Management Report: Strategic Solutions for Beckman Coulter in Oman

This management report offers a comprehensive analysis of strategic solutions for Beckman Coulter, specifically addressing challenges and opportunities in the Oman market. The report begins with an introduction and background on Beckman Coulter, its existing product strategy, and an overview of its market segmentation and marketing goals. It then delves into a thorough environmental analysis, including PEST, SWOT, and Porter's Five Forces analyses to assess the external and internal factors influencing the company's performance. The core of the report focuses on proposing business strategies to address identified challenges, including investment recommendations in specific business units, the importance of science and technology, and an entry strategy for the emerging Oman market. The report aims to provide actionable insights and recommendations to enhance Beckman Coulter's market volume and overall success in Oman, considering the dynamic nature of the in vitro diagnostic industry.

Running head: MANAGEMENT REPORT PROVIDING STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS
Management report providing strategic solutions
Name of the Student
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1MANAGEMENT REPORT PROVIDING STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS
Table of Content
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................2
1.2 Background......................................................................................................................2
1.3 Existing product strategy..................................................................................................3
1.4 Segmentation Strategy.....................................................................................................4
1.5 Marketing goals and objectives........................................................................................5
2.0 Environmental analysis........................................................................................................6
2.1 PEST Analysis.................................................................................................................6
2.2 SWOT..............................................................................................................................7
2.3 Porter’s five forces.........................................................................................................11
3.0 Business strategies to address the challenges.....................................................................12
3.1 Business units to invest..................................................................................................12
3.2 Investment in the area of science and technology..........................................................13
3.3 Entry strategy in Oman’s emerging market with selected product................................13
References................................................................................................................................16
Appendices...............................................................................................................................19

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Topic- Strategies issues Beckman Coulter facing to enhance its market volume in Oman
1.0 Introduction
This research report is a detailed analysis of the strategic solutions developed against
the issues faced by the organization Beckman Coulter when increasing market volume in
Oman. The fundamental purpose of the study is to develop suitable strategic solutions for the
chosen organization to address the issues it faces when enhancing its presence in Oman. It
has been identified that market environment in the vitro diagnostic industry has been dynamic
in nature, which is driven several external factors like economy, market demands, and
environmental factors. Thus, running a business with complete stability in the market is
challenging. So, this research report identifies the issues that organization currently faces in
Oman and present suitable solution against the issues.
1.2 Background
Notably Beckman Coulter is one of the leading brand in vitro diagnostic industry in
the world with its operation in more than 130 nations. The organization is in the rush of
developing the efficiency of clinical laboratories as well as medical professionals. Beckman
Coulter is committed to advancing for every individual by applying the power of science,
technology to enhance the healthcare outcomes (beckmancoulter.com 2019). It has also been
found that organization provides a unique combination of people, process and solutions
developed to evaluate performance of clinical laboratories as well as healthcare network. The
major strength of the organization is its large variety of products such as the products related
chemistry, immunoassay, haematology, micro-biology, blood banking and several others. It
has been found that the organization is rapidly growing with the sales of $5.8 billion sales by
2018. The overall workforce of the organization is more than 12000. According to George et
al. (2014), Beckman Coulter, in the recent time has gained a tremendous exposure from its

