amgen Sharer 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 Amgen Sharer in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Amgen Sharer 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.
Training and development
– Amgen Sharer has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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.
Learning organization
- Amgen Sharer 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 Amgen Sharer is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Amgen Sharer has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Amgen Sharer has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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.
Organizational Resilience of Amgen Sharer
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Amgen Sharer does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Amgen Sharer in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Amgen Sharer digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Amgen Sharer 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Amgen Sharer in the sector have low bargaining power. Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Amgen Sharer to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Amgen Sharer 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 William W. George, Andrew N. McLean 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 brand equity
– Amgen Sharer has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Amgen Sharer to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Amgen Sharer 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 - Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A), it seems that the employees of Amgen Sharer 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William W. George, Andrew N. McLean suggests that, Amgen Sharer 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Amgen Sharer is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A), 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Amgen Sharer 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Amgen Sharer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Amgen Sharer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Amgen Sharer is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Amgen Sharer 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. Amgen Sharer 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Amgen Sharer 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Amgen Sharer has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) | 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Amgen Sharer 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.
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 Amgen Sharer in the consumer business. Now Amgen Sharer can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Amgen Sharer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Amgen Sharer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Amgen Sharer 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Amgen Sharer has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Amgen Sharer to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) case study. Amgen Sharer can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Amgen Sharer 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. Amgen Sharer 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.
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 Amgen Sharer 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, Amgen Sharer 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 Amgen Sharer can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Amgen Sharer 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, Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Amgen Sharer 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Amgen Sharer to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Amgen Sharer 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.
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. Amgen Sharer can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) are -
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. Amgen Sharer 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Amgen Sharer with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Amgen Sharer
– 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 Amgen Sharer.
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 Amgen Sharer in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Amgen Sharer 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) .
Regulatory challenges
– Amgen Sharer 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Amgen Sharer 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.
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.
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. Amgen Sharer needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Amgen Sharer 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A), Amgen Sharer 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 .
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. Amgen Sharer can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Amgen Sharer 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Kevin Sharer at Amgen: Sustaining the High-Growth Company (A) 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 Amgen Sharer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
