Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada
The Canadian brand manager of Zelboraf had to decide how to introduce and price Zelboraf in the Canadian market. Zelboraf was a breakthrough discovery in treatment for melanoma cancer patients. Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche) began developing Zelboraf in 2005. During the clinical trials, the drug yielded such positive results in targeting late-stage (metastatic) melanoma cancer that Roche ended clinical trials early in order to expedite FDA approval and market launch. A competitor was developing a drug-Dabrafenib-that targeted the same segment of patients with B-RAF genes. It was unclear if this specific market segment could support two similar products. It was also unclear whether Dabrafenib's Canadian market launch would affect the likelihood that Zelboraf got on the approved drug list to secure government reimbursement. The brand manager and her team also needed to determine the right price point for Zelboraf. Roche had to set a price that ensured profitability, but did not compromise Zelboraf's competitive position.
Swot Analysis of "Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada" written by Mark Zbaracki, Jedy Wang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Zelboraf Roche facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Zelboraf Roche, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Zelboraf Roche 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Zelboraf Roche
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 Zelboraf Roche
Strengths Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Zelboraf Roche in Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Zelboraf Roche 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 Zelboraf Roche is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Zelboraf Roche in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Zelboraf Roche 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Zelboraf Roche digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Zelboraf Roche 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
– Zelboraf Roche 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 Mark Zbaracki, Jedy Wang 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Zelboraf Roche 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 recruit top talent
– Zelboraf Roche is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Zelboraf Roche has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Zelboraf Roche to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Zelboraf Roche has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Zelboraf Roche 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.
Training and development
– Zelboraf Roche has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Zelboraf Roche is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Zelboraf Roche is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Zelboraf Roche 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 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 Zelboraf Roche supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Zelboraf Roche vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Zelboraf Roche 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. Zelboraf Roche 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mark Zbaracki, Jedy Wang suggests that, Zelboraf Roche 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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 Zelboraf Roche 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada HBR case study mentions - Zelboraf Roche 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Zelboraf Roche 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Zelboraf Roche products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Zelboraf Roche needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada, it seems that the employees of Zelboraf Roche 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada, in the dynamic environment Zelboraf Roche has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Zelboraf Roche has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada | 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Zelboraf Roche can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Zelboraf Roche to increase its market reach. Zelboraf Roche 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Zelboraf Roche 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Zelboraf Roche 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 Zelboraf Roche to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Zelboraf Roche in the consumer business. Now Zelboraf Roche can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Zelboraf Roche 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, Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Zelboraf Roche can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Zelboraf Roche operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Zelboraf Roche 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. Zelboraf Roche 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Zelboraf Roche 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Zelboraf Roche is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Zelboraf Roche can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Zelboraf Roche 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Zelboraf Roche 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.
Threats Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada are -
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 Zelboraf Roche in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Zelboraf Roche can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Zelboraf Roche needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Zelboraf Roche has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Zelboraf Roche 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.
Environmental challenges
– Zelboraf Roche needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Zelboraf Roche can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Zelboraf Roche 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Zelboraf Roche 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada .
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada, Zelboraf Roche 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Zelboraf Roche 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Zelboraf Roche with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Zelboraf Roche 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.
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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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 Hoffmann-La Roche: Pricing the Zelboraf Melanoma Treatment for Canada 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 Zelboraf Roche needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.