As detailed in a recent post, the pharmaceutical industry is filled with diverse and varied challenges. Often, the science of accelerating results in breakthrough pharmaceutical projects requires the same level of care and dedication as developing and testing the drugs themselves.
One such undertaking — a project wherein Insigniam was engaged to transform a pharmaceutical company into a bigger player in the generic pharmaceuticals business, as well as begin entry into branded drug space — is an excellent case study for how we apply our methodology to achieving breakthrough performance in this hyper competitive arena.
The Mission
A privately held, family-owned specialty pharmaceutical company that had distributed, developed, and manufactured generic pharmaceuticals — for over 60 years — approached Insigniam with the intention of A.) increasing their market share, and B.) transforming from a generic drug company to a specialty pharmaceutical organization.
The company had experienced a period of growth some years earlier in order to meet the strategic challenges found within the ultra competitive generic pharmaceutical business, and was now ready to take their organization — and brand, hopefully — to the next level.
The Challenge
Apart from the above stated mission — which is an endeavor in and of itself — the company was facing a handful of visible challenges that, if not addressed, would sink their best intentions before their transformation even got off the ground.
First, there was sizeable communication breakdown; complicated by fact the company employed a large, multicultural workforce. English was not the predominant language of the business, including in the labs and the manufacturing areas. Lastly, the existence of several different cultural groups had led to an environment of favoritism and cliques. For many, this was the only company they had ever worked for, and because of this, they lacked the maturity and professionalism often found in people with similar accountabilities in other companies.
However, perhaps the biggest challenge was this: As a family owned business, a culture of loyalty above accountability was deeply rooted across the organization.
Did this mean that the transformation was doomed from the start? Hardly. However, an intense period of discovery was needed for Insigniam to unhook, reveal, and implement a path for breakthrough. And that’s where we’ll continue in our next post: Part II — Discovery and Dialogue.
