Project Experience

The Changing Paradigm of the BioPharmaceutical Industry

Client Situation
As the biopharmaceutical industries continue to evolve through mega-mergers and leaps in technological advances, the challenge of a changing paradigm faces many players. The importance of understanding corporate structures and hierarchies becomes crucial for understanding one's competitors and their likely future strategies. Are they gearing up to focus on innovation and development, or are they willing to license the future via products or technologies developed by others? How do they make those decisions? A recent study of the top seven global pharmaceutical companies investigated the formation of regional business units and the level of autonomy held by various decision-makers. We sought to help our client understand how its competition was gearing up for the future of pharmaceuticals.

Fuld Approach
Fuld & Company conducted the research by interviewing key management sources at global corporate headquarters, regional business managers, and supporting franchise managers worldwide. We found that due to the state of flux caused by reorganizations and attempts to manage a global business, autonomy of both senior and line management had been reduced from past levels. Risk in decision-making was perceived to be shared, but key decisions were ultimately being made at corporate levels.

Benefits and Implications
Our client was able to use the results of our research not only to benchmark its own business, but also to devise a corporate structure to develop swifter decision-making processes in its own global operations. For more information about the changing paradigm in the healthcare industry, contact either Anthony Nagle at tnagle@fuld.com or Cynthia Gerber Tomlinson at cgtomlinson@fuld.com.