showcase communicator: daniel vasella, ceo of …€œhe was always ques-tioning both himself and...

“He was always questioning both himself and others, but he was a good listener, too.” C ommitted to con- tinual improvement, Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella considers status quo unaccept- able. According to consultant Ram Charan, “Vasella is able to antici- pate and visualize radical change much the same way Steve Jobs did at Apple, Andy Grove did at Intel, and Sam Walton did at Walmart.” 1 Since becoming CEO in 1996, Vasella has shaken up the company with a management reshuffle, sales force cuts, and the implementation of the company’s Customer Centric Initia- tive, a new U.S. model featuring five regional units. Vasella’s boldest move came in 2002, when he abandoned the tradi- tional drug-development model. His direction was for Novartis to study only diseases for which new drugs were desperately needed and where genetics of the targeted illnesses were clearly understood. The strat- egy has worked; and with annual sales exceeding $40 billion, Vasella is apparently doing things right. Described as confident, direct, and searingly honest, Vasella is also obviously passionate about the pharmaceutical business. When asked about his success in forecast- ing, he speaks of the various ways he accesses information for making business decisions. A former profes- sor at the University of Bern says of Vasella, “He was always questioning both himself and others, but he was a good listener, too.” 2 Vasella touts the use of the Internet to stay aware of new developments and trends in the industry but also cautions that the reader must constantly distin- guish facts from interpretation. “One has to be careful when reading such ’information,’ but one always learns something from it, even if it is only the political agenda of certain activ- ists.” He sees blogs and discussion boards as another window on the world of competition and a means of staying aware of future moves of rival companies. APPLYING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED: 1. Why has Daniel Vasella been lik- ened to business moguls such as Steve Jobs and Sam Walton? 2. Explain Vasella’s cautionary approach to research. 3. How can vision be communicated successfully to employees of an organization? Showcase Communicator: Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis SHOWCASE PART 2 Sources 1. Capell, K. (2009, June 22). Novartis: Radically remaking its drug business. BusinessWeek, 30. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database. 2. Capell, K. (2009, June 22). Novartis: Radically remaking its drug business. BusinessWeek, 31. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database. © HARAZ N. GHANBARI/AP IMAGES © 2011 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

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“He was always ques-

tioning both himself and

others, but he was a good

listener, too.”

Committed to con-tinual improvement, Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella considers status quo unaccept-

able. According to consultant Ram Charan, “Vasella is able to antici-pate and visualize radical change much the same way Steve Jobs did at Apple, Andy Grove did at Intel, and Sam Walton did at Walmart.”1 Since becoming CEO in 1996, Vasella

has shaken up the company with a management reshuffl e, sales force cuts, and the implementation of the company’s Customer Centric Initia-tive, a new U.S. model featuring fi ve regional units.

Vasella’s boldest move came in 2002, when he abandoned the tradi-tional drug-development model. His direction was for Novartis to study only diseases for which new drugs were desperately needed and where genetics of the targeted illnesses were clearly understood. The strat-egy has worked; and with annual sales exceeding $40 billion, Vasella is apparently doing things right.

Described as confi dent, direct, and searingly honest, Vasella is also obviously passionate about the pharmaceutical business. When asked about his success in forecast-ing, he speaks of the various ways he accesses information for making business decisions. A former profes-sor at the University of Bern says of Vasella, “He was always questioning

both himself and others, but he was a good listener, too.”2 Vasella touts the use of the Internet to stay aware of new developments and trends in the industry but also cautions that the reader must constantly distin-guish facts from interpretation. “One has to be careful when reading such ’information,’ but one always learns something from it, even if it is only the political agenda of certain activ-ists.” He sees blogs and discussion boards as another window on the world of competition and a means of staying aware of future moves of rival companies.

APPLYING WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED:

1. Why has Daniel Vasella been lik-ened to business moguls such as Steve Jobs and Sam Walton?

2. Explain Vasella’s cautionary approach to research.

3. How can vision be communicated successfully to employees of an organization?

Showcase Communicator:Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis

SHOWCASE PART 2

Sources

1. Capell, K. (2009, June 22). Novartis: Radically remaking its drug business. BusinessWeek, 30. Retrieved from Business Source

Complete database.

2. Capell, K. (2009, June 22). Novartis: Radically remaking its drug business. BusinessWeek, 31. Retrieved from Business Source

Complete database.

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