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streamlines development with Livelink
Case Study: Glaxo Wellcome - Getting the knowledge for a cure Pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Wellcome has a major task gathering all the data required to develop next generation products. Developing an intranet based on knowledge management has proved to be a crucial element in reducing the complexity of this task. Marcia MacLeod gets out the chemistry set. The pharmaceutical
industry - like most others - is extremely competitive. Customers want better
service, product needs to reach the market faster, there is a constant pressure
on costs, and acquisitions and mergers increase the volatility of the sector.
Only pharmaceuticals have two additional problems - customers include not only
wholesalers, health care organisations and retailers, but individual patients -
and in the race to stay ahead of competition, pharmaceutical suppliers can never
forget that a mistake could lead to tragic consequences.
Glaxo Wellcome, the largest UK company in terms of capitalisation, with a £8
billion turnover, first installed its intranet in 1994, but the system really
came into its own when it began to be used for knowledge management to help
resolve some of the above challenges.
The company realised how knowledge networks break down in mergers when Glaxo
and Wellcome merged, explains Simon Evans of the Glaxo Wellcome Intranet
Management Centre. Evans says: An intranet can be the best way to share
information - but only if it fits the 'calorie controlled diet' in a structured
framework. To make it work, you have to get the technology right and you have to
overcome barriers inherent within an organisation."
Glaxo Wellcome encountered several barriers to the intranet. These included
cultural resistance - the "not part of my job" attitude. An apparent
lack of time, lack of training, technophobia and the unwillingness of
individuals to share information or experience also emerged as factors. Yet once
Glaxo Wellcome persuaded people that knowledge management was the way to proceed
and the intranet could make it happen, enormous benefits began to accrue.
"Using the intranet for knowledge management helped us to create a
corporate culture, including the involvement of remote workers into corporate
life; it helped to build up communications across the enterprise; and it
encouraged more learning as people no longer had to reinvent the wheel,"
says Evans.
Nowhere have these benefits had greater impact than in research and
development. Glaxo Wellcome spends £1.2 billion per year on R&D at six
research sites in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, US and Japan. Research and
development is carried out by over 3,000 scientists in various project teams,
which try to find a cure for a particular disease. In order to do so, the
scientists have to identify the right combination of chemicals to block the
protein created by the body which causes a particular disease.
If finding the chemical compound to do the job was not hard enough, however,
scientists have to adhere to a number of other vital criteria. The compound has
to be potent, so only a small amount is required to have an effect. It must be
selective, only working on the protein in question and not on other proteins,
which may cause side effects. It must be non-toxic and it must be bio-available,
meaning it can be made available in the human body. And Glaxo Wellcome must be
able to manufacture the compound at a low enough cost to attract customers and
still make a profit. On top of these requirements, the scientists must find this
magic formula from a library of one million chemicals.
"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. It is hard to predict a
chemical/protein interaction, but carrying out up to one million experiments
takes too long. We needed to identify the chemical compounds most likely to be
successful in any research project," comments Tim Linsdell, knowledge base
manager for research.
This is where the intranet comes in. By keeping all available information
about chemical properties, protein properties and how they might work together
available, Glaxo Wellcome can reduce the number of chemical compounds any
researcher starts with from one million to 100,000.
"We needed to have access to results from other R&D projects, both
our own and any others - such as those from hospitals or rival drug firms -
which have been made public. We also needed to capture the knowledge and
experience of our scientists. We couldn't rely on word of mouth or other
interaction between employees to transfer relevant information," says
Linsdell.
Glaxo Wellcome can miss a significant opportunity if one project team does
not know about work done elsewhere - and the necessity is to find a way to
ensure that work is shared. So a learning organisation is required so that any
data or knowledge learned by one employee became available to everyone else.
As well as the results of previous experiments and as much individual
employee knowledge as Glaxo Wellcome can obtain, the intranet stores cuttings
from scientific journals, government legislation, documentation issued with
other companies' pharmaceutical products and similar materials. Ninety five per
cent of information useful for research exists outside the company. This
represents a global data manipulation challenge.
To start, Glaxo Wellcome had to define common terminology and context -
agreeing a global definition of all terms and a way in which to create
consistency of context. Consistency of data quality is important, too - which is
why an Intranet Management Centre has been set up. The centre monitors data,
checks its validity and authenticity and ensures it is kept up to date and put
into a context easily understandable by any employee.
Data is captured locally, but once put into the originating PC and audited by
the Intranet Management Centre, it becomes available throughout the
organisation. Most data is held in a three gigabyte Oracle-based data warehouse.