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haematology market because it has been identified that haematology market covers the all
sort of hospitals, labs and clinics in UAE nations which excels the operational growth of the
organization. Nonetheless, this burgeoning demands of this sector would not be an easy task
to perform because the market has been dynamic in nature and several competitors also have
their increasing share in the market.
1.3 Existing product strategy
It is certain that when the market has been dynamic, survival of a brand depends on
the value of products and services. Beckman Coulter is stepping ahead due its product
development strategy. Product development strategy of Beckman Coulter is widely
dependent on the use of the technology –which means the organization is leveraging the
technology to develop product. However, Loeb et al. (2013) mentioned the fact that when
basic diagnostic technology when combined with the complex software, requires more
services to maintain and upgrade it through each generation of new technology. Meintker et
al. (2013) arguably mentioned the fact that the standards and sophistication required by
vendors to support and manage lab’s use of these instrument could be source of expenditure
which is challenging to the organization. However, another factor is that where the diagnostic
technology is necessary factor Beckman Coulter’s earlier acquisition strategy was developed
to acquire bioassay technology which are fundamentally robust and adaptable to the future
improvement.
Products review
When it comes to product portfolio of Beckman Coulter, it is worth stating that
chemistry/immunoassay, cellular analysis and molecular diagnostic are the backbone of its
products. As put forward by Tran, Hoang and Greaves (2016), chemistry/immunoassay
which, holding $12 billion, is growing at 6%.

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Figure 1: Growth in the product category of Beckman Coulter
(Source: Tran, Hoang and Greaves 2016)
Moreover, it has also been identified that strength in the field of chemistry is critical
and supplier has been the first choice for automation and immunoassay. Schiffner et al.
(2017) mentioned that earlier in 2017 and 2017, Beckman Coulter had 27% of chemistry and
7% share of immunoassay. So, consequently, the firm needs to pay attention to leadership of
automation, work-cell follow, extended chemistry depth and emerging technologies and tests.
On the other side, Sun et al. (2014) mentioned that there has been a number issues in
Molecular Diagnostic products because customer needs are not properly met. It has been
noted that there is significant shortage of skilled staffing for the laborious sample preparation.
In addition to this, the whole product development scenario is based on the technology,
organization require too many platforms to perform the desired test.
1.4 Segmentation Strategy
It is worth stating that market segmentation is a significant element which certainly
requires the buyers to be divided into three different segments namely private, government

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and organizations. Velinov (2017) mentioned the fact that as the organization is running its
operation in the developing nation like Oman, governmental agencies are major part of the
segmentation. So, when enhance the market volume in Oman, the organization needs to focus
on the Ministries of Health and defence, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Diwan and
Royal Oman Police. On the other side, the private sector should not go unnoticed because
Oman is certainly a wide market for Beckman Coulter because the number of hospitals,
clinics and labs are rapidly increasing in the private sector of Oman.
The major private organizations that Beckman Coulter should focus on are Badr Al
Samaa and Aster and StarCare. It should be noted that when segmenting the market for
diagnostic products, both government and private sector organizations have to be considered
because the demand for vitro diagnostic products has been driven by an increasing health
consciousness among the customers (Yallup and Basiricò 2018). Consequently, this leads to a
hike in the number of people who seek diagnostic devices at daily intervals for avoiding the
complexities. According to Shahbaz et al. (2014), government of the GCC nations have
developed many health awareness programs and strategies. In light of this approach, the
governments of the nations are shifting their focus towards promoting specialized and
services by enhancing the investment for the devices in the medical examinations. Thus, it
can be mentioned that both private and public sector organizations are the major segments.
1.5 Marketing goals and objectives
It has been identified that Beckman Coulter is way more inclined towards the market
expansion with its goal of developing enhanced and innovative healthcare outcomes with
technology alongside considering the competitive advantages. This goal is supported and
achieved by the vast category of products. However, it has been identified that marketing
goals of Beckman Coulter is aligned with the sales strategies, which means when running
global operation the firm is able to manage and align its marketing goals with the sales.

