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Case
| HBS Case Collection
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2010
(Revised from original 2007 version)
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals: Spurring Scientific Creativity with Metrics
by
Robert S. Huckman, Gary P. Pisano and Mark Rennella
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Abstract
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 of compounds through the Wyeth pipeline. Highlights issues concerning the degree to which scientific activity can be evaluated via numerical metrics, the extent to which R&D can be structured as a process, and the degree to which decision-making should be centralized in commercial R&D activities.
Keywords: Decision Making;
Measurement and Metrics;
Business Processes;
Organizational Structure;
Research and Development;
Science-Based Business;
Creativity;
Pharmaceutical Industry;