Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business Strategy - Essay Example This framework is used to analyse the global pharmaceutical industry. In the given case, it can be noted that the pharmaceutical industry is characterised by a highly risky and lengthy research which is very costly. This industry is capital intensive given that the cost of developing a new drug is estimated at over $ 1 billion which deters other small players from entering it. The industry is also under stringent government regulation which makes it challenging for other competitors to enter it. It is not very easy to find a substitution for a drug given the complexity of the process involved in carrying out the research as well as the costs For instance, Lipitor could not be easily replaced or substituted in the given case study. The buyers are affected by various factors which affect their buying power. As a result of the global economic crisis, consumer spending power with regards to health care has been affected. However, those with medical insurance can afford to meet their heal thcare requirements. Unfortunately, about 46 % of the people in the US do not have medical insurance and this has a bearing on their buying power of the drugs. It also has to be noted that the government controls the industry since it is the largest purchaser of the drugs in a bid to control the health sector. Since this a sensitive sector, it can be noted that the suppliers have no bargaining powers since the industry is strictly controlled. The pricing regime is controlled by the government so there is no single supplier who can charge very high prices. There is intense competition for intellectual property among existing players as they compete to preserve their inventions. This industry is highly specialised and this is the reason why there is rivalry among existing players as they seek to dominate it. Over and above, it can be noted that the Five Forces Framework map is relevant in identifying the environmental forces affecting the global pharmaceutical industry. It can be note d that there are different factors that characterise this industry hence there is need to take these into consideration so as to be in a better position to establish the attractiveness of this particular industry. Failure to do so can result in wrong perceptions about the industry since it is a bit different from other industries. b). In order to establish whether these forces differ by industry sector as well as the place they can be placed in different sectors in the industry life-cycle, it is important to begin by explaining the meaning of industry or product life cycle. Basically, every product has a certain life cycle in the market. Therefore, product life cycle refers to the different phases passed by the product in the market from the time it is introduced until its withdrawal period (Strydom, 2003). The product usually passes through four distinct stages namely: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. From this definition, it can be seen that the five forces discussed ab ove differ by industry sector. For instance, the forces that operate within a clothing and textile industry are different from those operating in the pharmaceutical industries as a result of various reasons. First and foremost, it must be noted that the industry life cycle of the pharmaceutical

Advanced Business Process Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advanced Business Process Management - Essay Example A number of benefits of IT & IS will be found such as collaboration, work site flexibility, management development, employee improvement etc. Although some disadvantages are accomplished with those, significance & usefulness of Information technology & system cannot be avoided in reengineering process.Our discussion begins with a popular concern today relating the necessity or adversity of information technology & information system in today's business reengineering process. We already know that, in today's complex business context Information technology & system are used to improve the quality of products, services or overall organizational performance. Thus, once an organization makes a decision to enhance the quality of products & services, it must then decide how to implement them. This approach of managing quality is TQM or Total Quality Management. Thus, our further discussion will show the impact of IT & IS in business reengineering process while the firm's main concentration goes to improving its product's performance.Before going forth to the argument of positive & negative impact of Information technology & Information system on reengineering process, we should have a clear concept of the key issues those are essential to make a value judgment over the topics. Our given concern has several important issues like Information Technology (IT), Information System (IS), and Business Process Reengineering Project & consequently all those issues turn to the destination of achieving high quality of company's product. Information is data presented in the way or form that has meaning that means, it has a meaning to the manager & provides a basic for action. So Information technology or IT refers to the resources used by the organization to manage information that it needs in order to carry out its mission. IT may consist of computers, computer network, and telephones; fax machines & other pieces of hardware. IT involves software that facilitates the systems ability to manage information in a way that is useful for the organization. Using this system, company can identify how a given product or product line are selling in number of stores over any meaningful period of time. Information system may be a misnomer. It suggests that there is one system, but in fact a firm's employees will have different interests, job responsibilities & decision-making requirements. One information system can not accommodate such variety of information requirements. Thus IS is a complex set of several information that share information while serving different levels of the organization, different departments or different organizations. Business process reengineering is a management approach that aims to the improvements of elevating efficiency and effectiveness of the processes exist within and across the organizations. The key motive of BPR (Business Process Reengineering) from a "clean slate" focuses and determines how they can best construct these processes to improve conducting their business. Business Process Redesign, Business Transformation, or Business Process Change Management is other titles of BPR. According to Michael Hammer, as a number of works has been done not adding any value for customers, those works should be eliminated rather than companies should consider their processes because of maximizing customer