Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma
2. Improving business portfolio management of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Hong Kong
4. Making a Biotechnology & Drugs sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma
Strengths of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Biotechnology & Drugs industry
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma in Biotechnology & Drugs industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Biotechnology & Drugs industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
High brand equity
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma is one of the leading players in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry in Hong Kong. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Hong Kong. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Biotechnology & 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma staying ahead in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Biotechnology & Drugs industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma are -
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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to provide better information regarding Biotechnology & Drugs products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Biotechnology & Drugs industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Biotechnology & Drugs industry.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Biotechnology & Drugs industry using digital technology.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Biotechnology & 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has high operating costs in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring in Biotechnology & Drugs industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry, but Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to focus more on services in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma are -
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. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Biotechnology & Drugs industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. Now Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to increase its market reach. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can develop new processes and procedures in Biotechnology & 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Biotechnology & Drugs industry.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Biotechnology & Drugs industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Biotechnology & Drugs sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Biotechnology & Drugs sector.
Threats Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Biotechnology & Drugs industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Biotechnology & 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.
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 Biotechnology & Drugs industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Biotechnology & 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. Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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.
Increasing wage structure of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma
– 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma.
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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma in Biotechnology & Drugs industry. The Biotechnology & 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma prominent markets.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Biotechnology & Drugs industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma 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 Shanghai Fudan-Zhangjiang Bio-Pharma needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
