Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A)
University of California, Berkeley-Haas collectionThe Napo Pharmaceuticals case study provides students with an example of a biotech company that has pursued a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit while making life-saving drugs like crofelemer to deal with diarrhea in adult HIV/AIDS patients and potentially diarrhea for children and other neglected diseases around the world. The case study focuses on CEO and founder, Lisa Conte's challenging road to the point where she and her distribution partners achieved FDA approval for the drug. The case study outlines the issues such mission-oriented biotech companies faced in the more typical profit-oriented world of biotech. Please note: this case also has a supplementary case available. The (B) supplement can be found using product number B5785.
Authors :: Kristiana Raube
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: Joint ventures, Research & development, Social responsibility, Venture capital, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A)" written by Kristiana Raube includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Napo Biotech facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures, Research & development, Social responsibility, Venture capital and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Napo Biotech, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Napo Biotech 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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Napo Biotech
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 Napo Biotech
Strengths Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Napo Biotech in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Napo Biotech 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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Napo Biotech in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Napo Biotech has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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.
Organizational Resilience of Napo Biotech
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Napo Biotech does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Napo Biotech in the sector have low bargaining power. Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Napo Biotech to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Napo Biotech 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.
High brand equity
– Napo Biotech has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Napo Biotech to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Napo Biotech is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Napo Biotech has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Napo Biotech 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Napo Biotech 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Napo Biotech 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 Napo Biotech in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A), in the dynamic environment Napo Biotech has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Napo Biotech has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Napo Biotech supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Napo Biotech vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Napo Biotech 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Napo Biotech 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Biotech has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Napo Biotech 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Napo Biotech 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) HBR case study mentions - Napo Biotech takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Napo Biotech 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. Napo Biotech 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A), it seems that the employees of Napo Biotech 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Napo Biotech, firm in the HBR case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Napo Biotech has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Napo Biotech to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) case study. Napo Biotech can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Napo Biotech 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
– Napo Biotech 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Napo Biotech 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Napo Biotech 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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Napo Biotech to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Napo Biotech can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Napo Biotech is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Napo Biotech to increase its market reach. Napo Biotech 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.
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 Napo Biotech in the consumer business. Now Napo Biotech can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Napo Biotech 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Napo Biotech 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 Napo Biotech to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Napo Biotech 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
– Napo Biotech 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.
Threats Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Napo Biotech 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.
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. Napo Biotech 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
– Napo Biotech high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of Napo Biotech
– 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 Napo Biotech.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Napo Biotech 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A), Napo Biotech 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 .
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. Napo Biotech 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.
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. Napo Biotech can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Napo Biotech is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Napo Biotech with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Napo Biotech 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.
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.
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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Biotech needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.