PESTLE and SWOT Analysis of AstraZeneca: Evaluating Macro Environmental Factors and Suggesting Course of Action

This report focuses on the PESTLE and SWOT analysis of AstraZeneca, evaluating the macro environmental factors affecting the organization and suggesting a course of action. The report includes suggestions for improving demand forecasting, resolving cultural integration issues, and using strengths to overcome threats.

BUSINESS AND BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Section 2...........................................................................................................................................3
1. Using PESTLE model for evaluation of macro environmental factors affecting business.....3
2. Analysing SWOT analysation of brand and examining interrelationships with external
factors...........................................................................................................................................4
3. Suggesting and evaluation a course of action for organization...............................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Business environment is defined as the various internal and external factors affecting and
influencing the main working of any organization. With the use of business environment
company may able to identify various opportunities, aids in fully utilization of all available
resources and improving efficiency which leads in firms in grabbing market share, increase in
profitability and gaining competitive advantage over other companies. The current report focus
on 'AstraZeneca' one of the top pharmaceutical brand based in U.K. Analysis showcase about
PESTLE model for evaluation of factors affecting the working of organization. Furthermore,
report delivers details about SWOT analysis and interrelation with PESTLE. Lastly, the analysis
shows about suggestions and evaluation of course of action for enterprise.
Section 2
1. Using PESTLE model for evaluation of macro environmental factors affecting business.
PESTLE analysis is defined as the strategy used by firms for observing, analysing and
interpreting about various external factors affecting business (What is PESTLE Analysis?
Everything you need to know about it, 2021). These factor includes:
Political Factors: These basically delivers knowledge about all the political factors
affecting in the working of organization. Involves environment regulations, tariffs and taxes
imposed by government, trade restrictions, political stability and many more. For 'AstraZeneca'
political factors affecting includes increased spending by government on healthcare programs
which aids firm in increasing profitability and market share. Another major factor includes
uncertainty in the working due to BREXIT exit of nation which cause negative impact in global
business.
Economical Factors: This involves all the economic factors affecting company like
interest rates, inflation and growth of economy (Shukla and Pattnaik, 2019). As various factors
under this one of the factor includes, government works in lowering down the prices of drugs
which affect in negative way for company resulting in decrease sales and lowering profitability
for company. Another negative impact include lowering or deteriorating returns on the research
and development in industry. With these factors affecting the working of firm leads in decreasing
the sales and profit earning of organization.
Social Factors: Factors include like population growth, cultural norms which affect
organization (Sumiati and Pramono, 2019). With higher aged population growing the economy

may cause a positive impact in grabbing the opportunity, as high income level also cause an
upward shift. Another positive impact for industry includes growth in the number of patients
suffering from various diseases. Positive impacts help 'AstraZeneca' in gaining and attracting
new customers trust in brand's drugs which lead to improve the profit earning of firm apart from
that also aids in gaining competitive advantage over other companies to survive and remain at
one of the top rankings.
Technological factors: Various factors including new innovations, developments which
may tend to affect firm. With innovation in buildings cause a positive impact in increasing
quality manufacturing of medicines. As well as A.I. aids industry in tracking and keeping records
about all the drugs and also helps in dealing with frauds resulting in increased brand value.
'AstraZeneca' may tend to have high technological access over other companies which may leads
to already improve the operations of firm and gaining ahead of their competitors. With high
technology by their side company easily able to keep an eye on regular check of working and
drugs resulting in delivering the authentic medicines and people's trust.
Legal Factors: These factors include various affecting legislation by firm, duties and
tariffs imposed by government (Iost Filho and et.al., 2020). Changes in corporate tax rate puts
negative impact on the firm's working. Apart from this many rejections from law in approval for
drug testing also plays an downward shift for 'AstraZeneca' to work effectively. These
restrictions and various laws may tend to put organization into downward situation as well as
bounds firm in many ways for improving or enhancing.
Environmental Factors: Different factors which may tend to affect the operation of
business including environmental change, CSR and many more. With 'AstraZeneca' taking the
role of leadership for improving sustainability in environment and to tackle global climate
change also aids firm in increasing the sales revenue generation with increase in brand reputation
which aims at calling in more customers for organization (Ahmed and et.al., 2019).
These different macro environmental factors affects in the working of business on a
bigger level and also aims at improving or decreasing the effectiveness of industry for sustaining
in the market and acquiring profits in the long run.
2. Analysing SWOT analysation of brand and examining interrelationships with external factors.
SWOT analysis is defined as the strategy or framework designed by firms for observing,
identifying and analysing about various internal factors which may tend to affect the working of

