MODIFIED SWOT ANALYSIS TO INVESTIGATE THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF A PHARMACEUTICAL DISTRIBUTOR

Introduction. Modern marketing methods are the tools of research in various areas of scientific, economic, educational, social and other activities. SWOT analysis is one of the most popular marketing techniques. Like all marketing analysis methods, SWOT analysis has some advantages, including its ease of use and no financial cost of searching, generalizing, and analyzing the initial information, as well as the evaluability of the current state and the predictability of the developments at various planning horizons. Key disadvantages of SWOT analysis: Verbal (not numerical) format of primary data, the impossibility to track the historical data in the future, and the lack of a clear cause-effect and logical relationship between the factors analyzed, which leads to the prevalence of the researchers’ subjective views on the same processes and phenomena. Aim. Development of a modified SWOT analysis to study the pharmaceutical distributor’s operational environment using the mathematical apparatus of processing the experts’ verbal opinions expressed numerically and its practical testing. Materials and Methods. The factors were determined to evaluate the SWOT analysis of the operational environment of a model pharmaceutical distributor in real regional conditions. Intensity of the cross effect of the evaluation factors was identified using a sociological survey of the professional expert group. At the same time, the experts’ verbal opinions were expressed numerically according to the intensity scale proposed: From 1 (minimum) to 5 (maximum). The survey data were processed mathematically using the geometric mean function. The resulting data obtained were ranked by intensity levels according to the developed ranges of numerical values. Results and Discussion. The final matrix of the reciprocal effect intensities of the evaluated factors was formed. Objective data of the SWOT analysis of the pharmaceutical distributor’s operational environment are obtained for four segments of the final matrix, and resource reserves for improving its economic efficiency and problems are identified that can cause significant economic and reputational damage in case of preventive failure to take appropriate organizational and practical decisions. Based on the SWOT-analysis results, the trajectory of a pharmaceutical distributor’s sustainable development was proposed for the conditions of the regional pharmaceutical market. Conclusions. The modified SWOT analysis proposed significantly increased the objectivity of investigating the pharmaceutical distributor’s operational environment, and its practical testing allowed us to justify the areas for strengthening competitiveness and profitability.