SWOT Analysis of Organic Medicine Industry

This article provides a SWOT analysis of the organic medicine industry, including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It also includes a PESTEL and Porter's Five Forces analysis.

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SWOT Analysis of Organic Medicine Industry
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Introduction
Organic medicine refers to the medicines that are made and handled by use of organic
means. Their ingredients do not only contain herbal products but also animal’s products. When
producing organic medicines, chemicals are not used throughout the process. That means that the
production, processing and preservation of these medicine use organic processes. Moreover, such
things as fertilizers, pesticides, or preservatives are not used while growing the plants or rearing
animals that produce these medicines (Patil, 2017). With the increased sedentary lifestyle among
people in the world, most people are looking for a way to stay healthy. People are, therefore,
looking for medicinal alternatives that are safer to use as compared to the current ones. They
have found themselves going for the organic medicines due to their natural nature which most
people believe to be safer than others. Therefore, the demand for organic medicinal products
have been on the rise. Organic medicine industries are faced by a number of Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Below is the SWOT analysis of the organic medicine
industries.
Strengths
Strengths refers to the internal factors that enable an individual or an organization to do
work effectively. In the United Sates, organic medicine industries have a number of strengths
that favor the production of organic medicine. These includes wide variety of agro-climatic
regions, diversification of crop species, and strong and requisite expertise and manpower.
To start with, the United States of America has a wide variety of agro-climatic regions
that favor the production of organic medicinal plants as well as rearing of organic animals. Such
includes the Great Plains and the Great Central Valley where farming flourishes best in the

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country. Secondly, the fact that there are diversified species of crops in the United States as well
as in the other countries in the world makes the production of organic medicines easy (Lam,
2001). Diversified species of crops means increased sources of organic medicine. Moreover, the
fact that the United States has a requisite expertise and manpower makes it easy and favorable
for organic medicine industries to prosper in the country by producing quality organic medicines.
For instance, the technology in the United States makes it easy for the different industries to
produce high quantity and quality organic products as well as animals. This includes the use
machinery such as a tractor and other advanced manpower to farming of these crops is easy.
Furthermore, the technology in the US ensures that the organic medicinal plants or animals are
not exposed to chemicals.
Weaknesses
Weaknesses refers to the internal factors that act as a challenge to the production and
marketing of organic medicine. In the United States, industries dealing with the growth of
organic crops used in production of organic medicine have a number of weaknesses. This
includes poor cultivation practices, unawareness of useful crop species to a number of people,
poor marketing infrastructure, and lack of government support
To start with, poor cultivation practices is one of the weaknesses facing the organic
medicine industries. To produce organic crop products and animals’ products required to make
the organic medicine, no scientific or latest farming techniques are used. This, therefore, leads to
low quality and quantity crops and animals yields. To add to, another weakness facing the
organic medicine industries is the unawareness of useful crop species or animals to a number of
people. Most useful crops are either found in the wild or in homesteads but people fail to know

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their worth or useful. This means that most useful crops go unnoticed or under-utilized which in
turn leads to low yield of organic medicine. Additionally, the marketing of organic medicines is
at times poor. Most people have no knowledge about the existence of organic medicines. This is
due to it poor marketing practices which includes less or no advertisements of the products.
Furthermore, governments of most countries fail to show their support for the production and
marketing of organic medicinal products which leads to low sales.
Opportunities
Opportunities refers to the advantageous or favorable circumstances that arise as a result
of a number of external factors. The organic medicine industries have a number of opportunities
including support from experts and or NGOs to produce and market the product, generate
employment among the local folk, potential increase in revenue generation and greater demand
for exports of organic crops or animals.
To start with, most experts and or NGOs who know about the benefits of organic
medicines are likely to support the respective industries in producing and marketing the
medicinal products. This in turn provides the industries with the ability to produce the organic
medicines in great quantities hence more profits. Secondly, increased demand in organic
medicines means an increased demand for organic crops which creates an opportunity for
organic farmers to make more revenues (Reganold & Wachter, 2016). Additionally, the
establishment of organic medicine industries creates employment opportunities to the local
communities. Moreover, with the increasing rate of demand for organic medicines, there is a
likelihood that the revenues that are as a result of sales of organic medicines will rise.
Furthermore, there will an increased demand for exports of organic crops and animals.

