Center for Creative Leadership

AUGUST 26, 2019

Our series of industry trend research reports — created using our flagship 360-assessment tool, Benchmarks® for Managers — shows that great similarities exist among leaders across industries including healthcare, pharmaceutical, financial, tech, energy, and government (civilian). Army leaders would stack up against industry leaders.

Benchmarking 57

Benchmarking Leadership Bottom-up Industry 57

Strategy Driven

MARCH 18, 2011

Or a benchmarking exercise might lead a functional leader to argue for new investment in distribution networks (‘Our competitors have them’ or ‘We must be great at this’) without recognizing that your existing distribution network, while it may not be the best, is more than adequate for your way to play, and the investment is better made elsewhere.

Resources 51

Resources Industry System Strategy 51

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

In explaining pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline's decision in 2009 to end this practice, CEO Andrew Witty said that "the company's decision was driven by the long-term nature of the pharmaceutical industry, which meant short-term financial indicators were of limited use.". CEOs should actively court desirable investors.

Long-term 15

Long-term CEO Short-term Asset Management 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

There’s a similar assumption underlying much of the discussion around how to measure the return on marketing investment, where it seems to be tacitly accepted that attitudinal insights are insufficient at senior decision-making levels, and behavioral insights represent today’s benchmarks. After all, it’s hard work to capture attitudes.

CRM 9

CRM Pharmaceuticals Survey Benchmarking 9

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

A few outlier industries (notably pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and computers) prop up the sector’s aggregate performance; most others have experienced flat growth or outright declines in real GDP over the past two decades.

Supply Chain 8

Supply Chain McKinsey Incentives Bottom-up 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

There’s a similar assumption underlying much of the discussion around how to measure the return on marketing investment, where it seems to be tacitly accepted that attitudinal insights are insufficient at senior decision-making levels, and behavioral insights represent today’s benchmarks.

CRM 8

CRM Pharmaceuticals Survey Benchmarking 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

One pharmaceutical company's overly-cautious sales force expansion strategy resulted in too little support for a new product launch and cost the company 17% of profits over three years. A sales force stays affordable by keeping costs in line with industry or company benchmarks for a sales force cost-to-sales ratio.

Company 8

Company Short-term Long-term Cost 8