Abstract
Date: 2018-06-03
Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS
Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University
Authors: Filip Altblom György Simon Pálfi Johanna Åhlander
(96/11/14) (83/11/02) (96/07/24)
Title: An Analysis of a Changing Society and its Impact on a Pharmaceutical
Company’s Supply Chain Management
Supervisor: Edward Gillmore
Keywords: supply chain management, pharmaceutical industry, AstraZeneca,
context, strategic decisions
Research
Question: How does the pharmaceutical companies’ context affect their supply chain
management?
Purpose: The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine different changes within the context
of the pharmaceutical industry and how these changes affect companies’ supply
chain management.
Method: To investigate the research question of this thesis, the data collected was of secondary
nature and was gathered from governmental authorities, scientific articles, annual
reports, press releases and newspapers. The secondary data was used to achieve a
broad view of the investigated subject and to interpret, analyse and make an objective
conclusion regarding the research question of this thesis.
Conclusion: The conclusion of this thesis is that the analysed context forces AstraZeneca to
modify the strategy of their supply chain. This in order to maximize their profit and
performance and to reduce the risk of a market loss and/or eventually a shortage of
supply, compared to the increasing demand of medicine and treatment. It could be
argued that this goes for all market leading pharmaceutical companies since this
context most likely affect every company within the industry.
2018. , p. 49