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According to Li et al. (2017), Beckman Coulter focus on market expansion considering the
sales volumes and growth strategy. This means growth through acquisition is treated as the
most significant strategy at Beckman Coulter and this is linked to its view of how healthcare
marketplace is evolving. Yallup and Basiricò (2018) mentioned that on the basis of the
characteristics, it could offer suitable solutions that certainly integrate with the laboratory
system of the purchasing agencies.
2.0 Environmental analysis
2.1 PEST Analysis
Political Environment:
It has been identified that as the nation Oman falls under the category of a developing
nations due to its economic stability, businesses often find significant opportunity to expand
and penetrate on. Zwart (2017) mentioned that governments of the nation is more inclined
towards this initiative of expansion of vitro diagnostic solutions because the nation observed
a increasing occurrence of different infectious as well as chronic diseases represents some
major drivers of the vitro diagnostic in UAE nations.
Economic environment: As put stated by Tarabeux et al. (2014), the economy of
Oman is in general considered as high-income economies in the Middle East because the
economy is most likely to reach $95 billion by 2018. Erickson et al. (2014) added the fact
that global economy is most likely to increase despite the constant uncertainties in Europe.
So, it can be added that the nation Oman is ahead of leading economies of the world with
respect to economic growth. Thus, stable economy and growing demands of diagnostic
products is a significant opportunity for Beckman Coulter to sustain and expand the business
in the chosen market. Nonetheless, it can be added that this emerging market of Beckman
Coulter should be based on the expansion of menu of products. The firm should particularly

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pay attention to largest as well as the stated sustainable opportunities to enhance its market
volumes.
Social environment: It has been noted that even though the economy in Oman is
stable and people started living an economy based living but it can be added that due to aging
population, emergence of new diseases, the demands of diagnostic products and testing have
increased. Particularly, Sbia, Shahbaz and Hamdi (2014) stated that average age of patients in
Oman is 33 years and almost 90% are men. So, to meet this growing demands, organization
must have to pay attention to diagnostics technology and services. Organization should
provide a wide portfolio of chemistry, immunoassay, and other technology based information
system.
Technology- It can be added that as company tends to looks at the healthcare system
of Oman and other associated regions, an interesting development related to the same is often
observed. In this context, Al-Shayeb and Hatemi (2016) argued that there is a common thread
operating through the changes in the health system of many nations but technology is one
element which strongly influences the growth and development. It has been identified that
Beckman Coulter has developed a robust diagnostic technology for each testing line which is
further redesigned to remain compatible in several ways. It should be noted that the
organization wants the chemistry to be the same. This is needed because it was found earlier
that organisation needs to pay more attention to immunoassay. Jabado et al. (2015) also
mentioned the fact that the organization also needs to extend to its chemistry reach in light of
the cross selling opportunity. It can be added that in order to remain competitive through then
use of technology, Beckman Coulter should pay heed to game changing technology- such as
how the brand can obtain the advantage of reducing complexity and enhanced reliability.

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2.2 SWOT
Strengths
 The organization has large internal strength which enables the organizations to
perform the operation in more than 130 nations across the globe.
 Internal capability of the organisation is significantly high –presently thee workforce
volume of Beckman and Coulter is around 12000 world wide
 It has been noted that financial capability is one such factor that enabled the firm to
run and operate in a global diagnostic environment. It has been identified that
diagnostic segment of the revenue increased 16% to $5.8 billion in 2018 (Sun et al.
2014).
 It has been identified that Beckman and Coulter receives tremendous back up from
the government helped the firm to apply aggressive marketing strategy such as high-
end pricing strategy (beckmancoulter.com 2019).
 As the expansion of market is one of its core marketing strategy, it can be added that
acquisition of Cepheid strengthens its molecular diagnostic position with the largest
installed base and test menu in the molecular testing segment and the strong track of
innovation (Velinov 2017).
 Beckman Coulter has been the leader in Cellular analysis
Weaknesses:
 Even though the firm is rapidly growing in the UAE market, share of competitors
is relatively high in the market
 There is a series of unmet needs that consumers often raise; particularly it is
identified that there are certain issues in the molecular diagnostics such as instable
flow of cytometry and hematology (Shahbaz et al. 2014.)

