Corporate Strategy: Preparing for the 21st Century

Abstract

OVERVIEW: Companies confront increasing demands for efficiency, quality, flexibility, and innovativeness. In order to identify the basic qualities necessary to effectively meet these demands, the organizational and managerial features of the main European R&D laboratories of 14 large and innovative pharmaceutical companies were benchmarked. It is concluded that high-performance laboratories are distinguished from their low-performance competitors by the way they integrate motivation, communication and flexibility in their organizations. Based on the features of the “best of the best,” a star-rating system is introduced, indicating the qualities that will enable R&D laboratories to excel in the 21st Century.