Case Study Description of Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership
Companies regularly face difficulties, but sometimes they have to face a "life threatening" crisis. Such events challenge leadership, not least because of their complexity - technological puzzles, loyalty and political maneuvering, branding and communication issues, to name a few. But they can also be are powerful integrative moments, and when "well navigated" they can become opportunities for wider company reforms.
Swot Analysis of "Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership" written by D. Charles Galunic, Philippe Ombregt includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Octapharma Maneuvering facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Government, Growth strategy, Influence, Leadership, Strategy execution and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Octapharma Maneuvering, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Octapharma Maneuvering operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Octapharma Maneuvering
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Octapharma Maneuvering
Strengths Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Octapharma Maneuvering in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Octapharma Maneuvering has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Octapharma Maneuvering to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma Maneuvering is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Octapharma Maneuvering is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Octapharma Maneuvering in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Octapharma Maneuvering is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Octapharma Maneuvering in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Octapharma Maneuvering in the sector have low bargaining power. Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Octapharma Maneuvering to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Octapharma Maneuvering is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Analytics focus
– Octapharma Maneuvering is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by D. Charles Galunic, Philippe Ombregt can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Octapharma Maneuvering to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Octapharma Maneuvering to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Octapharma Maneuvering has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Octapharma Maneuvering has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Octapharma Maneuvering products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Octapharma Maneuvering needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership, 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
Octapharma Maneuvering has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, D. Charles Galunic, Philippe Ombregt suggests that, Octapharma Maneuvering is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Octapharma Maneuvering 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. Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership, in the dynamic environment Octapharma Maneuvering has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Octapharma Maneuvering has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership, it seems that the employees of Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership, is just above the industry average. Octapharma Maneuvering needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Octapharma Maneuvering needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Octapharma Maneuvering is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Octapharma Maneuvering can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Octapharma Maneuvering is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Octapharma Maneuvering 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, Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Octapharma Maneuvering can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Octapharma Maneuvering has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Octapharma Maneuvering to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Manufacturing automation
– Octapharma Maneuvering can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Octapharma Maneuvering to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Octapharma Maneuvering can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Octapharma Maneuvering can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Octapharma Maneuvering 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 Octapharma Maneuvering to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Octapharma Maneuvering can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Octapharma Maneuvering in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership are -
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 Octapharma Maneuvering business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Octapharma Maneuvering in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Octapharma Maneuvering can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Octapharma Maneuvering high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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. Octapharma Maneuvering can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Octapharma Maneuvering 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. Octapharma Maneuvering can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Octapharma Maneuvering
– 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 Octapharma Maneuvering.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Octapharma Maneuvering 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. Octapharma Maneuvering needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership, Octapharma Maneuvering may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Octapharma Maneuvering with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Octapharma (B): Crisis and Leadership is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Octapharma Maneuvering needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
