Introduction and Overview
BMS is one of those companies that managed to climb to the top of the economical Olympus solely by providing high-quality services and promoting them the right way. However, when taking a closer look at the company’s structure and assets, one might notice that certain improvements can be made.
By defining the rate of a particular aspect of a company’s performance, one can spot the source of the company’s current problems, whereas the analysis of the weight of the issues in question will help one get the priorities straight and figure out what is important for BMS at present.
Missions, Goals and Current Strategies
As the company’s mission statement says, BMS was founded to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines. BMS keeps the focus on the medical nees that have been unmet and are considered unattainable by other companies that supply pharmaceutical products.
According to the information provided by the company’s managers, BMS aims at pending genericization of some of the drugs that are currently demanded, therefore, contributing to the improvement of people’s health worldwide. The company’s strategy seems pretty simple: it produces high-quality products and distributes them fast.
BMS seems to have been amazingly efficient over the past few years; as the recent records say, in March, 2011, the FDA board approved of the new oncology drug that was developed by the company. BMS’s strategy, therefore, can be defined as introducing innovations into the market.
Internal Analysis
Management
Unfortunately, management seems to be the weakest link in the company’s overall strong set of internal factors. Classified as laissez-faire, the given management type does not allow for efficient cooperation between the affiliates and the heart of the company. The weight is rather weak (0.05), the rate is, therefore, 2.1. This is a company’s major weakness.
Finance
According to the recent statistical data, due to its close partnership with the USA companies, the BMS Corporation managed to hit the top 11 of the most successful pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. The given data shows that financial strategy is one of the BMS ‘s key assets. Being of a relatively strong weight (0.13), company’s finance strategy has a 2.7 rate. Finance is the company’s major strength.
Marketing and Service
According to what the case study says, the company has turned Plavix into its major selling point. While other types of medicine are also promoted efficiently, Plavix seems to be the product that the BMS is pushing as its brand – and, to be honest, succeeds in the given task. Thus, marketing and service section deserves a strong weight of 0.11 and a rate of 2.6 and is the company’s major strength.
Production and Operations
As it has been stressed, the company deals with a number of pharmaceutical products, starting from the basic ones like Aspirin to less known and more expensive. Plavix, the company’s top product, brings BMS around $6,500 annually, which means that the company is quite successful. Weighting 0.14 and rated at 2.7, the company’s production and operations are nearly exemplary and, thus, are a major strength.
Human Resource Management
The company seems to lack insight in choosing its staff, which gets BMS a weight of 0.05 and a rate of 2.1, being a major weakness.
Research and Development
BMS has the potential for conducting pharmaceutical researches, yet never uses this potential, which brings its weight to 0.07 and a rate to 2.2 and makes it a major weakness.
Technological Advances
The company is equipped with modern devices, which results in weight of 0.11 and a rate of 2.6. This is the company’s minor strength.
Logistics and Transportation
BMS seems to spend too much on transportation, since the goods are very fragile. Therefore, logistics and transaction weight 0.6 and are rated as 2.0 and is the company’s major weakness.
Leadership Strategy
Depending on the leadership strategy chosen by the company leader, BMS may either remain afloat, or eventually sink. In the given situation, laissez-faire leadership approach is most reasonable seeing how the company has been split into several affiliates. Therefore, it has a weight of 0.8 and a rate of 2.1 and is the company’s minor weakness.
Organizational Behavior
A crucial factor in the company’s development, organizational behavior does not seem to be an issue in the BMS. The weight and rate are correspondingly 0.11 and 2.6, which makes it the company’s minor strength
External Analysis
Competition and Industry
Though technically considered a one of a kind company, BMS faces considerable competition. As a result, the given aspect cannot be considered the strongest of the external factors. Weight and rate deserve 0.09 and 2.4 correspondingly and can be considered a minor opportunity.
Economic
BMS uses current economic trends wisely, which results in a 0.12 weight and a rate of 3.4, being is the company’s major opportunity.
Social and Cultural
Unfortunately, diversity seems to slip from the BMS Company’s radar. Therefore, it deserves 0.8 weight and 2.3 rate and is a minor opportunity.
Demographic
BMS’s customers are typically middle-class middle aged people. BMS’s strategy on demographics can be rated as 2.5 and has a weight of 0.10, which can be classified as a minor opportunity.
Technology
BMS uses up-to-date equipment, which brings it the weight of 0.14 and the rate of 3.8, which is a major opportunity.
Health
There is no need to stress the fact that people need medicine as long as they have health issues. Therefore, the less disease-ridden the area becomes, the more losses the company is going to take. With a rate of 2.5 and a weight of 0.10 (a minor opportunity), BMS is doing relatively fine.
Ethics
In case of BMS, ethics lays huge restrictions on the company’s operations, seeing how human lives are at stake. Therefore, ethics can be regarded as a major factor, seeing how BMS commits to their customers by claiming to provide only efficient medicine that in no way harms people’s health. Therefore, a weight of 0.06 and a rate of 2.0 can be given to the company’s ethics (minor threat).
Partners
BMX uses foreign partners for long-term investments, therefore, having a 0.11 weight and a 2.6 rate (major opportunity).
Legal Issues (Liabilities)
Pharmaceutical industry presupposes that no harm should be done to the end customer, which is why the tort liability is included into the list of the key external factors. As the records show, the company has a major debt, which is why the given field cannot be considered as the company’s asset, with weight being 0.09, and the rate rising to 2.1 (minor threat).
Time Restraint
There is no actual time limit in providing the target audience with medicine; no matter the season, there will always be demand for medicine among the general audience. Weight and rate are correspondingly 0.08 and 2.1, which is the company’s minor threat.
Conclusion
BMS has a number of issues to deal with, research and management, HRM in particular, being its key weaknesses. Therefore, it will be necessary to choose a more appropriate leadership strategy, preferably a transformational one, and adopt a more reasonable approach in human resource management, as well as encourage research in the organization.
However, BMS has a number of assets as well, the major ones being its finance and marketing. By reinforcing marketing strategies, the company will be able to spend more time thinking its management strategy through.