1. Develop a SWOT analysis that identifies the situation faced by community-based pharmacy owners as competition with US chains intensifies
The SWOT analysis is the perfect starting to properly describe the situation faced by the Alliance, who represents community-based pharmacy (CBP) owners and the possible solutions to their problems. In order to do that, I decided to complete both a PEST and Porter 's analysis to assess their Opportunities/Threats faced by the CBPs, and a Capabilities Audit to ascertain the Strengths/Weaknesses. You can find these frameworks in the Appendix.
With regards to the Porter 's analysis, it 's important to note that I define the industry with a fairly narrow condition. I consider the true competition in …show more content…
One side is from the perspective of the directors of the Alliance, and the other from the evidence presented in the case.
From Raul and Diane 's perspective, the Alliance is facing challenges mainly due to the lack of engagement by the pharmacy owners. This is due to multiple reasons. First, the pharmacy owners don 't really get the tangible benefits of being in the Alliance. During the first ad campaign, they wouldn 't even mention the names of the pharmacy. While they later changed this, unaffiliated pharmacies get the same benefits as group members. Secondly, in such a challenging market, the cost of 1500 could be rather prohibitive. The pharmacies are struggling as it is, and the reduction of the fee could make it even worse.
As the case suggests, this is only a part of the problem with CBPs. The CBPs already belonged to several trade groups, including their respective buying group, so they didn?t really see the benefit of paying additional fees. Additionally, some of the other benefits that could have possibly made the membership worth it were nothing more than promises at the time. As the Alliance was struggling to gain traction, it was essentially grappling with a relevancy …show more content…
This concept was illustrated in the article, ?Dancing with Gorillas: How Small Companies can partner effectively with MNCs,? by Prashantham and Birkinshaw. In this article, it illustrates several ways in which a small enterprise could possibly collaborate with a multinational corporation for a mutual benefit. In this case, the MNC would be Walgreens (or CVS).
As mentioned several times in the case, Walgreens is also under threat from the large megastores as well. Moreover, some of the same initiatives that Walgreens is attempting to capture market share could be more ably done by the CBP. In fact, one of the major signature initiatives that Walgreens was considering, the Good Neighbor Tour, is similar to a program that was going to be launched by the Alliance.
This is significant. From the article, one of the best ways to garner the attention of a MNC is not to directly engage, but to indirectly get their attention through just these kinds of actions. As such, a small enterprise that executed the Good Neighbor Tour strategy well would probably alert Walgreens in that area. Additionally, CBPs would also be able to benefit from their traffic and logistics. In addition to doing the Tour for them, you might be able to establish some sort of referral program, where some Walgreens customers are outsourced to the CBPs and vice
The SWOT analysis is the perfect starting to properly describe the situation faced by the Alliance, who represents community-based pharmacy (CBP) owners and the possible solutions to their problems. In order to do that, I decided to complete both a PEST and Porter 's analysis to assess their Opportunities/Threats faced by the CBPs, and a Capabilities Audit to ascertain the Strengths/Weaknesses. You can find these frameworks in the Appendix.
With regards to the Porter 's analysis, it 's important to note that I define the industry with a fairly narrow condition. I consider the true competition in …show more content…
One side is from the perspective of the directors of the Alliance, and the other from the evidence presented in the case.
From Raul and Diane 's perspective, the Alliance is facing challenges mainly due to the lack of engagement by the pharmacy owners. This is due to multiple reasons. First, the pharmacy owners don 't really get the tangible benefits of being in the Alliance. During the first ad campaign, they wouldn 't even mention the names of the pharmacy. While they later changed this, unaffiliated pharmacies get the same benefits as group members. Secondly, in such a challenging market, the cost of 1500 could be rather prohibitive. The pharmacies are struggling as it is, and the reduction of the fee could make it even worse.
As the case suggests, this is only a part of the problem with CBPs. The CBPs already belonged to several trade groups, including their respective buying group, so they didn?t really see the benefit of paying additional fees. Additionally, some of the other benefits that could have possibly made the membership worth it were nothing more than promises at the time. As the Alliance was struggling to gain traction, it was essentially grappling with a relevancy …show more content…
This concept was illustrated in the article, ?Dancing with Gorillas: How Small Companies can partner effectively with MNCs,? by Prashantham and Birkinshaw. In this article, it illustrates several ways in which a small enterprise could possibly collaborate with a multinational corporation for a mutual benefit. In this case, the MNC would be Walgreens (or CVS).
As mentioned several times in the case, Walgreens is also under threat from the large megastores as well. Moreover, some of the same initiatives that Walgreens is attempting to capture market share could be more ably done by the CBP. In fact, one of the major signature initiatives that Walgreens was considering, the Good Neighbor Tour, is similar to a program that was going to be launched by the Alliance.
This is significant. From the article, one of the best ways to garner the attention of a MNC is not to directly engage, but to indirectly get their attention through just these kinds of actions. As such, a small enterprise that executed the Good Neighbor Tour strategy well would probably alert Walgreens in that area. Additionally, CBPs would also be able to benefit from their traffic and logistics. In addition to doing the Tour for them, you might be able to establish some sort of referral program, where some Walgreens customers are outsourced to the CBPs and vice