SMC -Beyond the realms of Functional Silos

With an impressive history of the founder, Dr.Winthrop, being a pioneer in the development of specialty chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry, one would anticipate that the sales growth would be in leaps and bounds. With the leadership of Tompkins, stability and maturity grew but the growth in sales was disappointing. With the entry of Carl Burke, came a whirlwind of action. Although the Company was acclaimed for its products, their liason with the biotech and generic companies was trailing behind. Burke’s study revealed that marketing and product development exhibited potential for growth. Finance and Administration needed more attention, especially in areas of Customer Service and Personnel. Burke formed the leadership team to focus on key strategic and organizational issues. Burke’s research led him to believe that the lack of vitality in the team could be attributed to the deficiencies in the system given the ratings and high pay awarded to almost everyone.
Laura Wells, an independent consultant with expertise in executive and organizational assessments was called to give her report. Her assessment comprised of psychological interview, observation and test data. She also insisted on being included in the team meetings as that would aid in her behavioural analysis. After extensive analysis, Laura’s report consisted of many useful revelations on the strategic and organizational level. The inefficacy of the members of the leadership team to stray beyond the confines of their “functional silos” was pointed out. Carl decided to split the sales force, marketing and product development for Pharmaceuticals, Biotech and Generics, which was an intelligent move.
The Vice Presidents of the various disciplines were tested for their cognitive and intellectual functions. Their strengths and weaknesses were analyzed and their career background was studied. For every key person in the leadership team, a summary was construed based on this study. This enabled Burke to assign work based on their skills and their abilities.