Introduction

Invitrogen was founded in 1987, the firm was one of the largest

catalog life science companies in the industry. Its customers came

forms academic, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and

government laboratories; sales include molecular biology,

biochemistry and cell culture reagents products. Invitrogen is a

leading company in the life sciences industry which worked on

aggressive acquisitions for growth of the company. Though not all

acquisitions were successful the company saw major growth by

acquiring companies that fit the strategic goals of Invitrogen. With

monthly reviews on the acquiring business, close observation and

integration plans they would acquire companies. Their new product

development was massive every quarter and worked on in house

technologies and technologies from acquiring companies and

concentrated on merchandise excellence. The industry’s future was on

the next-generation sequencing and the strategic decisions the

company needs to take. Next-generation sequencing directs the

company to work towards personalizing medicine and provides as

Invitrogen with a competitive edge in the upcoming years. The CEO’s

effort to organize the resources for acquiring other companies grow

the company’s competitive edge. Each factor for acquisition led to the

different strategic plans of the organization’s growth. Their strategic

leadership along with acquisitions and merges led to the tremendous

growth of product.
STRATEGIC PROFILE & CASE ANALYSIS PURPOSE
 The Five Force Evaluation
 The strategic recommendations of the study were based on the five forces evaluation
plan. The five pillars contain critical areas of concern for a company’s strategic and
competitive plan.
 The New Entrant Threat
 The new entrant threat id rampant in the cases where the profitability of the business is
high. The Invitrogen company is at an apparent risk of experiencing the new entrant
threat. This can be harmful to the company’s operation regarding the recent expansion
and surplus production.

SITUATION ANALYSIS-EXTERNAL
 Current Rivalry
 The rivalry between companies emerges due to the factors that influence the
competitive nature of companies
 Price Changes
 One of the main effects of intense rivalry is the change in prices by the competitor.
Varying prices greatly influences the behavior of the market, since the consumers will be
pulled to companies selling their products at a much lower price.
 Acquisition of Mergers
 In a nutshell, the Invitrogen Company started in the year 1987 and was incorporated
during 1989. The Company specialized in the production of kits for molecular cloning
which included the kits for mRNA separation. The company mainly developed through
acquiring or merging with other companies dealing in similar products.

SITUATION ANALYSIS- INTERNAL

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths - Invitrogen (A)

Strengths are the Invitrogen Reagent capabilities and

resources that it can leverage to build a sustainable
competitive advantage in the marketplace. Strengths
come from positive aspects of five key resources &
capabilities - past experiences and successes, activities &
processes, physical resources such as land, building,
human resources, and financial resources .

- Strong relationship with existing suppliers – As an

incumbent in the industry, Invitrogen Reagent has strong
relationship with its suppliers and other members of the
supply chain. According to Robert A. Burgelman, Robert E.
Siegel, Rosy Lee , the organization can increase products
and services by leveraging the skills of its suppliers and
supply chain partners.

High Margins – Invitrogen Reagent charges a

premium compare to its competitors. According to Robert
A. Burgelman, Robert E. Siegel, Rosy Lee of Invitrogen (A)
case study, this has provided Invitrogen Reagent
resources to not only thwart competitive pressures but
also to invest into research and development.

- Robust Domestic Market that Invitrogen Reagent

Operates in - The domestic market in which Invitrogen
Reagent is operating is both a source of strength and
roadblock to the growth and innovation of the company.
Based on details provided in the Invitrogen (A) case study
– Invitrogen Reagent can easily grow in its domestic
market without much innovation but will require further
investment into research and development to enter
international market. The temptation so far for the
managers at Invitrogen Reagent is to focus on the
domestic market only.

Managing Regulations and Business Environment –

Invitrogen Reagent operates in an environment where it
faces numerous regulations and government diktats. In
areas, the firm needs to navigate environment by building
strong relationship with lobby groups and political
network.

