Pharma R&D employs many of the most brilliant minds on the planet.
Is it getting the best value from them?
Let me take you on a journey that started 3000 million years ago.
Back to a time when single celled organisms first appeared on earth.
In the primordial oceans these small creatures were at the mercy of the waves and the tides and life stayed pretty much the same for the next 2000 million years.
At which point evolution discovered ‘Differentiation’.
Some cells started to specialise and form primitive sponges and other invertebrates.
The process of specialisation continued, until today we have:
“The most successful and highly differentiated group of cells on the planet.” ……..
“The most successful and highly differentiated group of cells on the planet.”
Pharma Marketeers – I hear you say! No, No, No.
Us – Homo Sapiens – People!
But, we are not successful just because we have differentiated cells.
The cells need to work together.
To Integrate.
Hence Differentiation-Integration Theory
The Theory Explained
You and I are a collection of between 50 and 75 trillion cells.
Sometimes, certain cells refuse to cooperate.
This can be serious.
Organisations are similar to Organisms.
The more specialised their operations, the more capable they are – provided they have learnt to integrate their collective efforts.
(See: PR Lawrence, JW Lorsch - - RD Irwin.
Organization and environment:
Managing differentiation and integration. 1969)
In a well integrated Organisation ALL of the parts are able to function well ALL OF THE TIME.
Could that be said of the Pharma Organisations?
Are brilliant minds in Pharma R&D being let down by uncooperative thinking across the organisation and in particular by Marketing & Communications Departments?
Does the sales function integrate with the brand teams? Does Marketing really synergise with R&D? Does senior management understand their clients both internal and external?
Is the Orgware in place and operating at optimal efficiency?
Is the Pharma organisation a monolith that its inhabitants increasingly find it difficult to get a grip on?
Orgware Relevance
Orgware has a number of key components that are relevant to Pharma in this day and age.
The Law of Entropy states that everything will degrade in time. Negative entropy suggests sustainability or even growth. The most common features of negative entropy are a connection to external energy.
New energy such as new people and fresh ideas often derived from external factors. All forms of external communications also have a vital role in creating negative entropy.
The Law of Equifinality states that an outcome can be achieved by utilising a range of different means.
Optimal equifinality requires the constant, or at least regular periodic, monitoring of different means to achieve the same ends.
As the external context in which an organisation operates changes so potentially should equifinality Thoughtware if efficiency is to be maintained.
Simple organisations commonly have one goal. The more goals organisations have the more complex the organisation and its supporting Orgware.
A lack of complexity allows for centralized, top-down, senior management powered decision making.
Decentralised organisations, have many goals, often conflicting, and are characterized by the empowerment of those who are lower down in the organisational structure.
Pharma Orgware
Does Pharma now find itself in a business environment characterized by rapid change and new energies – particularly communications energies?
Is Pharma embracing those energies or is the law of entropy starting to apply?
Are Pharma organisations responding rationally to this changing environment?
Or is Pharma simple continuing to add to existing structures.
Has the law of equifinality been applied?
When was the last time a Pharma organisation totally reviewed its structure in terms of optimal performance in the commercial and communications environment it now faces?
Where the business and communications goals that Pharma is required to confront grow in complexity has Pharma decentralised to the point where those with a direct interface to the issues are empowered to respond?
As the Pharma client base becomes more empowered has the Pharma organisational structure become nimble enough to engage and respond?
Has Pharma engaged with the shifts in market power through an appropriately decentralised and empowered structure?
Has Pharma Orgware Evolved?
If not – Why not?
Are Pharma organisations still integrated in a manner that reflects the level of differentiation in its marketplace and the sophistication and talent available in its component cells?
Or is the organisational life-form, known as Pharma, evolving to extinction?
(Tomorrow’s Blog: Further Explorations of Pharma Orgware)
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