industry (SWOT Analysis Understanding Your Business, Informing Your Strategy, 2021). These
factors showcase about an organization's Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats for
getting the information about working of firms.
Strengths Weakness
1. One of the main strength of company
includes having strong financial performance
aids firm in concrete their business on global
level, apart from this also helps in innovating
and application of new technologies. With the
usage of this strength company may able to get
attention of customers.
2. Another strength of firm includes about the
'AstraZeneca' having very high percentage of
Research and Development expenditure which
help firm in gaining more market accessibility
and efficiency.
3. The company is ranked first in the world
innovation index which leads them to develop
various drugs with the use of high
technologies.
1. Firm requires to improve their demand
forecasting which leads to higher rate of
loosing opportunity for grabbing market share.
2. High failure rate in case of various drugs
resulting in high operational loss for
organization to bear and sustain.
3. Company may not highly successful when it
comes to integration main firm with different
work culture resulting in decrease working
efficiency between the employees.
Opportunities Threats
1. Increase in global population growth of
ageing people leads firm in improving sales
and profitability.
2. New customers from various online
channels, as with new modern day changes
company may have invested huge amount of
money into various online platform and
websites.
3. Opening of new markets because of
1. Higher cost on the development of various
drugs aims to affect firm on competition to
gain more of market.
2. With stable profits in market may have
increase the number of competition in the
pharmaceutical industry which results in
downward pressure on sales revenue and
profitability.
3. 'AstraZeneca' may tend to get a large

government agreements resulting in firm to
grab an opportunity to enter in emerging
markets.
amount of loss in revenue due to generics. As
this type of drug require high amount of
investment to develop, produce and introduced
into market with does not guarantee success.
Interrelation between SWOT and PESTLE:
Both analysis have their interrelationship with each other just as various social factors
affecting industry like population growth of ageing people, increased in number of patients may
results in being one of the opportunities for firm to grab. As with the gaining of these
opportunities brand may able to increase their market share and profitability (Barik and Kumar,
2018). Not just that high technological factors affecting is being strength for the firm as
improved innovation cause in increasing of quality manufacturing medicines and with the help of
'Artificial Intelligence' firm uses that as one of the major strengths in grabbing market share and
gaining competitive advantage. Not just that but with improved technological factor also aids
brand in increasing sales revenue with attracting and getting attention of online customers which
resulting in industry to acquire and gain more profitability. With the usage of these strengths and
opportunities company may have chance to lowering down many risks overcoming their
weaknesses and being able to deal with threats occurring.
3. Suggesting and evaluation a course of action for organization.
From the above PESTLE and SWOT company may able try to come up with various
plans and strategy for improving their operations and working in the organization. As
'AstraZeneca' may try to overcome their weakness of demand forecasting by using and
implementations of various plans and adopting techniques suggested by market analyst. With
improving their demand forecasting, company may able to improve their requirements for
product. Apart from this also aids in identifying the types of products and quantity to be
manufacture or develop (Benzaghta and et.al., 2021). Not just that but also aiding in introducing
various medicines which require some specific type of working environment. Another thing
company may able to overcome their weakness of failure in drug developing. With the use of
proper technology and improving their techniques organization may able to turn their weakness
into opportunity and try to grab them for gaining more of market share and acquiring
profitability.