- Diverse Product Portfolio of Invitrogen Reagent –

The products and brand portfolio of Invitrogen Reagent is
enabling it to target various segments in the domestic
market at the same time. This has enabled Invitrogen
Reagent to build diverse revenue source and profit mix.

- Intellectual Property Rights – Invitrogen Reagent

has garnered a wide array of patents and copyrights
through innovation and buying those rights from the
creators. This can help Invitrogen Reagent in thwarting
the challenges of competitors in various industries .

- Strong Balance Sheet and Financial Statement of

Invitrogen Reagent can help it to invest in new and
diverse projects that can further diversify the revenue
stream and increase Return on Sales (RoS) & other
metrics.
 Weakness- Invitrogen (A)

Weaknesses are the areas, capabilities or skills in

which Invitrogen Reagent lacks. It limits the ability of the
firm to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Weaknesses come from lack or absence of five key
resources & capabilities - past experiences and successes,
financial resources, activities & processes, physical
resources such as land, building, and human resources .

- Track record on environment consideration is not

very encouraging – Invitrogen Reagent track record on
environmental issues is not very encouraging. According
to Robert A. Burgelman, Robert E. Siegel, Rosy Lee , this
can lead to consumer backlash as customers are now
considering environmental protections as integral to part
of doing business.
 - Customer Dissatisfaction – Even though the demand
for products have not gone down but there is a simmering
sense of dissatisfaction among the customers of
Invitrogen Reagent . It is reflected on the reviews on
various on-line platforms. Invitrogen Reagent should focus
on areas where it can improve the customer purchase and
post purchase experience.

- Lack of Work force diversity – Invitrogen Reagent is

not diverse enough given that most of its growth so far is
in its domestic market. According to Robert A. Burgelman,
Robert E. Siegel, Rosy Lee , this can reduce the potential
of success of Invitrogen Reagent in the international
market.

- Implementation of Technology in Processes – Even

though Invitrogen Reagent has integrated technology in
the backend processes it has still not able to harness the
power of technology in the front end processes.

- Invitrogen Reagent business model can be easily

replicated even with the number of patents and copyrights
the company possess. The intellectual property rights are
very difficult to implement in the industry that Invitrogen
Reagent operates in. According to Robert A. Burgelman,
Robert E. Siegel, Rosy Lee , Intellectual Property Rights
are effective in thwarting same size competition but it is
difficult to stop start ups disrupting markets at various
other levels.

Opportunities- Invitrogen (A)

Opportunities are macro environment factors and

developments that Invitrogen Reagent can leverage either
to consolidate existing market position or use them for
further expansion. Opportunities can emerge from various
factors such as - political developments & policy changes,
changes in consumer preferences, increase in consumer
disposable income, technological innovations, and
economic growth .

- Growing Market Size and Evolving Preferences of

Consumers – Over the last decade and half the market
size has grown at brisk pace. The influx of new customers
has also led to evolution of consumer preferences and
tastes. This presents Invitrogen Reagent two big
challenges – how to maintain loyal customers and how to
cater to the new customers. Invitrogen Reagent has tried
to diversify first using different brands and then by adding
various features based on customer preferences.

- Increasing Standardization Invitrogen Reagent can

leverage this trend to reduce the number of offerings in
the market and focus the marketing efforts on only the
most successful products.

- Developments in Artificial Intelligence

Invitrogen Reagent can use developments in artificial

intelligence to better predict consumer demand, cater to
niche segments, and make better recommendation
engines.

- Opportunities in Adjacent Markets Invitrogen

Reagent can explore adjacent industries to further market
growth especially by extending the features of present
products and services

-E-Commerce and Social Media Oriented Business

Models – E-commerce business model can help Invitrogen
Reagent to tie up with local suppliers and logistics
provider in international market. Social media growth can
help Invitrogen Reagent to reduce the cost of entering
new market and reaching to customers at a significantly
lower marketing budget. It can also lead to crowd
sourcing various services and consumer oriented
marketing based on the data and purchase behavior.

