Publications

April 2014
Case

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Bethany S. Gerstein and Melissa Valentine

In 2006, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals was a fast-growing biotechnology company. Its leadership team was divided over whether to keep R&D organized in functional departments or transition to interdisciplinary teams. As a small company, Merrimack's R&D organization had... View Details

Keywords: Teamwork; Interdisciplinary Collaboration; R＆D; Biotechnology; Complexity; Innovation Management; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 1993
Case

Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

ALZA, a company specializing in drug delivery systems such as transdermal patches, considers manufacturing its own products. Until now, the company has conducted research and development on its patented system but has then licensed the technology to client-partner... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Production; Research and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

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Article

One Obstacle to Curing Cancer: Patient Data Isn't Shared

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Kathy Giusti

Precision Medicine requires large datasets to identify the mutations that lead to various cancers. Currently, genomic information is hoarded in fragmented silos within numerous academic medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and some disease-based foundations. For... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Treatment; Precision Medicine; Personalized Medicine; Data Sharing; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Research and Development; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry; United States

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09 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Called Back to the Office? How You Benefit from Ideas You Didn't Know You Were Missing

Leaders have fretted since COVID-19 lockdowns that collaboration and innovation might suffer when teammates interact less. New research points to an emerging concern four years on, as organizations settle into remote, hybrid, and... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

12 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 12, 2007

Malloy, and Felicia Marston Abstract Comparing two snapshots of the historical I/B/E/S database of research analyst stock recommendations, taken in 2002 and 2004 but each covering the same time period 1993-2002, we identify 54,729 ex-post... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2007 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics

By: Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Mark Rennella

Describes the reorganization of the drug discovery organization at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and focuses on the decisions to: (1) centralize decision-making within drug discovery and (2) institute numerical metrics--jointly affecting all R&D scientists--for the progression... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Measurement and Metrics; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Creativity; Pharmaceutical Industry

Paul Gompers, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, specializes in research on financial issues related to start-up, high growth, and newly public companies. Professor Gompers has an appointment in both the View Details

Keywords: pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals

21 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

When a Competitor Abandons the Market, Should You Advance or Retreat?

SolStock In late 2016 drug maker Eli Lilly announced it would stop research on the Alzheimer's drug solanezumab after results proved disappointing over three trials. For competitors such as Biogen, Merck, and Roche, this decision... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Pharmaceutical; Pharmaceutical

Karim R. Lakhani

Karim R. Lakhani is the Dorothy & Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He specializes in technology management, innovation, digital transformation and artificial... View Details

Keywords: pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals; pharmaceuticals

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

within their own ranks. “What you really do need is knowledge of that specific industry, whether it's pharmaceutical or manufacturing or hospitality or rocket science.” The findings suggest an active market for CEOs, who are lured to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

11 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Creating an R&D Strategy

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano

27 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 27

Intervention Method, Empirical Evidence, and Theory Author:Michael Beer Publication:In Research in Organizational Change and Development. Vol. 19, edited by Richard Woodman, William Pasmore, and Abraham B. (Rami) Shani, Emerald Group... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2022
Article

Missing Novelty in Drug Development

By: Joshua Krieger, Danielle Li and Dimitris Papanikolaou

We provide evidence that risk aversion leads pharmaceutical firms to underinvest in radical innovation. We introduce a new measure of drug novelty based on chemical similarity and show that firms face a risk-reward trade-off: novel drug candidates are less likely to... View Details

Keywords: Drug Development; Risk Aversion; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Investment; Pharmaceutical Industry

August 2023
Case

Constellation Pharmaceuticals: Corporate Development at a Novel Therapeutic Company

By: Satish Tadikonda and Brad Prosek

Constellation Pharmaceuticals was a company focused on epigenetic therapies for cancer patients. Despite a promising start and an early deal with a leading biopharma company, the company weathered twin setbacks in the end of a major research collaboration and the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Care and Treatment; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Research and Development; Business Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Goals and Objectives; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States