Pfizer’s competitive strategies and growth strategies focus on business strengths and growth in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. These strategies capitalize on the company’s strengths, such as innovation capabilities for developing new medicines and vaccines. Based on Porter’s model, Pfizer’s generic competitive strategies prioritize R&D and special product benefits for patients, as well as cost limits for business profitability. According to the Ansoff Matrix, Pfizer’s intensive growth strategies emphasize the importance of R&D for product development that meets market demand. These strategies bolster the company’s position and long-term vision as a major competitor in the global pharmaceutical market.
Pfizer’s generic competitive strategy mitigates the effects of competitive forces in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. These forces are significant challenges shaping the long-term growth of the pharmaceutical business. With this generic competitive strategy, Pfizer’s growth strategies bring the business to the achievement of growth targets despite the opposing forces of competitors, like Eli Lilly.
Pfizer’s Generic Competitive Strategies
Pfizer’s differentiation is the main competitive strategy that supports the company’s profitable performance in the global market. Differentiation in this case involves developing business and product characteristics that are not readily found among competitors in pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets. Combined with competitive advantages and business strengths, the generic competitive strategy of differentiation supports Pfizer’s medicines, vaccines, and other products to compete in the international market. The traits and values of Pfizer’s company culture (work culture) influence the human resource qualities needed for this generic competitive strategy. For example, the core value of excellence instilled among employees contributes to the high quality of the company’s pharmaceutical products.
Pfizer’s cost leadership is another generic competitive strategy for optimizing business capabilities and profits. Through this strategy, the company’s objective is to minimize business costs and, consequently, maximize the profit margins of its pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. Pfizer can also use this competitive strategy for competitive pricing of some of its products. Pfizer’s operations management delivers the necessary productivity at the required cost limits based on this generic strategy of cost leadership. When used effectively with economies of scale, cost leadership relates to stakeholder management. For example, this competitive strategy satisfies business goals for productivity and financial soundness, which relate to the significance of investors as stakeholders in Pfizer’s strategy for CSR and ESG.
Pfizer’s Intensive Growth Strategies
Pfizer’s product development is a major growth strategy for the company’s multinational business. Product development involves research and development activity for new pharmaceutical and biotechnology products for current needs and trends in the target market. This intensive growth strategy satisfies the objectives for breakthroughs that benefit patients, according to Pfizer’s mission statement, vision statement, and business purpose. Effective product development through advanced technology and R&D increases the company’s performance and contributes to improvements to the industry and the healthcare system. Pfizer’s decisions for this intensive growth strategy put weight on the external trends and factors shaping the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. For instance, legal and regulatory factors affect the kinds of medicines that the company can make and provide in some regional or local markets. Following the requirements of the generic competitive strategy of differentiation, Pfizer’s product development aims for advanced technology and novel research to develop pharmaceutical products that offer unique benefits compared to competing ones.
In its market penetration, Pfizer has the objective of gaining a larger share of its target markets. For example, this intensive growth strategy aims to increase the company’s market share for vaccines in Asia. The effectiveness of Pfizer’s marketing mix (4Ps) and challenges in its implementations can lead to success and obstacles in reaching the objectives of this intensive growth strategy. Successful marketing ensures brand awareness and popularity, product promotion, and effective distribution of pharmaceutical products for business growth aligned with this growth strategy of market penetration. Pfizer’s generic competitive strategy of differentiation can aid market penetration through special characteristics of the company’s pharmaceuticals.
Pfizer’s market development has limited applications because the company already has extensive distribution for its products in various markets and market segments. An objective of this intensive growth strategy is to grow the pharmaceutical and biotechnology business through new markets or market segments for existing products. For example, Pfizer can focus on research with the aim of finding new applications of its current products, such as using current medicines for health conditions related to the ones they are currently approved for. This endeavor requires considerable research and funding to establish scientific evidence needed for regulatory approval. Through its generic competitive strategy of differentiation, Pfizer can enhance success in the growth strategy of market development through attractive products that offer uncommon or special benefits to target customers.
Diversification in Pfizer’s business also has limited applications as an intensive growth strategy because the company continues to focus on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. An objective of diversification is to add new businesses, such as one involving entirely new technological products for consumers’ health. This intensive growth strategy may come with significant costs and risks in conducting new research and developing new business processes and products other than the company’s current pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Pfizer’s generic competitive strategies of cost leadership and differentiation would still apply to new business ventures under diversification. Appropriate changes in Pfizer’s organizational structure (company structure), such as through new divisions or departments, can contribute to the company’s effectiveness in enabling diversification, if the company chooses it as an intensive growth strategy.
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