The Story

Genexus, An 11,625 strong Pharma company had recently decided to set up its very own Safety Management System (SMS). This system is aimed at integrating the safety of the Person, the Product and the Processes (the 3 Ps) used for manufacturing in the context of new and aggressive regulatory requirements. Such requirements were a growing international trend and there were stringent requirements for having an SMS in place . An implementation team was put in place to “grease the wheels” of the implementation. The Senior Management team of the company all nodded their heads sagely, when presented with the initial business case for proceeding. Within a month of the kick-off of implementation, symptoms began appearing of a complex system of internal politics.

• Customer processes were divided among three competing Vice-Presidents: sales, customer service and marketing, who never met to work out any form of joint strategy;
• Manufacturing and Quality Management, each led by its very own VP, were constantly fighting over who was accountable for “quality escapes” some of which involved the safety of personnel;
• Staff VPs were intent on controlling the line functions of the organization: Finance wouldn’t let managers spend their budgets; HR “suggested” to line managers who they should fire and hire; the legal department even suggested that the organization couldn’t have an SMS, because it would expose the organization to legal challenge on the safety of its products; the Communications Division would only communicate what was good news.
• There were a total of 15 direct reports to the CEO of the organization, each competing for attention that he had no time to give.