Brand really requires to resolve the issue of integration of various culture as this
weakness affects the working of industry with different people of various culture comes together
resulting in various ways or methods to execute the work (Bismark and et.al., 2018). As,
different people have different way of doing things resulting in confusion and may end up in
having more challenge in operations. With solving this weakness enterprise may able to improve
their way of working and put more of efficiency into the working which results in company to
improve their operations which results in delivering out more drugs in market and improving the
profit earning of firm.
The firm may also grab their already existing opportunities as, with existing technology
as strength company may try to improve and increase their customer base with attracting the
attention of new customers through online or website services. By delivering out their orders and
providing them with the best suitable services aids firm. Apart from that gaining new customers
also helps in promotion because of good customer services people order more and resulting in
suggesting other individuals to purchase from 'AstraZeneca' which results in improving the
experience of existing customers and gaining new ones too. With new government agreements
organization may enter into new markets leads to access in new market techniques, resources and
many more (Demirtas and et.al., 2021). By entering in new market enterprise may also being
able to gain new customers trust and improve their profitability by selling more of their drugs.
Industry may also use their strengths to lower down their threats as, with the use of their
strong technology firm may able to lower down the cost occurring on development of drugs. For
developing new medicines company requires putting high cost so if firm may try to use their
already enhanced technological machines results in firm to lower down their costs and increasing
the efficiency of producing new products. With these advancements, aids firm in producing
drugs faster than any other company and speedily resulting in capturing market and target
audience as well as gaining profit with being ahead of competition (Islam, 2017). Apart from this
firm also try to resolve and lower down their threat of competition with proper Research and
Development about what kind of competitions firm is facing, what techniques they may use or
about their weakness and threats and how 'AstraZeneca' may use that as their opportunity.
Company may also try to incorporate the loss in developing generic with the assessing
and using of innovation techniques. Being rewarded as top in world innovation index then
industry may use that as their way of lowering down the issue with introducing and finding

innovation. Regular innovation eventually firm may develop ways to solve the challenge which
leads for firm to save money and getting more profitability by getting customers and large
number of market share.
CONCLUSION
From the report it has been concluded that business environment is an important factor
for any firm as, it may tend to affect industries on internally and externally. With the use of
business environment company may able to analyse and observe about various factors affecting
and how company manages those factor for their betterment. The analysis delivers information
about the PESTLE analysation of 'AstraZeneca' and various external factors affecting company's
working in positive and negative ways. Furthermore, report showcase about SWOT analysis of
enterprise along with its interrelation with macro factors affecting. Lastly, the analysis gives
information on various suggestions and course of action industry may use to solving various
issues, overcoming challenges and lowering weakness and threats so that company may able to
increase profits.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals.

Ahmed, S. and et.al., 2019. Environmental factors variably impact tea secondary metabolites in
the context of climate change. Frontiers in plant science. 10. p.939.
Barik, B. and Kumar, S., 2018. Macro Environment of Indian Life Insurance Business: A
PESTLE Analysis. Bimaquest. 18(3).
Benzaghta, M. A. and et.al., 2021. SWOT analysis applications: An integrative literature review.
Journal of Global Business Insights. 6(1). pp.54-72.
Bismark, O. and et.al., 2018. Utilizing Mckinsey 7s model, SWOT analysis, PESTLE and
Balance Scorecard to foster efficient implementation of organizational strategy.
Evidence from the community hospital group-Ghana Limited. International Journal of
Research in Business, Economics and Management. 2(3). pp.94-113.
Demirtas, O. and et.al., 2021. Which renewable energy consumption is more efficient by fuzzy
EDAS method based on PESTLE dimensions?. Environmental Science and Pollution
Research. pp.1-14.
Iost Filho, F. H. and et.al., 2020. Drones: innovative technology for use in precision pest
management. Journal of economic entomology. 113(1). pp.1-25.
Islam, M. A., 2017. SWOT Mix and PESTEL Analysis: Effective Tools of Risk Management of
Leasing Companies. The Millennium University Journal. 2(1). pp.1-18.
Shukla, M. K. and Pattnaik, P. N., 2019. Managing customer relations in a modern business
environment: towards an ecosystem-based sustainable CRM model. Journal of
Relationship Marketing. 18(1). pp.17-33.
Sumiati, A. R. and Pramono, S., 2019. The role of strategic planning and flexibility in shaping
SMEs market orientation in turbulence business environment. European Research
Studies Journal. 22(1). pp.221-236.
Online
SWOT Analysis Understanding Your Business, Informing Your Strategy. 2021. [Online].
Available Through: <https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm>
What is PESTLE Analysis? Everything you need to know about it. 2021. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/what-pestle-analysis>