Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008 - (Page 9)

Morpheus the rankings, and let’s not even look at how productivity predictions for many companies match up with actual product launches. Instead, let’s explore what the consequences of being the best should translate to in practice: ● All our colleagues would be happy people full of bright ideas whom we would adore working with. ● Every project would run like a dream as there would be no never-ending meetings or colleagues procrastinating over important decisions. ● Co-workers would have a ‘get-up-and-go attitude’ and would never try to delegate or cover their tracks for mistakes. ● Our company would be universally applauded because we would be advancing healthcare for everyone. The problem is that, wherever I have worked, none of these scenarios represent what I have seen on a daily basis. I have no problem in people taking pride in their work — in fact I would positively encourage it — but a blinkered attitude to what exists in front of us does no one any favours. In addition, letting senior management persuade us that everything is wonderful makes difficult situations even more infuriating. predicting how our work will meet available external opportunities. Company personnel must become more objective about what they do and how they run their projects so that they do not get caught up in the trap of complacency. If you put aside your company literature for a moment and read the independent industry media, you may find out a few interesting facts about how well your company really runs. The good thing about this type of media reports is that they analyse a range of companies to draw their conclusions. Often we make the mistake of thinking that only our organization is advancing and that the rest of the industry is somehow static and reacting to what we do. The truth is that everyone is trying to pre-empt everyone else and could be running programmes that parallel yours. In practice, this means that your wonderful company’s R&D project or product launch campaign is just one of many co-existing across the global industry. So, if you make the mistake of thinking you are the best in what you are doing then you could easily be caught out by not giving the competition the respect they deserve. about the work they do and will proudly show off their competitive intelligence initiatives. Others will run a variety of metrics programmes designed to monitor the progress of projects, but this information is often used in a haphazard way. Unfortunately, these types of outputs rarely take into account variation between different projects and are viewed with suspicion by those whose work is assessed. Therefore, it is not just the gathering of such information that is important, but how it is disseminated within the company and how it is taken into account. There is no shame in admitting that things are not perfect as long as we are willing to find alternative solutions and not repeat mistakes in the future. Being aware I’m not suggesting that people act in a negative way towards their work, but they should critically analyse all aspects of projects — in the way they were trained to when they were studying for their future careers. They also need to be aware of what their competitors are doing and accept that, sometimes, other companies do certain tasks better. Many companies will claim that they are objective The reality We need to be aware of the realities of our daily work so that we can improve the way we operate. There is no shame in admitting that things are not perfect as long as we are willing to find alternative solutions and not repeat mistakes in the future. Moreover, drug development is characterized by a certain degree of failure and there will be times when we need to expect this outcome. We must be open-minded as that is what helps drive our industry forward. The pharmaceutical industry is dynamic because it must relate to a rapidly changing world. Drug development takes time and, with every project, you are essentially looking into the future and hoping that your product will still be acceptable when it is finally launched. This means that we have to keep changing and If you have ever worked for a service provider you may have been in the situation where you realize that a company’s project has shortcomings and are left wondering what is the most diplomatic way to point these out. It puts you in a difficult position because you want the company’s business, but you also want them to be realistic about their work. If companies are still claiming to be the best and their employees believe this then they continue to be incapable of having an independent viewpoint on their work. Perhaps the ‘best’ companies are the ones that don’t need to shout about it. PT The author says ● ● ● ● There are many different pharmaceutical companies that claim to be the best in the industry, but it is not possible to be the best in every area. People must be aware of the realities of their work — both positive and negative — so that they can improve the way they operate. Every company is trying to pre-empt its competition, meaning that everyone else could be running projects that parallel yours. If you think you are the best at what you do then you could get caught out by not giving the competition the respect they deserve. www.ptemagazine.com 9 http://www.ptemagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008

Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008 Contents Industry Highlights Morpheus Market Watch Pharma’s Need for Integrated Safety Is Pharma’s Future Mobile? Facing the CRO Behemoths Q&A

Pharmaceutical Technologist - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.