Pfizer Case Study
1- Describe and evaluate what Pfizer is doing with its Pfizer Works.
Pfizer is continually looking for ways to help employees be more efficient and effective. Pfizer helps his managers to spend more time on knowledge work
when they really needed and less support work by shifting time consuming tasks with a press of a button. They are also happier because they spend time
working on what they know and like to do. This strategy saved valuable employee time and for example, when he gave the Indian team a complex project
researching strategic actions that worked when consolidating company facilities, the team put the report together in a month that would have taken six months
to do.
Pfizer is the world’s largest research-based pharmaceuticals firm and also a well-known pharmaceutical company. So their most of the work depends on
research, developing strategies and innovate. They were trying to find a new way of system which makes their work more effective and efficient. Pfizer find out
that their worker spends more time on business research and data analysis to the creation of documents and other routine support like Surfing and making
PowerPoint and also spending so much time on menial tasks rather than knowledge work. The average Pfizer employee was spending 20 percent to 40 percent
of his or her time on supporting work(creating documents, typing notes, doing research, manipulating data, scheduling meetings) and only 60 percent to 80
percent on knowledge work( strategy, innovation, networking, collaborating, Critical thinking).
That’s why Pfizer starting to find a solution of this problem to increase their Efficiency and effectiveness. Pfizer build a new kind of structure by using
Microsoft outlook where their connecting to an outsourcing company where Pfizer can connect with different worker by email where they can connect with any
worker around world and get cost specification for their requested work. By using this process the time spent on analysis of data has been reduce, also have
many financial benefits and employees also get rid of their boring work.
Question 2: What Structural implication-good and bad- does this approach have? (Thinking term of the six organizational design elements)
This approach “office of future concept” (it means Pfizer make a new concept of future office where they can connect their all offices around the world with
each other and where any staff of the office can communicate, share information with another staff from one office to another office around the world) by Pfizer
is good decision taken by Pfizer Senior director. This organizational structure also follows the six organizational design elements. As we know there are six
organizational design elements. And they are:
1. Division of Work 2. Departmentalization 3. Hierarchy Development 4. Authority, Responsibility and Delegation 5. Centralization vs. Decentralization 6.
Coordination
Division of Work: Division of the work means divide a job into different part. When a job is broken-down into a number of steps, and each step is completed by
a separate individual leading to work specialization is called division of work. In the new organization structure Pfizer also divide their work into different part
and also reduces the work load of their employees by specialization. Departmentalization: For different specialization Pfizer facilitated by putting specialists
together in departments under the direction of a manager. These departments are typically based on the work functions performed, the product or service
offered, the target customer or client, the geographic territory covered, or the process used to turn inputs into outputs. In new organizational structure Pfizer also
departmentalize through different geographic area.
For example: an employee of Pfizer can take any kind of information through one country employee to another country. Hierarchy Development: In Pfizer for
the new organizational structure hierarchy development is also followed. In this structure a single worker have to request to its upper level and after he or she
receives the permissions he or she can start to assign a team to complete the work. Here they also have to follow a hierarchy level from upper side to downside.
Authority, Responsibility and Delegation: In the new organizational structure of Pfizer the Authority, Responsibility and Delegation of each employees is also
been decide and the authority of level is higher than the lowest level workers and also responsibility is also high for the upper level and low for the lower level.
