Technology Trends

Within Abbott Labs

Technology Trends Within Abbott Labs

A Study of How Technological Changes Effect Abbott
Labs
Taylor Salomon
Megan Hummel
Corey Cunningham
November 23, 2014

Group 9

Memo
To:

Professor Keller, COM 338

From:

Group 9; Taylor, Megan, Corey

Date:

October 9, 2014

Subject:

How Technological Advances Effect Abbott Labs

Here is the report that you assigned to us on the week of September 8, 2014 on a Fortune 500
company. We decided to write our report on trends in technology and how it affects the
pharmaceutical company, Abbott Labs.
During our research for the report we found out whether or not increased technology is
benefiting Abbott Labs and the overall consumer. The information we covered during the
study of this company is what technology the company started with, how it has evolved in
time, and also how it has helped people over time. We will also take a look at how the
technology at Abbott Labs compares to other companies in the pharmaceutical industry.
Abbott Labs has recently taken over another company and we believe that this was a great
move to expand the company and that this will create many more business opportunities
for them. Along with that, it will also provide new technological advances and opportunities.
By Abbott Labs going through this acquisition they have created a better position for
themselves in Latin America. We will go into better detail on this within the report
As a group we worked well together. We broke the research into sections to complete the
work faster and then we put it all together and discussed different ways of presenting so it
would be done professionally.
Thank you for the opportunity to broaden our knowledge and learn about a company we
didnt even know was making such an impact on the pharmaceutical world. Thank you for
creating group work so we can learn to work together as a team and get to know our
classmates. This opportunity to learn how to research a company and compile reports about
them will be useful knowledge in the future. If there are any questions, comments, or
concerns about the information in the report please, contact us.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRO ............................................................................................................................... 5
TECHNOLOGY IN THE PAST ..................................................................................... 6
ABBOTT LABS PREVIOUS TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................ 6
EXPERIENCE WITH ADVANCES .......................................................................................... 6
COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS TECHNOLOGY ...................................................... 7
CURRENT TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................... 7
CURRENT TECHNOLOGY USED ......................................................................................... 7
BENEFITS OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................... 8
DEVELOPMENT OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGY ...................................................................... 9
INDUSTRY COMPARISONS ......................................................................................... 9
COMPARE AND CONTRASTS ............................................................................................ 10
ABBOTTS POSITION ....................................................................................................... 12
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 12
FUTURE STANDING OF ABBOTT ...................................................................................... 12

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES
SOCIAL MEDIA BENEFITS ..8
FIRMS USING SOCIAL MEDIA...11

INTRODUCTION
Abbot Laboratories is an American pharmaceuticals and health care products
company. They currently employ around 90,000 employees and have operations in
over 130 countries. Their main company headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois.
Since Abbott Labs is a very large company that produces a wide variety of products
and resources for its consumers, there is a lot of different and advanced types of
technology that go into it. Our group decided to look into the types of technology
that we are all familiar with. This mostly includes social media websites, such as,
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. However, it also includes a variety of applications
that users can download right on their phones, and also location services. There are
many benefits that come from using these types of technology in a company. Some
of those benefits include saving money by reaching a wide variety of people through
a cheaper channel of communication. Another benefit is that is saves time for
consumers because they have everything they could possibly need right at their
fingertips. One last benefit is that it is more convenient for employees of the
company and for consumers. Whenever there is a benefit to something there is also
going to be some disadvantages. In this case some disadvantages would be
dependency, the need to upgrade technology, and the fact that consumers may feel
an invasion of privacy.
The purpose of this report is to analyze the use of technology within Abbott
Laboratories, review their use of technology in the past, present how they are
currently using technology, compare their use of technology with their competitors,

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and also predict what could possibly be in store for the future of Abbott
Laboratories.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE PAST

Abbott Labs Previous Tech
Abbott Laboratories was established in 1888 and has been expanding and growing
over the past 126 years ("Global Healthcare and Research"). Since the company has
begun the world of technology has come a long way. Not only has the world embraced
technology but people have become dependent on it. Abbott has their own website
Abbott.com that they use to share information with their consumers about the products
and services have to offer ("Global Healthcare and Research"). Their website is very
informational and user friendly. Abbott like many other companies created accounts
social media but it wasnt until 2010 that they opened one. Since then they have made
several other accounts on different social media sites.

Experience with Advances

By Abbott Laboratories changing their use of technology with the growing world
the company is becoming well known through advertising. Consumers are more likely to
buy things from a trusted and well known company. People tend to buy brand names
because they are trusted, Abbott is responsible for a few brand name products like
Similac and Pediasure ("Global Healthcare and Research"). One of the many benefits of
Abbott stepping into the world of social media is that a consumer can follow whats
going on with the company more easily. If a consumer follows Abbott on social media the

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chances of them using the services offered are higher. With many ways to contact Abbott
information is easier to find and if the company is having any promotions they can spread
them to their customers through social media.

Cost/Benefit Analysis of Previous Technology

Advertisements cost money and before social media companies had to pay for
advertisements in the paper and on the television. With the advances in technology
Abbott can cut down on costs and use free advertising on their social media accounts. If
Abbott advertises its products and services and people buy them this benefits the
company but if they are spending more money on the advertisement then they make on
those products then its not beneficial to the company. In the past Abbott has spent
$301.7 million on advertisements, considering thats a huge amount of money the
company could benefit from finding cheaper ways to advertise ("Abbott Laboratories").

CURRENT TECHNOLOGY
Current Technology Used
Now that Abbott Laboratories have embraced technology on the web they have
created accounts for Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, YouTube, and Instagram. One of the
YouTube accounts is called Abbott Internship Channel on the account they have
general information about the company and useful videos about interning with the
company. The Linked In account is similar but it has many posts about job opportunities

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within the company. Abbott is using technology to help people find jobs and provide an
abundance of knowledge to the consumers about what the company has to offer.

