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Related Experiment Videos

How SmithKline Beecham makes better resource-allocation decisions.

P Sharpe1, T Keelin

  • 1SmithKline Beecham, Harlow, England.

Harvard Business Review
|February 6, 1998
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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SmithKline Beecham improved pharmaceutical R&D resource allocation by encouraging project teams to develop alternatives and separating financial evaluation from project discussion. This reduced internal politics and improved decision-making quality.

Area of Science:

  • Pharmaceutical industry
  • Business strategy
  • Decision science

Background:

  • Pharmaceutical companies face complex resource allocation challenges.
  • High-risk R&D decisions are influenced by competing project champions.
  • Traditional processes often lead to "all-or-nothing" thinking.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To depoliticize resource allocation decisions in pharmaceutical R&D.
  • To improve the quality of decision-making in high-risk environments.
  • To move beyond "all-or-nothing" approaches in project evaluation.

Main Methods:

  • Implemented a new resource allocation process in 1993.
  • Required project teams to develop alternative development plans (e.g., with varying funding levels).

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  • Separated the discussion of project alternatives from their financial evaluations.

    • Main Results:

    • Reduced "all-or-nothing" thinking and reinforced project-champion culture.
    • Fostered creativity by avoiding premature financial evaluations.
    • Shifted focus from arguing project value to enhancing project value.

    Conclusions:

    • Addressing "soft issues" like information quality and trust improved hard resource allocation decisions.
    • The new process enhanced the company's ability to decide how and where to invest in R&D.
    • This approach led to more effective and valuable R&D investments.