How to revolutionize an organization: the Roche Italy case

Advancing radical change in a large organization with consolidated processes is always a demanding task. One of the main challenges lies in being able to move the transformation forward effectively while keeping people highly engaged at the same time, overcoming resistance and avoiding confusion or ambiguity. Indispensable in this scenario is the implementation of specially-designed actions and processes tailored to each specific function, without losing ever sight of the direction the organization as a whole should go. A clear example of organizational transformation is the recent experience of Roche Italy

In 2018, the Italian division of the Swiss multinational was seeing a momentous change in the competitive context. Up to that point, Roche Italy’s business activity centered mainly on supplying pharmaceuticals for oncology patients receiving treatment in the national healthcare system. Three of the best-selling products alone accounted for 70% of total turnover. But with expiring patents on these drugs, growing competition in the pharmaceutical industry, and new patents taken out for different drug classes, the company was forced to expand and diversify the product portfolio. The aim was to augment the core offering to 12 drugs, some non-oncological, by 2022. This extension of the company’s value proposition meant breaking into new markets which were highly competitive in their own right.   

The question goes beyond contingencies: the pharmaceutical industry is a market that is experiencing a deep transformation. Traditionally pharma companies dealt with “intermediate customers” (the central government, regional administrations, hospitals), which would buy drugs for the end users (patients), so there was no direct relationship between producers and end users. In recent years, however, market demands have evolved, leaving more room for the needs and expectations of the final customers. Generally speaking, the market has turned more competitive and more turbulent, with a steadily escalating rate of innovation and obsolescence.  

What’s more, the patients themselves and patient associations are becoming better informed, and are playing a central role in choosing one drug therapy over another. 

Successfully adapting to this new scenario entails transitioning from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach. But it also calls for an overhaul of the responsibility structure to enable the company to respond promptly to the different groups of external stakeholders. Roche Italy rose to this challenge in November 2018 with the launch of “Re-Imagine Roche Italy,” a program that aimed to identify new organizational responsibilities centered on patient communities.  

The plan would roll out in three different directions: adopting processes that facilitate information gathering and decision-making; an organizational structure built not only on technical skills but pathologies as well; a participative organizational culture that encourages real – not rhetorical – engagement.  To support and test this new approach, six dedicated design teams were set up (oncology hematology, neuroscience, rare conditions, late life cycle portfolio, hospital pharmacists and patient associations, field forces activities), recruiting candidates directly from the pool of current employees.  

What became immediately apparent was how radical the ideas from the design teams were, in many cases involving the organization as a whole. These proposals were then analyzed by a Leading Team, which then outlined a series of transformational interventions. To foster the new customer-centric approach in the sales force, a new business unit was established: Customer Engagement Management. At the same time, a customer feedback database was created with the help of artificial intelligence.  As far as the budget, planning at fixed time intervals was integrated with an event-based approach, allowing for a much more rapid reaction to any external change, regardless of when that change happened.   

To encourage upskilling for internal resources, along with training initiatives an attractive voluntary leave scheme was launched, in agreement with the unions. This made room in the company for new professional roles. What’s more, the functional organizational structure based on technical competencies was enriched by groups specialized in the pathology they were working on, in constant contact with competence centers. As far as performance management and measurement, more indicators were taken into consideration, integrating metrics on individual performance with team results and behaviors.  

A vital prerequisite to the sustainable success of this transformation is work on the organizational culture. To this end, Roche Italy endorsed an effective leadership model, aimed at encouraging all collaborators to do their best to ensure the wellbeing of the final customers (patients). With this aim in mind, the company introduced initiatives to enhance team work and individual competencies.  

The transformation of Roche Italy is a work in progress, with a sizeable investment in energy and inevitable moments of disorientation. But the company is on the way to becoming a more agile organization to face the turbulence of today’s markets. 

• Turbulence in modern markets forces mature players to revamp their organizational structures and processes. In the pharma industry too, the growing centrality of consumers makes a new approach necessary, one that can respond continuously to various groups of various stakeholders, first and foremost patient communities.  
• A radical organizational transformation requires myriad interventions on several dimensions. These interventions have to be coordinated synergically, since the repercussions in one area will have more or less of a direct effect on others. 

• A radical change will inevitably encounter resistance. This can be dealt with proactively with engagement initiatives, and also by clarifying responsibilities. Interventions to generate transparency and trust in the change, and to get people on board in the process: this is how to counteract natural resistance in a positive way, which is essential to successfully accomplish deep transformation.