There are a number of databases and bespoke packages, however, scattered around
the organisation, with each site's LAN joined together in a WAN. Business
Objects software is used for analysis and reporting.
"Because many scientists are frightened of IT, the system had to be
extremely easy to use. The intranet has proved the scientists' preferred way of
obtaining data and Web technology will probably be the only way to access the
intranet in future. But it falls down on the data capture side. We try to ensure
data quality is maintained at the point it enters the system, but it is not
easy," explains Lindsdell.
Developing the intranet and the knowledge management system has been a
learning experience for Glaxo Wellcome.
"We had to identify what our knowledge assets are. We had to get the
content right. We had to decide what to call a file, where to put it, and how
others could find it. We also had to persuade people to use the system once it
was up and running - and we've done that by trying to make sure the intranet
becomes the only source of knowledge and information within the organisation,
says Evans."
People will share their knowledge if they know they will benefit from other
people's knowledge in return. Linsdell believes that the time taken setting up
the intranet-based knowledge management system has taught Glaxo Wellcome to
become innovative. So with any luck, the reduction in experiments required for
each project will cut the time taken to bring a drug to market from 10 years to
two or three - and that could just save a few more lives." Pharmaceutical giant leverages LivelinkFrom KMWorld, August 1999 When an organization achieves those hard-to-quantify but high-value returns (such as knowledge sharing), as well as those easier-to-quantify productivity gains, it has successfully implemented technology. Glaxo Wellcome (www.glaxowellcome.com) chose Livelink Version 7.0 from Open Text (www.opentext.com) about two years ago and continues to expand its usage and application of the system. "The first year was really a learning experience," said Joe Felix, director of Commercial Information Technology at Glaxo Wellcome. For example, a trouble spot with the user interface of 7.0 was solved in Version 8.0. Most recently, Glaxo has implemented the "Knowledge Exchange Center," which is geared toward the sales and marketing side of the company, and uses Livelink’s discussion group and project capabilities to facilitate sharing best practices ideas. Employees receive points for contributions and answers to questions. When they have accumulated enough points, they can trade them for "prizes" out of a catalog. Knowledge Exchange Center is only Glaxo’s latest implementation of Livelink, which has four different applications at the company. That demonstrates the system’s versatility, but also presents challenges, said Felix. "The hardest part of using the product is that it can do so many things," he said. In a broad sense, Livelink was selected to fill out a four-part technology push to go along with process re-engineering. A Cognos (www.cognos.com) OLAP tool was in place to handle decision support and data warehousing, while Open Text was brought in to address document management and virtual meeting group (collaboration) needs. The first use of Livelink was for standard document management, and its second role was to encourage project teams to collaborate via discussion groups and other tools. Livelink’s third application was for workflow, where productivity gains have been measured. "We are using Livelink as the engine to drive our workflow applications and have already realized a 50% savings in process time," according to Felix. Users don’t even know they are using Livelink because all they see are the forms, he added. In addition to deciding what Livelink capabilities to use, other implementation challenges include adapting training to the needs of the software and generating the incentive plan for use. Drug Regulatory SubmissionsRhone-Poulenc Rorer (RPR), a worldwide leader in cancer, heart and allergy drugs as well as other medications, has accelerated regulatory submission for 18 new dossiers since implementing a DOCUMENTUM Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS).RPR, which is based in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA, has facilities in France (headquarters of its parent company Rhone-Poulenc) and in the United Kingdom. Strengthening the synergy among its varying facilities and divisions, RPR's knowledge sharing approach has generated greater operational efficiency, enabled greater collaboration between affiliates and field offices, and provided a knowledge management framework for the future. In 1995, the company began working with DOCUMENTUM to exploit the potential for significantly reducing the time to complete key business processes associated with regulatory submissions. Since that time, RPR has successfully developed a robust application based on EDMS 98, called the Document Management/Electronic Review System (DMS/ERS). This process tightly coordinates RPR's numerous documentation activities, which range from the notes of a bench scientist to the regulatory dossiers submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration and its regulatory counterparts worldwide. Prior to implementing DMS/ERS, RPR had to review every dossier for consistency. The publishing process caused an additional hurdle, particularly since RPR markets to 70 different countries worldwide and must deal with a multitude of separate regulatory agencies. Today, RPR produces volumes of dynamic documents which demands constant revisions. DMS/ERS benefits include:
Visit Rhone-Poulenc Rorer at Website: http://207.25.130.84, or DOCUMENTUM at Website: www.documentum.com. © May 1999. Management Trends International.
