Environmental Analysess

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Company Background
Pfizer, is a global pharmaceutical company, with headquarters in New York City. The company is the world's largest research-based pharmaceuticals firm. It produces the number-one selling drug Lipitor (atorvastatin, used to lower blood cholesterol) and other many best-known drugs. (www.en.wikipedia.org)
It operates in three segments: Human Health, Consumer Healthcare, and Animal Health. In addition, the company offers empty soft-gelatin capsules, contract manufacturing, and bulk pharmaceutical chemicals.
http://www.pfizer.com

ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Remote Environment
Generally, the remote environment of any company consists of the political, economic, technological and social factors as well as other ecological factors that affect the business. Pfizer operates in a wide range of industries and in multiple countries around the world. Some of the general trends and changes in the remote environment for Pfizer are the increasing global trade or globalization around the world. This is forcing the company to expand and set up operations in new and emerging markets around the world, such as the fast growing economies of China and India. The ever increasing globalization is also enhancing the competition and is putting increased pressure on Pfizer in terms of innovation, cost and quality related issues.

Economic Forces:
One has monitor the economic trends like GDP trends, Interest rates, Money supply, Inflation rates, Unemployment levels, Disposable income. Currently in USA there may be saturation. It has to look for the other parts of world there is growth especially in Asian countries.

? Technological Forces:
Impact of following factors:

New manufacturing processes and drug discoveries
patent regime
new products and services of competitors
new products and services of supply chain partners
any new technology that could impact the company
Thus the environment is is quite challenging as new companies are coming in domain of Research based drug development. Moreover the companies from emerging economies are also cost effective. Therefore the environment will force constant refining of the process and making more productive.

? Political Legal regulations: One should also be aware of foreign trade regulations, attitude towards foreign companies as Pfizer wants to aspire to be a multinational company. Also there is a greater cooperation between the countries with U.S is positive, but there is a threat of terrorism and Iraq war which may be negative.

? Adverse legal environment in various countries
In March 2006 Pfizer sued the Philippines government as well as two government health officials personally, to prevent Philippines drug regulators from allowing the importation of less expensive versions of a Pfizer heart disease drug.

In May 2006, The Washington Post a report, in which a panel of Nigerian medical experts found that Pfizer violated international law.
(Source moneycentral.com)

? Outsourcing

It is outsourcing some of the drugs from low cost regions such as Zoloft being produced in Puerto Rico (www.pridco.com). Several advantages for going offshore are described on the website, such advantages include labor laws, taxes and location.

? Societal responsibility
Due to the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (which went into effect in 2006) regarding prescription drug benefits for Medicare ...