Knowledge Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Enhancing Research, Development and Manufacturing Performance

The Pharmaceutical Industry has been undergoing a major transformation since the heady days of 'big pharma' in the 1970s and 80s. Patent expiry, the rise of generics, and the decline of the blockbuster drug have all changed the landscape over the last 10-15 years. It's an environment where products can take 10 years or more to come to market, billions are spent on research and development, jobs are being shed in the western pharma homelands and regulators and the public are more demanding than ever. So what part is Knowledge Management playing and going to play in this vital international industry? Knowledge Management (KM) has many facets from providing comprehensive knowledge bases for workers, through the sharing of advice and problem solving, to providing an environment for innovation and change. This book, focusing on research and development, and manufacturing-based companies, explores how a range of techniques and approaches have been applied in the unique environment of the Pharmaceutical Industry, and examine how it can help the industry in the 21st century. Whilst the book is centered on the Pharmaceutical Industry, its objective will be to discuss and demonstrate how Knowledge Management can be applied in a variety of environments, and with a range of cultural issues. KM practitioners, and potential practitioners, both within and outside the Pharmaceutical Industry, will be able to gain valuable guidance and advice from both the examples of good practice and the lessons learned by the authors and contributors.

About the Authors

Elisabeth Goodman is the Owner and Principal Consultant of RiverRhee Consulting, whose primary aim is to enhance team effectiveness. Knowledge Management is one of the four main approaches used to achieve this. Elisabeth has 25 years’ experience in Pharmaceutical Research and Development (R&D), where she has held management roles in Information and Library Management, and internal training and consultancy roles supporting business teams on a global basis. In the 1990s she co-led SmithKline Beecham’s Information Management department’s efforts to introduce an organisational Knowledge Management strategy. In 2001 she joined an internal GSK business consulting team to foster knowledge working practices within the team and the wider organisation. Elisabeth is the author of several articles, book chapters and presentations on Knowledge Management. She has a BSc in Biochemistry, an MSc in Information Science and is also an experienced and certified practitioner in change management, Lean Six Sigma, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and a registered and approved Growth Coach and Leadership and Management Trainer for GrowthAccelerator.

John Riddell has a BSc in Chemistry and over 30 years’ experience of working in pharmaceutical production where he has held technical, operational and project management roles working with both small and large teams from a local to a global basis. For nine years John played a key role in the GlaxoSmithKline Manufacturing Knowledge Management programme spread across 80 manufacturing locations globally, from its inception through to it being embedded in manufacturing operations. He was responsible for a wide range of activities including leading the communities of practice programme, managing the expertise location system, developing knowledge transfer techniques and the training of local knowledge managers as change agents. John has Associate status with RiverRhee Consulting and Knoco, is a certified practitioner in Lean Six Sigma and is a Member of the Association for Project Management.