Business is War - So Let's Have a War Game by David Diamond first appeared: Fast Company issue 6 page 128 'Good morning troops!' barks Adrin Cruza pipe dangling from
his lips, general's stars glistening from his epaulets, a paratrooper's beret
from Vietnam where he was a decorated platoon leader - perched on his head.
"Good morning" comes the polite response. About 40 mid level managers from the Latin American division of Smith Kline Beecham PLC, the $9 billion pharmaceutical giant, are gathered around an elegant mahogany table. They are dressed in combat fatigues, although more than a few also sport tasseled shoes. "I can't hear you!" shouts Cruz, a Puerto Rico-born, Harvard-trained MBA who exudes a zesty, take-no-prisoners management style. Cruz was running Sterling Pharmaceutical's Latin America unit when it was acquired by SmithKline in December 1994. He beat out two SmithKline counterparts to lead the combined operation. "Good morning!" boom the suddenly inspired executives, their words echoing off the richly paneled walls of a conference room high above Mexico City's Insurgentes Boulevard. Oh, what a lovely day for a war game. Cruz has spent more than $100,000 on a computer-based simulation to help his executives think through plans to introduce a new consumer product in the rapidly growing Mexican market. The product, which leverages off an existing SmithKline brand, makes great strategic sense - at least on paper. This two-day simulation, developed and run by Advanced Competitive Strategies (ACS) of Portland, Oregon, is designed to help the team convert ideas into action - and hopefully create a sense of urgency and esprit de corps. "This experience will change your mind-set," Cruz tells the group. "Nobody dies and no money is lost, but nobody comes out of a war game thinking the same way. You become more analytical, more comfortable by testing contingencies and scenarios." The Mexico City meeting uses classic simulation techniques. The managers divide themselves into four opposing camps - one representing the new SmithKline product, one for each of its three main rivals. The computer model driving the game contains lots of real-world data. Indeed, it took a SmithKline manager one month to compile the data and feed it to ACS. Whenever the SmithKline team makes a move - discounting the product's price, changing its package design, developing a new ad campaign - the computer generates performance results based on consumer reactions and competitive counter - moves. Competitive simulations come in several varieties. Mexico City is a "closed-loop" game; it describes an established market with well-understood competitive dynamics. The computer model reflects the actual strengths and weaknesses of the players in Mexico. Cruz believes that's more powerful than "horse race" simulations, where rival team starts out in the same position. There's no denying Adrin Cruz's enthusiasm for war games. He oversees at least three ACS-run simulations per year in Latin America. "I don't know anyone in the world who does war games as much as he does," marvels Chussil. ( SmithKline has sent managers from Japan and London to Cruz's operation to learn the process. ) Cruz even maintains a permanent "War Room" in his Mexico City headquarters. Decorated in camouflage, it contains a Theater of Operations Wall ( competitive map ), Battlefield Reports ( performance indicators ), an Intelligence Cabinet ( field notes ), and an Enemy Arsenal ( competitor's products ). Cruz says he believes in simulation because of the dividends it has paid. In 1993, for example, Cruz ( then at Sterling ) learned that a competitor was going to introduce a new over-the-counter analgesic into the Dominican Republic. So he convened a simulation. The team representing the competitor developed a mock ad campaign highlighting the product's support among U.S. doctors. The war game concluded that this technique could easily generate a 5% market share, much of it at the expense of Sterling's share. The team representing Sterling responded with a campaign that emphasized its product's leading position with Dominican doctors. The company launched a campaign based on this scenario two weeks after the war game - a preemptive move that delayed the rival launch by six months. Today the competing product has a 1% share; Sterling's share has increased by 10%. Standing at the head of the conference table, Cruz prepares his troops for today's battle. "You have to know your enemies and anticipate their actions," he says. "Crystallize your strategies. Don't be afraid to think outside the box." The game unfolds in a rhythm of planning, executing, and evaluating. Teams meet separately and run their own simulations to devise strategy. Then they deliver their moves to ACS. The consultants enter the decisions into the computer and project the results of where the three products stand. As the game unfolds, and as each team becomes more comfortable with its strategy, Cruz tosses in surprises - a big devaluation of the Mexican peso, changes in consumer behavior that make people more price-sensitive. The teams return to their huddles, adjust their strategies, and look at the results. The game is as much about tactics as strategy. At one point, during a lecture to the group, ACS President Mark Chussil discusses potential diversions by the competition - essentially, strategic dirty tricks. "Don't we have at least one dirty trick on our side?" asks Jos Pepe Puente, general manager of SmithKline's Mexican consumer-product unit. In fact, the team representing SmithKline's product debates the value of issuing misinformation - putting out the word that SmithKline will launch the product in Brazil rather than Mexico. Chussil urges caution on that tactic. "Confusing competitors can