Eli Lilly and Company Case AnalysisThe analyzed case, Eli Lilly & Company, will cover the positive and negative points of Eli Lilly's business situation and strategy. One of the leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies in its industry, Lilly has focused its efforts on the areas of “drug research, development and commercialization in the following areas: neuroscience, endocrinology, oncology, cardiovascular diseases and women's health. Having made a strong comeback in the 1990s with its remarkably effective antidepressant, Prozac, it now faced a potential loss of profits with its soon-to-expire patent. The problem was not only the upcoming expiration of the Prozac patent, but the fact that Prozac represented up to 30% of total sales was the reality Eli Lilly now faced. (Pearce & Robinson, 34-1)Summary of key strategic issuesBy choosing to focus on its core pharmaceutical business in the 1990s, Lilly appears to have deliberately or inadvertently chosen to channel its efforts into the neuroscience category with the patented products Prozac and Zyprexa, Lilly's best sellers. Its unbalanced portfolio and lagging international sales were the consequence of its reliance on just a few key products. This type of neuroscience-driven strategy was not well suited to more cost-conscious, disease-treatment-focused international regions. Other factors that worked against them were regulations in developed countries other than the United States on pharmaceutical drug pricing and payment programs through national health insurance programs. As a result, Lilly would not have made as high a profit margin on its blockbuster drugs, Prozac and Zyprexa, in Europe and Japan as ...... middle of paper ...... exa products , the company faces numerous market challenges related to changing demographics, increasing competition, industry consolidation, regulatory pressures and cost constraints of the healthcare industry. It is recommended that Lilly diversify its product portfolio, cautiously begin acquiring smaller companies, and work to change its organizational culture to encourage organization-wide flexibility and learning.ReferencesGadiesh , Orit & Buchanan, Robin "The Leadership Testing Ground: Mergers May be the Truest Test of Great Leaders," Journal of Business Strategy, 23(2), pp. 12-17. Greenberg, Jerald Managing Behavior in Organizations (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), pp. 132-133. Pearce II, John A. and Robinson, Jr., Richard B. (2005). Strategic management: formulation, implementation and control (9th ed.). The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York.