Consulting Plan for Pharmaceuticals Company

Consultant Cover Letter

CEO, Capellon Pharmaceuticals

This memo serves as an introduction to my consulting services and a briefing of the work I have just completed for Capellon. I met with Alexi Parsons two weeks earlier to outline a plan for my consultation and to set this day as the target for completion of my research. Below, I describe my perspective of the challenges Capellon faces, my research findings, and my recommendations to you and the board of directors.

Challenges. Productivity and morale have decreased company-wide. Resources have been heavily allocated to the marketing department, but year-over-year sales fell markedly.

Staff resisted required changes in policies and interactions have been sophomoric. Consequently, turnover had reached unacceptable levels that threaten to mare the company's reputation in the industry. The marketing manager does not have leeway to function effectively and is chronically micromanaged by superiors who do not understand the operations of the business unit. Upper level managerial missteps have been so acute as to assume installing surveillance cameras in the marketing department would actually contribute something of value. The absence of quality and risk management programs creates a barrier to systematic improvement and fails to prepare the company for the large burden of risk and crisis management that pharmaceuticals companies must recognize.

Recommendations. Decentralization of managerial responsibilities is a first step for addressing issues of morale, productivity, and sales competitiveness. A system of sales incentives and an esprit de corps initiative can support the efforts of the new manager, and should be part of the kick off for change. Recruitment and selection of a new manager of marketing and sales should begin with dispatch and conducted with the greatest care to ensure an infusion of superlative leadership skills into the newly merged departments. A continuous quality improvement model needs to be adopted by the company, and I suggest using and setting as a target the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program for health care as a model. Personnel must be hired or recruited to staff a risk management group. In addition to the customer satisfaction survey that the company conducts, an internal satisfaction survey should be established, with absolute assurance of confidentiality. Following survey data analysis, small ad hoc groups -- whose members I suggest you personally invite -- will develop and implement action plans to respond to identified needs and promising practices.