make them stupid," he warns. "And that can lead to knee-jerk reactions - like cutting price. It's better to figure out what you want the competition to do and how to get them to do it." As the game draws to a close, the SmithKline team worries that it may be how loyal Mexican consumers are to the brand off of which it's leveraging the new product. The response: invest in usage-and-application studies to analyze the depth of brand loyalty, and whether it can carry the line extension. The team also reaches an eye-opening competitive insight - a massive price cut by its chief competitor could wipe out the new product before it gets a chance. The solution: introduce the product with a niche strategy rather than launch a head-on assault in the marketplace. Cruz thinks that's a smart move. "The point is not to trigger a price war," he agrees. "If we're only going for a segment, they won't kill themselves [competing] because in the end they'd lose more than we would. They won't feel as threatened by a niche product that we may or may not expand." In general, the group feels positive about the outcome. The simulation concludes that if all the pieces fall into place, the new product could break even in the second quarter of its fourth year on the market. For Adrin Cruz, that's reason enough to declare victory and start celebrating. In a restaurant named after Winston Churchill, the participants receive certificates recognizing their participation in the war game. Their leader is beaming. "This is real life," he tells his team. "The competition is out to get us."
KM for the Pharmaceutical IndustryAdvances In Knowledge Management (An IBM Report)-By Daniel TkachFrom Knowledge Management Magazine (June 1999)Your company has recently completed a merger with another pharmaceutical organization, and has achieved the integration of the information systems that supported the operations of both companies. However, the different departments that are starting to get consolidated are facing new challenges they did not encounter within the separate, regionally based, organizations. The sharing of information, best practices, and experiences, at different levels, is becoming more than ever a critical factor for the success of the merger. "Knowledge Management may be the key", you started to reflect, "but how exactly will it apply to the different departments and their disparate problems?" Research and DevelopmentThe pharmaceutical industry is knowledge intensive, and therefore Knowledge Management is critical to improve R&D productivity and reduce product cycle time. To achieve these goals, the trend in drug development is to work in multidisciplinary project teams due to the multiple skill requirements. The success of this approach depends, among other things, on the availability of information from multiple sources, presented to the team members properly organized around the research topics, and personalized to each researcher's needs. R&D professionals need to share their findings and conclusions with a geographically dispersed team. Although the discovery phase tends to be localized in "centers of excellence", the globalization created by industry mega-mergers and worldwide operations and distribution, makes knowledge sharing a critical success factor for clinical improvement. At the same time, regulations, markets, and health care issues that were unique to a geography need to be considered from a global management perspective in order to achieve the advantages of economies of scale. To move quickly in a rapidly changing competitive environment, pharmaceutical companies have performed bold strategic moves. One of these moves is to outsource elements of the R&D value chain through collaborative relationships with a widening field of players, such as dedicated biotechnology firms, contract research organizations, university laboratories, and other pharmaceutical companies. This portfolio of collaborative relationships needs to be managed, which includes source selection and monitoring based on internal knowledge and efficient transfer of knowledge from the external sources to the internal team. Knowledge must also be transferred within each team, and "lessons learned" need to be shared among the teams. Companies must learn from their experiences in collaborative relationships to strike better deals in the future. They must also be able to gauge their own knowledge capital when evaluating possible mergers or acquisitions. R&D strategic knowledge can be organized best through knowledge maps. IBM KnowledgeX provides very sophisticated knowledge mapping facilities for knowledge producers (researchers, analysts, team leaders). The results can be presented in a familiar, easy to use browser interface, that enables the R&D community to access key personalized knowledge in a fast and effective way through the company's intranet. Standards and RegulationsOne of the most complex challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry is accelerate the process for moving drugs from concept to discovery, then to clinical trials, and finally to licensing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and similar country organizations worldwide. It would be very advantageous for a company to have a single source that should provide exhaustive references regarding regulatory references, as well as advice on process shortcuts and lessons learned in the regulatory affairs area in order to provide replicable approaches for the opportunity teams, such as knowledge about how to prepare for presenting data and their case for drug approval to the FDA advisory board. Knowledge maps can show the relationships and references in a clear graphical way, help shortening the learning cycle time, and allow for fast dissemination of critical