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 It is noted that lack of awareness to the detailed requirements of technology based
diagnostic products
 There is a long list of unmet customer needs, organization still observes the lack
of support and centre to deal with the customer related request.
 Constant significant shortage of skilled staffing for the laborious sample
preparation is delaying the operation
 Whole product development scenario is based on the technology, organization
require too many platforms to perform the desired test.
 Market environment is highly competitive and dynamic in nature, thus, enhanced
diagnostic technology is quickly saturated in the market, and organization faces
the challenge of developing a new technology for leading ahead. However, this is
often challenging to the firm (Li et al. 2017)
Opportunity
 It is noted that the UAE market for Vitro Diagnostic is presently estimated to be
worth .93 billion USD by 2020, which is a great opportunity for Beckman Coulter to
spread across the market because the data shows the hidden demand of vitro
diagnostic products (Tarabeux et al. 2014)
 The entire Middle East is an emerging market which certainly confirms the scope for
growth and they are expected to dominate the market in the coming days. Beckman
Coulter should be engaged in the market to a greater extent with its technology based
items.
 Technology advances are greatly embraced in the market because of the increasing
chronic disease patient pool in Oman.
Threat:

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 It has been noted that Regent holds the largest market share of diagnostic product.
This means Regents capture the largest market share and they are expected to
demonstrate the fastest growth rate over the forecast period, owning to repeat
purchase and maximise demand. This is a potential threat to the organization
Beckman and Coulter (Sorenson, Drummond and Khan 2013)
 The major market players such in Oman Vitro diagnostic sector are bioMérieux,
Qiagen, Abbott Laboratories, and Roche Diagnostics, and
Siemens and they all are rapidly growing in the market.
 Changing market environment is a significant threat to the
organization because whenever organization emphasize one sort of
technology, something new developed by other in the sector takes
the hold. In addition, dynamic market environment is also a potent
barrier in understanding consumer needs and demands.
 It has been identified that diagnostic market in UAE has been highly competitive in
nature. It is noted that existing players have started applying aggressive marketing
strategies for the thirst of acquisition. It has also been identified that outstanding
unexplored market in the vitro-diagnostic market is helping to enhance the economy
which is further creating ample development opportunities for the vitro-diagnostic
market to increase at a considerable rate of in the coming years. The major factor that
enabled competitors is that advanced research development facilities in the molecular
diagnosis, new product development, as well as increasing investment by
organizations are actually accelerating the demand of vitro diagnostic in the sector.
Bainbridge (2013) mentioned that Roche holds the revenue of $5Billion in
Pharmaceutical and Consumer Diagnostic products and Siemens holds the revenue of

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5 billion in power system, Transportation, Telecommunication, lighting and medical
imaging.
 Compared to Siemens and Roche, the overall revenue of Beckman Coulter holds the
revenue of 3.6 billion. On the other side, Sbia, Shahbaz and Hamdi (2014) mentioned
that Abbott holds the revenue of $43.3 Billion and J&J holds the revenue of 1.5
billion. Thus, it can be mentioned that compared to Roche and Siemens, Beckman
Coulter is lagging behind with respect to revenue of the market. However, it has been
noted that organization Beckman Coulter holds the maximum percentage of the
market with respect to biomedical testing, while the market leader Roche holds 20%
of the market with respect to biomedical testing.
2.3 Porter’s five forces
Bargaining power of the consumers:
It has been identified that particularly in the vitro-diagnostic are kind of a test which
is performed outside the human body in the artificial environment. Average age of patients in
Oman is 33 years and almost 90% are men which indicates the fact consumers’ demand for
vitro diagnostic product is rapidly growing. Demand for fit –vitro diagnosis is increasing
because of the growing prevalence of chronic disease. Tran, Hoang and Greaves (2016)
mentioned that demand of vitro-diagnostic product is relatively high because of the growing
cases of disease and geriatric population and there has been a significant rise in the initiative
by health authorities which ensures the preventative care through regular check-up.
Bargaining power of the suppliers:
It has also been identified that there has been significant demand of suppliers of vitro-
diagnostic products because the number of players in the market is increasing. In light of the
demand and number of players, suppliers find the scope for increasing the price of products.