Their sole purpose is conducting medical and science research. These include providing funding as well as facilities to: individual scientists, universities and in some cases private corporations. If Abbott Labs can form some kind of partnership with them, this could help to address the issues that they are facing as far as the reduction in funding that they are receiving from their projects. ("Howard Hughes Medical Institute," 2011) (Drefius, 2006) The company can then seek out other private foundations, where could they form similar alliances with. Once this takes place, they can create a host of different partnerships with these organizations that will address these challenges. This would directly deal with the problems that they are facing in the areas of: barriers to entering certain fields, limited control over proprietary compounds, varying expectations and a decrease in funding to some of the different programs. At the same time, they can keep the current collaborative projects going. The only difference is that the company would begin augmenting their current approach, with one that will help to ensure they have continuous access to the resources they need. This is...

Over the course of time, this will ensure that Abbot Labs has the access to the tools along with funding they need, to ensure that they can continue with their research and development. ("Howard Hughes Medical Institute," 2011) (Drefius, 2006)
Clearly, the current challenges facing the company are problematic. However, if Abbott Labs can form strategic alliances with a variety of foundations it will address these issues immediately. This strategy can then, be augmented with the current collaborations that are in place. Once this occurs, it will ensure that the company has access to a consistent stream of research and development. This is the point that they will be able to more effectively deal with these shifts by: having numerous partners that they are working with in these areas.

Bibliography

Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (2011). HHMI. Retrieved from: http://www.hhmi.org/

Drefius, C. (2006). At Harvard's Stem Cell Center. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/science/24conv.html?ref=howardhughesmedicalinstitute