knowledge. SalesThe competition in the pharmaceutical industry is intense, and physicians and health care organizations are being saturated with sales communications. To broaden the value proposition and gain mind share, pharmaceutical companies also need to provide knowledge gained from experiences regarding the comparative drug efficacy for clinical targets. More than classical clinical-trial data and descriptions of the drug benefits, physicians and pharmacists need constantly updated information about drug interactions, contraindications, and adverse effects to facilitate their decision-making and advice-giving. A knowledge transfer link between the companies and the physician can make a difference in the choice of drugs. The link works both ways, and the companies can benefit from the early feedback of results of the use of their drugs in the medical practice. Globalization-enabling knowledge management infrastructures will increase the amount of knowledge shared across the multiple geographies. This includes not only knowledge about the effectiveness of different drugs and therapies, but also about the economic and health care aspects that are important when selling to groups with high bargaining power. A rapid dissemination of "lessons learned" across geographies and product lines may can improve largely the company's sales results. This knowledge can be captured through Lotus Teamroom interactions, stored in Notes databases, classified and summarized using IBM Intelligent Miner for Text, and organized, shared, displayed, and disseminated with IBM KnowledgeX. PatentsPharmaceutical companies need to manage their intellectual property assets with even more care than they manage their physical assets. The clearest example is patent management. The companies need to know the industry patent ownership and filings, track and manage their organization's patent licensing, and be aware of the industry trends by analyzing competitors patents and their relationships. Underutilized patents, and protection from infringements on patents related to key product lines are sources of wealth that need to be captured, understood, and acted upon. IBM Intelligent Miner for Text provides valuable input to patent analysis by automatically extracting key information, creating summaries, and suggesting trends through automatic clustering and classification of patents. ConclusionsThe implementation of a knowledge management discipline can provide very significant and measurable advantages in today's competitive environment. The IBM/Lotus knowledge management solutions provide the most comprehensive and advanced environment in the marketplace for building an enterprise wide knowledge management infrastructure supporting the needs of the pharmaceutical industry.
Knowledge Management Wins at
Pfizer
Accelerated R&D fuels a building boom in new knowledge facilities
The great irony of innovation is that its beginnings are almost always accidental.- By Langdon MorrisConsider Post-It Notes, a breakthrough product based on a glue that failed in its intended purpose but was later put to use by a colleague as a removable flag for his church music book. Or the inkjet printer, which resulted from a discovery by a research technician at HP Labs who was inspired by the bubbles in his coffeepot. Even in this age of product commoditization and reverse engineering, it remains true that a single breakthrough idea can have enormous impact on the future of a corporation. But since the innovation process is so elusive, it's also true that managers are generally unable to have much influence on how and when those great ideas emerge. Because of the unpredictability of R&D, an uneasy relationship persists between top management and research departments. How perplexing it is for executives to be so dependent on what is going on in the lab and yet so fundamentally unable to affect it. Compounding the dilemma is R&D's uneven track record. Return on investment in R&D is not a certainty, and companies can easily overspend on research that fails to bring products to market. Economist Richard Jenkins has suggested that U.S. companies squandered billions on failed R&D efforts during the 1980s. Perhaps in recognition of the problem, combined government and corporate R&D spending in the U.S. declined from 1991 to 1994, according to Commerce Department figures. Since then, there has been renewed emphasis on R&D. Despite continuing declines in the public sector, total spending surpassed $130 billion in 1996 and has continued to increase by four to five percent in each year since. In industries as diverse as computers, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and even autos, senior managers have come to realize that in a highly competitive marketplace there is no substitute for innovation. The new R&D boom But if management can't mandate innovation, it can at least set the conditions as favorably as possible for innovation to occur. For many leading research-driven companies, that translates into providing a conducive physical environment for knowledge workers. Today, a global boom is underway in the construction of R&D facilities. Hundreds of companies are spending billions to create new R&D labs so that their leading thinkers will have a better place to work. In just the last five years, four prominent U.S. architectural firms have built or are building a total of more than 22 million square feet of laboratories for more than 100 companies, universities and government agencies, at a cost of more than $5 billion. The best of the new R&D facilities follow diverse design strategies intended to optimize face-to-face interactions between co-workers. These peer interactions are widely viewed as an important, even necessary stimulus to the creative process.
