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Rethinking leadership in drug discovery projects
Andreas Schneider1, Zeynep Erden, Hans Widmer
1ETH Zurich, Department of Management, Technology and Economics, Zurich, Switzerland.
Drug Discovery Today
|June 19, 2012
Summary
This study introduces distributed leadership for pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) teams. Implementing this approach can address key leadership challenges in drug discovery.
Area of Science:
- Pharmaceutical R&D
- Organizational Behavior
- Leadership Studies
Background:
- Traditional pharmaceutical R&D leadership models focus on central authorities.
- Limited attention has been given to leadership's role in R&D effectiveness.
- Improving pharmaceutical R&D requires innovative leadership strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce and explore the concept of distributed leadership within pharmaceutical R&D.
- To identify specific leadership challenges in R&D teams.
- To propose strategies for fostering distributed leadership in drug discovery.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of traditional and distributed leadership theories.
- Analysis of R&D team dynamics and challenges.
- Conceptual framework development for distributed leadership in drug discovery.
Main Results:
- Distributed leadership, a group-based capability, enhances R&D team effectiveness.
- Three key leadership challenges in R&D teams were identified.
- Distributed leadership offers a viable solution to these challenges.
Conclusions:
- Adopting distributed leadership can significantly improve pharmaceutical R&D processes.
- Fostering distributed leadership requires specific organizational and team-level interventions.
- This approach can revitalize drug discovery project management and outcomes.
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