Change Initiative Management Term Paper Research Paper

Change Initiative
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Technological innovations, increasing competition, changing regulatory requirements, shifting tastes and preferences among consumers, and excessive reliance on outsourcing are just but a few factors that are giving organizations every reason to adopt change. The pharma and life sciences industry is in dire need of embracing change. The primary area that requires a transformation in this industry is in the contract service organizations (CSOs) Scholars have suggested different change. The present study analyzes emerging issues from the relationship between pharma companies and CSOs. The study goes ahead to explore the results from these issues and uses Kotter’s change model to suggest how these issues can be resolved. The primary argument of this study is that pharma companies can utilize CSOs to offer flexible workforce and improve service and quality. The paper argues that the days of pharma companies hopping from one CSO to another are over and Kotter’s Change Model can be used to solve issues affecting these companies and the CSOs.
Issues and Current Results in Contract Service Organizations (CSOs)
Contract Service Organizations are not foreign in the pharma industry. According to Matsurk (2009), the pharma industry has been in the process of shedding in-house operations for the past twenty years. Some of the reasons for opting for third-party CSOs have been on efficiency and lack of insufficient in-house workforce. In the attempt to shift from the traditional rigid workforce and environment, pharma companies often encounter three primary challenges which when resolved, can skyrocket the profits of the company. Most of these challenges mainly arise from CSOs relationship, and all the stakeholders feel their consequences. Poor compliance with the management affects how pharma companies work with CSOs. Generally, poor compliance implies that external service providers have to seek alternative methods of generating profits. CSOs are in business to add value to their operation in addition to making profits.
Poor budgeting in CSOs also affects how a company deals with external service providers. Generally, a company should have stable base revenue before outsourcing. In most cases, the firm is forced to work with external providers without considering the cost of those services. Some CSOs sell premium services to pharma companies because of poor plans that the pharma companies have in place. Pharma companies have to make the necessary changes to overcome these issues if indeed they want to remain productive and profitable in the market. Poor budgeting affects shareholders, employees in the company, and the potentiality of the firm as it may end up in bankruptcy in the process of incurring overhead debts.
The final issue identified in this paper is on expectations and sharing of roles and responsibilities. Some of the conflicts between CSOs and pharma companies arise from the unclear communication of roles and responsibilities. The company has to make a clear communication to the external service provider on who will play the role of quality, patent protection, and regulatory standards before the project begins. If a company does not have this spelled out clearly, conflicts are likely to arise in the progress of the project, and this can stall the project. The overall process of producing a drug lasts between ten to fifteen years, and if anything crops up between these years, the pharma company is likely to suffer massive losses because of the amount invested in R&D. External and internal driving forces, contributing issues, and the people affected by CSOs
Both internal and external forces drive contribute to above issues that affect the relationship between pharma companies and CSOs. Internal factors include the shortage of in-house labor makes firms to opt for external service providers. In other cases, if a firm does not have enough facilities or resources to carry out the process of data analysis, it can opt for services of CSOs. Firms also choose CSOs because their services appear cheaper. Internal factors such as poor communication among stakeholders contribute to these issues affecting CSOs. Additionally, poor planning within the organization makes the firm to set goals that are not within its capacity to meet. The people affected by these issues include patients who are forced to pay exorbitant prices due to weak competition in the market. Additionally, laxity in regulation created room for counterfeit drugs to hit the market, risking the lives of patients that rely on these drugs. The Stakeholders Involved and how they will be Affected by Kotter’s Model in the Change Initiative.
According to Pollack & Pollack (2014), a change in the organization targets internal and external stakeholders. The targets of change in the internal environment of a pharma organization include project managers, project sponsors, support staff, and the whole project team. The external stakeholders include contractors, suppliers, shareholders in the company, and clients. John Kotter coined eight steps in his model of change. The eight steps in Kotter’s model of change are creation of a sense of urgency, creation of a guiding coalition, creation of a vision for implementation of reform, communication of the vision to stakeholders, removal of the likely obstacles that might prevent the change, empowering the stakeholders, planning and creating short-term wins, and consolidating improvements to become part of the organizational culture. All internal stakeholders will be affected by the sense of urgency. Project managers may be forced to work under tight schedules to meet deadlines. Project sponsors are likely to incur higher costs in the process of funding competent employees to meet deadlines...