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 - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, 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 -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Napo Biotech to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Napo Biotech to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
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.
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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Napo Biotech digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Napo Biotech 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.
Analytics focus
– Napo Biotech 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 Kristiana Raube 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.
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.
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.
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.
Learning organization
- Napo Biotech 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 Napo Biotech is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Napo Biotech is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) 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 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.
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 -
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.
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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kristiana Raube suggests that, Napo Biotech 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 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.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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 Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Napo Biotech is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Napo Biotech 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 - Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Napo Biotech 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Napo Biotech products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Napo Biotech needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Napo Biotech 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.
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 -
Buying journey improvements
– Napo Biotech can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (A) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Napo Biotech 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Napo Biotech 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, Napo Pharmaceuticals: Triple Bottom Line of People, Planet, and Profits (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.
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.
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.
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. Napo Biotech can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Napo Biotech can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Napo Biotech 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.
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 -
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.
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.
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 Napo Biotech.
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 Napo Biotech in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Napo Biotech has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Napo Biotech needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Napo Biotech 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 Napo Biotech with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. 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.
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 Napo Biotech business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 .
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.
