Executive Summary
Abbott is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies headquartered out of US and has a chequered history of 130 years. However, the giant is facing trouble as technology is creeping into the healthcare sector in a big way and the company is finding it too hot to handle. Despite having operations in 150 countries across the globe, the company is now feeling the pressure of competition heating up and technology taking over various aspects of healthcare. Though the company is poised for growth in its traditional business, there is tremendous competition all around making life difficult for the pharmaceutical giant. The company either has to seek a new identity for itself by looking into unexplored markets or realign itself into a technology company or do both.

Table of contents:
Executive Summary 1
Table of contents: 2
Introduction to this paper 4
Introduction to Abbott 4
Financials 5
Location and Client Base 5
A brief history of Abbott 7
Revenue and size of the organization 7
Leadership in Abbott 8
Current Business Strategy of Abbott 8
Mission and Vision of Abbott 9
Global Competitive advantage 9
Global Operations 11
Core Competencies 11
ORGANOGRAM 11
Mission Statement of Abbott 12
Porters Value chain 12
Strategy – Strengths and weaknesses 13
Financials 14
Industry Analysis 15
Porter’s five forces 17
Entry barriers 17
Intensity of rivalry 18
Bargaining power of buyers 19
Bargaining power of suppliers 19
Threat of substitutes 20
International expansion into Malaysia 20
PESTEL Analysis of Malaysia 21
Political Environment 21
Economic Environment 21
Social Environment 21
Technological Environment 22
Legal Environment 22
Environmental Issues 22
Recommendations 23
Relocation 23
Cultural Differences in Malaysia 23
Localization 23
CSR / Compliances 23
References: 24
Appendices: 26
Appendix 1: Income Statement 26
Appendix 2: Cash flows 26
Appendix 3: Annual report 27
Appendix 4: Drug Applications with FDA 27
Appendix 5: 28

Introduction to this paper
Abbott, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturing company, headquartered in the USA is planning for another international expansion. The company is already operating in almost 150 countries, and these operations are independently managed by professional managers and most of these companies are listed companies. The company is looking for more expansion considering the fact that there is intense competition in the market and is increasing day by day creating pressure on the profit margins. Though the company has sought for more avenues of business than its conventional business of manufacture and sales of business the company needs to ramp up its core business and expand it more towards achieving a larger global platform.
This paper will try to understand the company, analyze its key strength and weakness and try to understand the opportunities that could possibly be available. Though the company has embraced technology as the new business of the future its core business needs greater attention as well. The healthcare sector is undergoing a major sea change as technology advancements have made healthcare much better and affordable. However, the intensity of the core businesses remain.
Analyzing organization's resources and capabilities

Introduction to Abbott

As a diversified healthcare products company, Abbott is one of the largest company in its sector which considered to be the most admired company in the medical products sector. Having operations in around 150 countries across the world, it is a force to reckon with in the industry and employees of almost 99000 people globally. The company is headquartered in the USA and is almost 125 year plus since it was formed. Apart from being in the pharmaceutical business of making generic drugs and prescription drugs, the company also manufactures nutrition based and health foods apart from some special equipment which is used in the treatment of patients. The company has a division within it which make special diagnostic instruments which can be used by patients themselves such as diabetes test kits and assays. In this way, the company has a wide array of products to offer to its large clientele all across the globe and has become a force to reckon with in the industry. Apart from, the above, it has also made rapid and pioneering strides in many new and emerging technology-based products which have created a niche for itself.
Financials

The above income statement included in Appendix 1 clearly shows the financial might that the company has and has been growing steadily as well. Last financial year the company has achieved a gross profit of $ 15000 million and is poised to grow further in the current fiscal year. With strong earnings per share of $ 0.27 per share the company has struggled with its numbers of late, however, has managed to show the resilience with the backing of more than a century’s experience in the industry(Hoovers, 2018). The company has a reported asset base of $763250 worth of assets in hand and is reported to have a market valuation of $114,360 million. Despite all its struggles with achieving the top-line and a recent decrease in the earnings per share, it has managed to create a great value for itself and its shareholders equally(Judge, Li, & Pinsker, 2010).
Location and Client Base