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Threats
Threats refers to anything that is capable of causing damage or poses such danger to an
organization, product or a venture. The organic medicine industries face a number of threats
including unexpected climatic changes, fluctuating market prices, inadequate knowlwdge by
farmers and the indiscriminate shifting from food crops to organic medicinal products. These are
discussed below.
To start with, the climate of the United States varies with time which makes it hard to
predict the best time to grow organic crops or rear organic animals or in which regions (Gergel,
B., J. T., & Stumbaugh, 2017). With increased industrialization, the climatic change of the
United States has really changed making it unpredictable on the best regions or times to grow
organic crops or rear organic animals. Secondly, the organic medicine industries face the threat
of fluctuating market prices. The prices for organic medicinal products will vary depending on
demand from customers. For instance, if a product wins the trust of many people in the country
or outside the country then, its demand will definitely go up leading to an increase in prices.
Conversely, the opposite is true. Additionally, inadequate knowledge by the farmers who grow
the organic crops poses a great threat to the organic medicine industry. Producing organic crops
or rearing organic animals requires adequate knowledge from the responsible farmers. In case the
farmers fail to rear the animals or grow the crops as required by the organic standards, then the
final products are likely to be contaminated with chemicals (Pershina EV, 2016). Lastly, with the
increased demand for organic crops and animals, most farmers are likely to switch from growing
food crops to growing the crops whose demand is high. This, in turn, could lead to a decrease in
production of food crops which poses a threat of reduced food supply in the country.

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PESTEL and Porters 5 Forces analysis
Porter’s Five Forces and PESTEL analysis refers to two sets that help an organization to
analyze their situations and to improve their competitive advantage. The porters five analysis
focuses on where the power lies in a competitive situation while PESTEL analysis focuses on
how a number of macro environmental factors affect an organization as well as its competitive
standing. These includes the environmental, economic, sociocultural, legal, technological and
political factors.
To start with the Porters Five Forces analysis, the organic medicine industries focuses on
the following factors in determining the balance of certain situations.
 Supplier power: - this includes the number of suppliers in the market, uniqueness
of services and the cost of changing suppliers.
 Buyer power: - this includes the power that a buyer holds in the market. It is
essential since they help in determining the products or services to provide for
them.
 Competitive rivalry: - this includes the number of other companies that produce
the same products. It is essential to carry out this analysis since it helps identify
the number of organizations that poses as a competitor in the market.
 Threat of substitution: - this refers to the threat that a product faces due to the
possibility of development of a substitute product. For the organic medicine
industries, the face this kind of a threat from herbal medicines as well as from the
modern ones.

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 Threat of new entry: - this refers to the threat an organization faces from new
entry of a similar product or organization that produce similar products.
The PESTEL analysis, on the other hand, aims at determining how an organization is a
number of factors. For the organic medicine industry, PESTEL analysis involve looking into the
following factors (Oraman, 2014):
 Political factors: - the political factors influence how an economy of a country
functions. Moreover, each government or political party in power have their own
laws and regulation concerning business operations.
 Economic factors: - this involve such factors as taxation, inflation and or
deflation. These factors affect the organic medicine industry as they have to
comply with some of them including taxation.
 Social factors: - this refers to the impacts that are as a result of the needs of people
in the society. Organic medicine industries have to function to meet the need of
the different people. This includes compliance with the culture of different people
in the society
 Technological factors: - organic medicine industries have to face a number of
technological issues that arise as a result of the production of organic medicines.
This involves preservation of the medicine which requires organic means to store.
 Environmental factors: - these includes the challenges that arise as a result of
environment factors such as global warming which affects the growth of organic
medicinal plants.

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 Legal factors: - these involve the legal requirements that the organic medicine
industries have to comply with. This includes regular checks to the processing,
production and preservation of the organic medicines.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it is clear that organic medicine companies are facing an
increase in demand rate for organic medicine. In the United States, these industries have a
number of strengths including requisite expertise and manpower and wide variety of agro-
climatic zones. The industries have a number of weaknesses including poor marketing practices
and lack of government support. Opportunities that come with the establishment of these
industries includes employment chances and support from NGOs and or other experts. The
threats include fluctuating market prices and the shifting from food crops to cash crops.

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References
Gergel, D. R., B., A., J. T., L., & Stumbaugh, M. R. (2017). Effects of climate change on
snowpack and fire potential in the western USA. climate change, 287-299.
Lam, T. (2001). Strengths and weaknesses of traditional Chinese medicine and Western
medicine in the eyes of some Hong Kong Chinese. J Epidemiol Community Health, 762-
765.
Oraman, Y. (2014). An Analytic Study of Organic Food Industry As Part of Healthy Eating
Habit in Turkey. Market Growth, Challenges and Prospects.
Patil, K. (2017). Difference Between Organic Medicines and Herbal Medicines. Organic facts.
Pershina EV, V. J. (2016). Correction: Comparative Analysis of Prokaryotic Communities
Associated with Organic and Conventional Farming Systems. PloS one.
Reganold, J., & Wachter, J. (2016). Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century. Nature plants
2, 15221.
Teamwork Skills: Being an Effective Group Member | Centre for Teaching Excellence. (2018).
Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/
teaching-tips/tips-students/being-part-team/teamwork-skills-being-effective-group-member
Why Natural Medicine | Institute for Natural Medicine. (2018). Retrieved from
https://naturemed.org/the-naturopathic-approach/why-natural-medicine/

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