Abbott Alkaloidal Company Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Abbott Alkaloidal Company - Term Paper Example The common stock of the company is traded in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol ABT. The closing price of ABT stock on September 3, 2011 was $51.04. Abbott has a staff composed of over 90,000 employees worldwide. In 2010 the company generated $35.2 billion in sales. The company operates over 100 facilities globally. The corporate headquarters of the company are located in Chicago, Illinois and the CEO of the company is Miles D. White. SWOT Analysis A strength Abbott has is its tremendous variety of healthcare products. The company has a managerial staff that is fully committed to the R&D process. In 2010 firm invested $3.7 billion in research and development. The financials of the company are solid. The firm generated 2010 net income of $4.6 billion. The net margin of Abbott in 2010 was 13%. The firm’s profitability performance is quite impressive considering that in 2010 most companies in the industry loss money and as a result the industry average net margin was-23.9%. Abbott has paid a growing dividend for 39 consecutive years. A weakness Abbott has is that it faces lots of competition in the pharmaceutical sector. Another inherent weakness of the company is that pharmaceutical companies have to spend over $800 million to develop a new drugÃ'Ž A third weakness Abbott faces is strict regulatory environment which includes compliance with FDA rules and protocols. A threat Abbott faces is the production of counterfeit d rugs. Counterfeiting is a multi-billion industry that targets the pharmaceutical, software, and apparel industries among others. A second threat the company faces is the launch of new drugs that are more effective and cheaper than their products. A third major threat Abbott faces is not being able to recruit sufficient scientists with the specialized skills needed due to a shortage of available talent in technical professions. Another threat that Abbott must be aware of is the possibility of lawsuits by customers who claim one or more of their products are defective. These customers could claim that instead of helping the products hurt the health of the customers. There are opportunities that Abbott can exploit to achieve greater growth. The company currently does not have a market presence in 35% of the countries of the world. A goal for the company should be to achieve penetration in 100% of the world’s nations. The firm has other opportunities that can be achieved through innovation such as becoming the first company to find a vaccine for the AIDS/HIV virus. A cure for cancer is another breakthrough project that could generate the company billions of dollars in revenues. Strategic Objectives A strategic objective of the company is to use a diversified product offering to differentiate Abbott from the competition and to achieve superior operating performance. The strategic objectives of the firm were achieved in 2010 through growth of existing product lines, new product launches, geographic expansion and acquisitions (Annual Report: Abbott, 2010). Plans to Meet Objectives For the firm to meet its strategic objectives the executive management team has to implement various tactics and strategic options that will allow the firm to continue its path towards greater success. The firm can achieve better international growth by aggressively expanding its business in emerging economies outside the United States. China represents a market that must be target m ore aggressively by the