The company is headquartered in the Illinois, USA and has a significant presence in Europe, Latin America and some parts of Asia Pacific region. The company has good revenues for its various divisions within the company from all these sectors. The business sectors in which the company operates are – cardiovascular, diabetes care, diagnostics, neuro-modulation, nutrition, and medicines.
The cardiovascular division in the company is perhaps one of the most technologically sophisticated departments within the company and has many revolutionary and path-breaking products in the cardio care segment. Some of the products offered in this segment are so unique that they have no equivalents in the market and hence have a pioneering position in the market. The diabetes care market is a very crowded market and their many players who offer a variety of product-based solutions to the diabetic community among the patients all across the world. However, products in an offer from this division too make in for a sizeable amount of business for the company and have been doing well in the recent year's thanks to technology advancements. The diagnostics business is yet another crowded marketplace, and there is a good amount of competition from companies who offer specific diagnostic solutions for the various fields of medicine. However, with rapid advancements being made by the company in molecular level diagnostics, this division caters to various departments of medicine and has become a leader in that sector. Once again, the neuro-modulation department offers high technology-oriented specialized devices for patients suffering from chronic pain and movement disorders. There are many revolutionary and pioneering products that are offered that enable solutions to deliver stimulations to the spinal cord, dorsal root ganglion, and the brain. The nutrition market is a highly competitive space however the company offers nutrition for infants, children, adults, and athletes. The manufacturing and sales of medicines one of the core businesses of the company focuses on certain specific sectors only and is many products are localized as per the needs of various markets / countries. However the main areas of focus for which medicines are manufactured would be in gastroenterology, women’s health, cardiovascular, pain/central nervous system, respiratory and influenza vaccines.
A brief history of Abbott
Founded in 1888 by Dr. Wallace C Abbott who was a physician and drug store proprietor, the company began producing accurate and scientifically formulated medicines aimed at providing more effective therapy to patients. The young Dr. Abbott laid the foundations for a grand company to take shape in the years to come and was backed by continuous years of research by which the company was able to bring about great innovation to the way the industry worked. Perhaps no other drug manufacturing company would have had such a long and illustrious heritage as that of Abbott, and today it is one of the most important players in this business despite competition. Initially incorporated as Abbott Alkaloidal Company, the company was rechristened to its present name of Abbott Laboratories Ltd in the year 1915. The company has many “firsts” to its credit and has withstood the test of time and war and has been a great contributor during many wars that the world has witnessed. The present logo of the company was established in the year 1960 thereby giving it a distinct identity till date and this something that is a now recalled all over the globe as a brand identity for the company. The last three decades have seen quite a lot of development in the adaptation of technology in the business of healthcare, and this has been particularly adopted and made available for commercial use in the past few years. The company has always been at the forefront of research and development and been seen successful in adopting the results of the research and development in bringing new products to the market.
Revenue and size of the organization

The company has reported a negative cash flow in the last financial year probably the first time in its chequered history the company has a strong financial backing(see Appendix 2). The global slowdown has also made its impact on the company, and another major cause for the negative cash flow could be due to the fact that a great amount of money has been invested in research and development activities especially the ones oriented at bringing technology advancements in the various activities within the various sectors in the healthcare business. The company has a history wherein it has paid dividends to its shareholders for a period of 94 years consistently which is a record of sorts. The company has reported a global sales figure of $27.4 billion at the end of 2017, and its market capitalization stood at $99.3 billion. (Abbott website)
Leadership in Abbott

Miles D. White is the Chairman and CEO of the company; he joined the company in 1984 and was elected to the board in 1998. In 1999 he became the chairman of

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