- Changing Technology Landscape – Machine learning

and Artificial Intelligence boom is transforming the
technology landscape that Invitrogen Reagent operates in.
According to Robert A. Burgelman, Robert E. Siegel, Rosy
Lee , Invitrogen Reagent can use these developments in
improving efficiencies, lowering costs, and transforming
processes.

Threats- Invitrogen (A)

Threats are macro environment factors and

developments that can derail business model of Invitrogen
Reagent. Threats can emerge from various factors such as
- technological innovations, increase in consumer
disposable income, political developments & policy
changes, economic growth, and changes in consumer
preferences .

- Increasing costs component for working in

developed market because of environmental regulations –
Invitrogen Reagent has to deal with these costs as
governments are trying to levy higher environmental taxes
to promote cleaner options. For Invitrogen Reagent it may
result into higher logistics costs and higher packaging
costs.

- Credit Binge post 2008 Recession – Easy access to

credit can be over any time, so Invitrogen Reagent should
focus on reducing its dependence on debt to expand. The
party has lasted for more than a decade and rollback from
Fed can result in huge interest costs for Invitrogen
Reagent.

- Culture of sticky prices in the industry – Invitrogen

Reagent operates in an industry where there is a culture
of sticky prices. According to Robert A. Burgelman, Robert
E. Siegel, Rosy Lee of Invitrogen (A) case study, this can
lead to inability on part of the organization to increase
prices that its premium prices deserve.

- Government Regulations and Bureaucracy –

Invitrogen Reagent should keep a close eye on the fast
changing government regulations under the growing
pressure from protest groups and non government
organization especially regarding to environmental and
labor safety aspects.

- Growing Protectionism - Invitrogen Reagent should

hedge the risk against growing protectionism ranging from
–storing data into international market to diversifying risk
by operating into countries at different economic cycle.
 Buyer Power
 Invitrogen as a company should strategize in understanding the consumer base for it
to thrive in its competitive marketplace. One such strategy is investigating and
maintaining its buyer groups to avoid possible conflicts.
 Economies of Scale
 The expansion of Invitrogen Company especially in its levels of production has
exposed the company to many managerial challenges. This exposes the company to
various buyer group threats if not dealt with properly. More so, expanding a
company also raises its need for skilled professionals with the company needs to
have an efficient and qualified workforce for the enhancement of quality production.
Therefore, this calls for efficiency in the recruitment process and training of the new
workers to maintain the required standard to run the company in case it expands.
 Workplace Motivatio
 Invitrogen’s management needs to provide motivation to the workforce. When a
company is expansive and full of activities, its employees need to have some form of
self-drive in their operations to have the spirit to work harder, hence increased
productivity.

INVITROGEN’S STRATEGY FORMULATION

 The five forces considerations are key in the strategizing procedures for the
company. However, each pillar has limitations and a level of uncertainties. The
reliability of the information provided is highly dependent on the actual
conditions in the field and not the theorized form. Management should be when
considering the five pillars. This will turn help the company maximize its profit
and maintain a high competitive profile in the management’s capacity.
INVITROGEN'S STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVE
IMPLEMENTATION
 It is evident that the company strives to expand and maximize production while
avoiding the substitute product threat. This has been successful but to a
commendable extent. Therefore, new strategies should be put in place to ensure
maximum productivity in the near future. The company needs a market for its
large volumes of products and services something that calls for the development
of a strong supply and merchandise team in the company. This is usually a
critical concern in all the production companies. However, the case study
revealed some main issues that should be focused in marketing and product
promotion.

PROCESS ISSUES
The target consumers and their location in one point Invitrogen, as a company should
focus on. The company applies technology in merchandising through the web market.
This has enabled the supplies to reach the North American market which mainly relies
on this system. The use of sales managers and representatives is also great step.
However, with the expansion of the product, new strategies are required. Potential
consumers and the current market should be notified on the new products through the
right systems. This should be done to maintain the company’s competitive nature.