Nor does the rise of online communication lessen the need for face-to-face interaction. "Nothing replaces two people standing at a board and drawing things, which is the way we communicate a lot," said Glaxo Wellcome chemist Dan Sternbach. "As soon as you try to do it by email it takes more time. You don't have the rapid give and take." Design for interaction Since R&D facilities are the venue in which face-to-face interactions take place, their design can become a critical factor in the success of a high-technology company. Designers and managers now agree that tacit factors in face-to-face interaction are essential for success in innovation. For this article, we identified three exemplary facilities where the need for high interaction is reflected both in the architectural design of the facility and the organizational design of the company. We also toured a fourth site where the workplace design was a grass-roots effort. In each of these projects, workspaces are designed to maximize the frequency and quality of human interactions. Many design approaches-shared workspaces, meeting nodes, huddle rooms, neighborhood clusters, open atria and interconnected floor plans to name just a few-have been used. Beyond their functional design, the usual variables of aesthetics and cost naturally come into play. While everyone believes that providing a beautiful environment is important, the expression of aesthetics varies considerably in our examples. Managers at several facilities cited the competition for talented individuals as one reason for the continuing effort to bring beauty to the workplace. Cost is always a critical constraint, but in a business where getting a new product to market is often more important than the cost of its development, the considerations may shift. It may be a higher priority to accelerate product development than to keep building projects on tight a budget. Some features intended to increase interaction also serve to reduce cost by increasing the flexibility of the work environment and reducing square footage requirements. Shared labs, reduced office sizes and multi-person cubicles are among the strategies used. Just as innovation itself is unpredictable, designing for innovation is inexact. The best that architects and facilities managers can do is create an environment that sets the conditions for accidents of innovation-those multibillion dollar ideas found bubbling in a coffee pot or hidden in the pages of a Sunday hymnal. Inhale TherapeuticStructural Knowledge SharingInhale Therapeutic Systems adopted a workplace design that marries its
organization with its facility, each intended to optimize knowledge sharing
among project teams and between engineering disciplines. Inhale is a classic
R&D-dependent company, totally reliant on developing technology-systems to
deliver large-molecule medicines into the deep lung through inhalation-and
bringing products to market. Working with leading pharmaceutical companies,
treatments for diseases as diverse as diabetes, hepatitis, multiple sclerosis,
emphysema and osteoporosis are under development.
For example, engineer Carlos Schuler shares a cubicle with a quality assurance manager, a scientist and a lab technician. As Schuler said, "Because a QA manager also works in my cubicle, I hear him working with his colleagues on a daily basis. When I need to work with him, I already know what his requirements are." During the course of their time together in the cubicle, informal interactions naturally lead to personal relationships that might not otherwise develop. To keep this relationship-building alive, every six to nine months just about everybody in the company moves to a different cubicle and gets to know three new neighbors, continuing the process of building relationships and mixing disciplines throughout the firm. Glaxo WellcomeRecreating the Village Green Designing for innovation is challenging enough for a small company in a
single building. The world's large pharmaceutical companies have a more complex
task optimizing creativity and productivity for thousands of people on research
campuses.
"The people corridor connecting the neighborhoods forces people to walk by everyone else's office. That's good for communication. You know when people are in and you can stop by their offices. The whole argument about proximity means a lot when your work involves collaborating with others," he said. Aesthetics plays a role, as well. The buildings are designed to place each worker close to daylight and exterior views, one more asset, according to Glaxo's director of construction and commissioning Tommy Cahoon, when it comes to recruiting, always a top concern for a high-technology company. Chiron CorporationPromoting Social Interchange When biotechnology leader Chiron Corporation decided to redevelop its
Life Science Center facility in Emeryville, Calif., the company brought together
Flad & Associates, an American architecture firm specializing in laboratory
design, with internationally recognized Mexican designer Ricardo Legorreta.
Smaller offices also save money. Reducing the space allocation by only 50 square feet per person saved millions in construction costs, with the savings reallocated to aesthetic and social amenities.
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PERHAPS NO INDUSTRY IS THE knowledge management challenge greater than in
the pharmaceutical industry. The process of bringing a drug to market along
what it is called the drug pipeline—from idea conception to FDA
approval—is a daunting 10 to 15-year process that costs an average of $500
million and at pharma giant Pfizer Inc., generates terabytes upon terabytes
of data. A large proportion of this data is loosely managed and
unstructured, which presents Ed Glassman, Pfizer's director of technology
strategy, with a big task. How do you get your arms around this data and get
it to the right people in the time-sensitive environment of drug
manufacturing?