Benefits of Current Technology

Abbott is using technology to their advantage and not only does it benefit them
but it benefits the consumers as well. By having several different ways for the consumer
to interact with the company they are creating more ways to advertise what they have to
offer to different groups of people. For Example the companys Instagram page is filled
with inspirational health quotes to keep people motivated and living healthy. These uses
of social media are great ways for Abbott to make people want to learn more about the
company. Another great way Abbott is helping themselves and their consumers is by
having locations in more than one country. They have locations in 150 countries
("Abbott Laboratories | Abbott Worldwide"). Not only do they have locations around the
world but they have options on their website for the consumer to select the country they
are looking for and it will take them to a page specifically for them to find what they need
(Global Sites).

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Development of Technology
Technology is a great thing and can be used in many ways. Creating a social
media website is free but if a company wants to use it to advertise that can be very
expensive, not only can it be expensive but it can also be very time consuming. There are
many ways to change and design your pages, the possibilities are endless. When using
social media you want to be sure to put content that is relevant to the consumer. The
company also needs to make sure the content is appropriate and professional. Some of the
things that might affect Abbott are: too much information on the websites or too many
ways to contact the company. People like simple things and if Abbott makes it hard for a
consumer to find what they are looking for then that person will take their business
elsewhere and give the company a bad review. However, Abbotts websites are user
friendly and have search bars to help guide the consumer to the information they are
looking for. Another thing Abbott has to look out for is negative posts about the company
word gets around fast when there is bad news involved. In order to keep up with the
negative Abbott will need people to monitor their sites to ensure that the bad stuff doesnt
ruin the companys image.

INDUSTRY COMPARISONS
When looking at the pharmaceuticals industry, Abbott is one of the largest and
most successful companies around today with an expansive reach of products and
services. The pharmaceutical industry is a massive industry though and Abbott has plenty
of direct competitors vying for customers against them. As we have focused our

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attentions to the social media technologies of Abbott, we will look now at how they stack
up against some of their biggest competitors in that aspect.

Compare and Contrasts

First, we looked at Mylan Inc. out of Cecil Township, Pennsylvania. Mylan was
difficult to find social media information on and had a moderate presence on modern
social media that connected with consumers. Sites like Facebook and Twitter do exist for
Mylan but they have low activity on them and arent used for anything more than to
promote and advertise. LinkedIn contained their strongest presence with 10,000+
followers and was used to connect on a professional level with business partners and
potential employees. Overall, Mylans best social media aspects for connecting with their
customers were LinkedIn and their website, both of which have low customer interaction.
Next in order, Valeant Pharmaceuticals is examined, located in Montreal, Canada.
Social media seemed to not be a relevant avenue that Valeant wanted to pursue as a
company. The only place you can truly find Valeant online is through their website which
contains basic information about who they are and what they do. The only social media
found of theirs was a Facebook page which contained minimal information and used for
advertising and promotion. When it came to connecting with their customers, the only
avenue that a consumer could really take would be to contact them via their website or
phone lines. All in all, Valeant had the lowest social media presence of all competitors.
Thirdly, is Abbotts biggest social media competitor, Teva Pharmaceuticals
whose world headquarters is in Petah Tikva, Israel. Teva has a very strong social media
presence with all forms of modern and professional forms of connectivity. They are very

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active via their Twitter account with a strong following that although its foreign and in
Spanish, connects with a lot of their customers. Teva also uses Facebook and YouTube as
avenues to connect with multiple posts daily and lots of videos that inform about who
Teva is and what they do. The strongest following that they have is through LinkedIn as
Teva has 82,000+ followers and connects daily with them about upcoming events and
projects that the company is involved in. In total, Teva is very accessible to its customers
and business partners providing a very involved network of social media to promote their
company and their visions.

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Abbotts Position
Comparing and contrasting these companies side by side with Abbott, weve
found that Abbott has the upper hand on its competition when it comes to social media
technologies. Abbott offers the best connectivity and interactions with its customers on
multiple different social platforms that make it accessible at all times. Abbott also offers
up a mobile app for free which is unlike any other company allowing for a whole new
level of customer service and quality. With the strongest presence and following, Abbott
clearly beats out its competition.

CONCLUSION
Based off of our weeks of research and analysis we believe that Abbott Labs is
ahead of all of their competitors when it comes to the use of social media for business
opportunities. We have looked at their past and current use of technology and it is clear
how these uses have benefited them.
Future Standing Of Abbott Labs
Although no one can ever be sure of where Abbot Laboratories will be in the future, we
believe that it will continue to grow and prosper. As of now Abbott Labs is not a
company that a lot of people are familiar with, but with the growth of social media we
believe that Abbott could become a household name in future years. This will push for
more products and innovation for Abbott Labs. Abbot Laboratories is a great company
and it has the experience to show for it.

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REFERENCES

Abbott Laboratories. (2013, February 26). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from
http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/abbott-laboratories

Abbott Laboratories | Abbott Worldwide. (2006). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from
http://www-pweb1.abbott.com/careers-locations.htm

Global Healthcare and Research. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from
http://www.abbott.com/

Global Sites. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from

http://www.abbott.com/global-sites.html

Mylan. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from

http://www.mylan.com/

Pros & Cons of Technology in Business Today. (n.d.). Retrieved November

10, 2014, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/pros-cons-technology-businesstoday-2709.html

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries LTD - Corporate Website (NYSE:TEVA).

(n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2014, from http://www.tevapharm.com/

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(n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2014, from

http://industryweek.com/emerging-technologies/six-tech-trends-will-shapepharmacuetical-industry-2013?page=2

(n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://www.valeant.com/