Successfully Strategizing for the
Changing Global Business Environment
I. Introduction
Johnson & Johnson is the world's largest healthcare company. Founded in the United States in 1886, the company has been profitable for 75 straight years and currently operates 250 subsidiary companies in 57 countries. Its products fall into three segments: pharmaceuticals, with 39% of total sales; medical devices and diagnostics, with 36%; and consumer products, with 25%. Additionally, the company employs 119,200 people worldwide and sells its products in 175 countries. A truly global corporation, Johnson & Johnson has securely positioned itself to overcome the challenges its ever-changing business environment poses, as well as take advantage of the opportunities presented.
With a focus primarily on Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical segment, this paper seeks to explore the complex multinational environment within which the company operates as well as the opportunities and threats that the environment poses. Next, the paper will analyze Johnson & Johnson's current positioning, describing its value-chain and competitive positioning. The paper will close by evaluating how Johnson & Johnson both can seize these opportunities to realize the goals of the company.
II. Analyzing the Environment
In industries as competitive as pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer goods, analyzing the environment is vital for being able to make sound strategic decisions. Since Johnson & Johnson strives to anticipate the external factors that affect its international business environment, as well as adapt to those changes, it is important that it understands the environment in which it is operating. The two sets of external forces that face the company are competitive and contextual.
A. Competitive Environments – Five Forces Model
Michael Porter’s five forces model