IT and the Globalization of Wyeth

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Synopsis For most its history, Wyeth had been a holding company that sold a variety of products through as many as a hundred companies organized into 10 subsidiaries. Wyeth grew primarily through acquisitions of other companies, in which the original management was usually retained. In the early ‘90s, Wyeth embarked on a strategy of focusing the company on healthcare and divesting all non-healthcare divisions. The company also started to consolidate operations including manufacturing and staff functions; however, Wyeth did not have the culture or business processes of a global organization. Wyeth did not have a culture of sharing information experiences among affiliates or comparing performances. The prevailing local thinking and lack of integration was causing operational challenges for managing global inventories. Additionally, the R&D group was producing internally developed products that could not be marketed or manufactured on a local basis. In the late ‘90s after successfully divesting the non-pharmaceutical businesses, Wyeth was faced with the challenged of organizing the firm into a global integrated entity. A major self study and analysis were conducted and the final recommendations were presented to top management. Although there was widespread support, the funding was not necessarily available. In the remainder of 1998 and 1999, Wyeth focused on planning and communicating the IT globalization plan that emphasized the regional support centers (RSCs).In parallel with IT globalization initiative, Wyeth was also considering, planning, and implementing ERP and SAP implementations. Additionally, a global data warehouse was introduced to normalize all the data and rationalize the products. In early 2000, the IT globalization ... ... middle of paper ... ...hitecture. The implementation of ERP and SAP software were some of the key contribution for a unified system. It led to the creation of a global data warehouse where transactional data generated by the SAP and other non-SAP data would be stored. The global warehouse project provided an integrative process of gathering data and normalizing them in one place. It also provided for rationalization of products, which allowed affiliates to see what was being manufactured and when it would arrive. Finally, one of the most elusive IT contributions to globalization was the global mindset that it created in managers and employees. Because of IT, Wyeth had a culture shift form a “local thinking” company to a globally aware entity. Not only was the physical information and infrastructure globalized but the intangible resources in the form of workers, managers, and executives.

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