Yiling Pharma A (2603) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources

Introduction to SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Yiling Pharma A (China)

Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Yiling Pharma A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Yiling Pharma A

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Yiling Pharma A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Yiling Pharma A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Yiling Pharma A 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Yiling Pharma A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Yiling Pharma A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Yiling Pharma A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Major Drugs sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Yiling Pharma A

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Strengths of Yiling Pharma A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Yiling Pharma A are -

Ability to lead change in Major Drugs

– Yiling Pharma A is one of the leading players in the Major Drugs industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Major Drugs industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Yiling Pharma A in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Organizational Resilience of Yiling Pharma A

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Yiling Pharma A does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Yiling Pharma A 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Yiling Pharma A in Major Drugs industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Learning organization

- Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma A is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Yiling Pharma A emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Yiling Pharma A has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Major Drugs industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Yiling Pharma A have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Training and development

– Yiling Pharma A has one of the best training and development program in Healthcare industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Yiling Pharma A has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Yiling Pharma A 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Yiling Pharma A is one of the leading players in the Major Drugs industry in China. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in China. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Analytics focus

– Yiling Pharma A 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 Major Drugs industry. The technology infrastructure of China is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Yiling Pharma A in the Healthcare sector have low bargaining power. Yiling Pharma A has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Yiling Pharma A to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy of Yiling Pharma A comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Major Drugs 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.

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Weaknesses of Yiling Pharma A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Yiling Pharma A are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Yiling Pharma A is one of the leading players in the Major Drugs industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Major Drugs industry in last five years.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Yiling Pharma A is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Major Drugs industry, but Yiling Pharma A needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Yiling Pharma A to focus more on services in the Major Drugs industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of China, Yiling Pharma A needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of Yiling Pharma A products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Yiling Pharma A needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

No frontier risks strategy

– From the 10K / annual statement of Yiling Pharma A, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Major Drugs industry. 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.

Skills based hiring in Major Drugs industry

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Yiling Pharma A 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Yiling Pharma A has some of the most successful models in the Major Drugs industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Yiling Pharma A should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Aligning sales with marketing

– From the outside it seems that Yiling Pharma A needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Major Drugs industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Yiling Pharma A can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Yiling Pharma A is planning to shift buying processes online.

Employees’ less understanding of Yiling Pharma A strategy

– From the outside it seems that the employees of Yiling Pharma A don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

High 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 Yiling Pharma A supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Yiling Pharma A is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Yiling Pharma A vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Yiling Pharma A 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 Major Drugs industry using digital technology.

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Yiling Pharma A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities of Yiling Pharma A are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Yiling Pharma A has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Major Drugs industry. This can help Yiling Pharma A to build a more holistic ecosystem for Yiling Pharma A products in the Major Drugs industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Yiling Pharma A 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 Major Drugs industry.

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 Yiling Pharma A 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.

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. Yiling Pharma A can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma A to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Yiling Pharma A 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Yiling Pharma A in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Major Drugs industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Major Drugs industry

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Yiling Pharma A in the Major Drugs industry. Now Yiling Pharma A 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, Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma 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.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Major Drugs industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Yiling Pharma A can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Yiling Pharma A has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Major Drugs sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Yiling Pharma A to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma A can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Developing new processes and practices

– Yiling Pharma A can develop new processes and procedures in Major Drugs 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.

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Threats Yiling Pharma A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats of Yiling Pharma A are -

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Yiling Pharma A may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Major Drugs 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. Yiling Pharma A 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.

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma A prominent markets.

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 Yiling Pharma A in the Major Drugs sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Yiling Pharma A in Major Drugs industry. The Major Drugs 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Yiling Pharma A 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.

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.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Major Drugs industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma A business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Yiling Pharma A is facing in Major Drugs sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Yiling Pharma A has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Major Drugs industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Yiling Pharma A needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Major Drugs 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Yiling Pharma A 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 Major Drugs industry regulations.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Yiling Pharma A Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Yiling Pharma 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 Yiling Pharma 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 Yiling Pharma 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 Yiling Pharma A 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 Yiling Pharma A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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