With companies being driven by innovation to maintain or enhance their industry position, many have searched outside their own organizations for productive collaborations. These partnerships can be complex, requiring the interactions of two diverse organizations and calling upon alliance management and project management to deliver the goals of the relationship. Teamwork is essential for the success of any group effort. The interaction of alliance management and project management is no different. This article will focus on the interactions of these two disciplines as viewed from the pharmaceutical industry perspective.
Several years ago, very few companies had dedicated alliance management functions or individuals formally named as alliance managers. Project management, as a function, was established years earlier and was viewed to be critical to business success, particularly in matrixed organizations. Thus, it is unusual to see organizations without a project management function. Recently, the number of strategic alliances has grown, significantly increasing innovation, creating additional value for each partner. Evidence shows that the combination of project management and relationship management best practices provided through an alliance management function are essential for success. This, in turn, has elevated the need for alliance management and to position this capability as an integral component of a company’s business paradigm. In the pharmaceutical industry, these types of alliances have facilitated access to technologies to enhance the productivity and success of basic research efforts, in-licensing of preclinical and clinical drug candidates, sharing risk and costs associated with the manufacturing efforts, as well as co-promoting and co-marketing of commercialized products.
Typically, strategic alliances with external partners face greater challenges than internal project teams. Project management is tasked with managing projects within established requirements to deliver on time and on budget. The project manager develops and tracks the project through a clearly defined project path with well-defined outputs, thus delivering the outputs on schedule. It is the project manager’s role to ensure that the targeted operational objectives are reached in line with the developed project plan. Alliance management is a new, growing profession focused on ensuring that a close collaborative relationship prospers between two or more independent entities that share complementary assets and strengths. It is the alliance manager who will concentrate on developing and implementing shared organizational practices that will lead to common decisions and processes – perhaps those unique to the alliance. The alliance manager must have a good working knowledge of the alliance agreement and be able to communicate the agreed upon contractual obligations to the team, while also serving as the liaison with the legal group for identification of contractual issues. Additional responsibilities of the alliance manager are to proactively identify conflicts and facilitate resolution, circumventing escalation of the issues to senior management. When dealing with one or sometimes multiple partners, the alliance manager must consider that each partner has its own strategy, organizational structure, processes and norms. To complicate matters, team members are often not co-located – creating additional challenges of time zone and cultural differences. The goals of the alliance are unique requiring joint decisions, joint project planning and agreed upon milestones. The alliance management function has evolved to function across all engaged organizations. There are many similar characteristics between successful alliance managers and project managers. These individuals exhibit a comprehensive understanding of the development and commercialization processes, but may not have in-depth subject matter expertise. Both of these individuals must have mastered the ability to manage cross-functional projects, deal with multiple situations, influence without any direct authority, understand and communicate the vision of the project, comprehend the importance of budgeting and necessity of meeting financial goals, be excellent communicators and have good organizational skills. However, there are definite differences in these two roles in that the project manager is focused on their company’s project and is assigned to manage the project to maximize their company’s return and represent their company. On the contrary, the alliance manager is the ombudsman of the relationship and takes on a neutral position being the voice of the partner within their company with the goal to maximize the alliance. Simply put, the project manager is accountable for the program/project deliverables and the alliance manager is accountable for the program/project relationship.
Whereas the need for project management varies throughout the lifecycle of an alliance project with minimal involvement during the negotiation and post-negotiation phase, the alliance manager’s presence is crucial throughout the existence of the relationship. When selecting either of these individuals, the proficiencies one demonstrates in areas of communication and organizing productive meetings are essential to a smooth-running relationship. Early on in the alliance, these characteristics are very important, as this is the time when the joint team develops a strategy, sets forth the guidelines for future interactions and identifies the roles and responsibilities of team members. As the relationship matures, the focus of the relationship is on the deliverables. This brings greater importance to progress meetings that ensure the goals of the alliance remain on track. There are some who mistakenly believe that if the alliance is successful in reaching its scientific discoveries and milestones, there is no need for an alliance manager or project manager. This is a fallacy, as issues do arise and may be simmering in the background only to come to the forefront when there is a missed milestone or project delay. The assignment of an alliance manager/project manager early in the relationship will ensure that milestones are being met through a trusting and transparent collaboration.
Although difficult to measure, a successful project manager and alliance manager should have strong interpersonal skills. During the alliance life cycle issues will arise that will have the potential to derail the relationship. An “us versus them” mentality is one example. If this situation arises, it needs to be stopped quickly to make sure the relationship remains focused and positive. The importance of engaging in collaborative problem solving cannot be underestimated. It is important for partners to devise creative solutions to balance the needs and objectives of one partner against those of the other. Remember that the alliance has been established because each partner brings unique strengths to the relationship and is dependent upon the other partner doing the same. Being a good listener and empathizing with each partner’s concerns will help the alliance manager identify potential conflicts that could arise during the course of the relationship.
The collaboration of the dedicated alliance manager and the project manager offers a unique opportunity to leverage resources within the organization. Often, the project manager has not had any experience working with a dedicated alliance manager and may not understand the benefits of this interaction. Clearly outlining the responsibilities of the alliance manager from the start will help to clarify the duties assigned to the alliance manager. When each individual has the confidence that their roles can co-exist and are essential to the success of the effort, the interactions between the project manager and alliance manager become synergistic. Their relationship is valuable to the partnership as they can work across boundaries and together as a team toward the common goal of alliance success. The alliance manager can serve as a resource to the project manager for guidance in option-based decisions, engaging in difficult conversations and alignment around roles and responsibilities. The identification of an alliance manager for a relationship may mean the difference between the success and failure of the alliance. The alliance relationship is everyone’s responsibility. Without managing this relationship, the success of the alliance is at risk.
Can a project manager also be an alliance manager? Of course. At Wyeth, all alliances are evaluated during the negotiation of the agreement to determine if a dedicated alliance manager is needed or if the duties of an alliance manager can be fulfilled by another project team member, perhaps the project manager. In a less complicated alliance, it is not unusual for the alliance manager to have another role within the alliance. This can be a challenge for the individual, as this person will need to perform their original role yet also serve as alliance manager. When the alliance manager is not the project manager, it is essential for both individuals to understand each person’s role in the alliance. The ideal scenario is when the project manager is designated as the one accountable for the deliverables, while the alliance manager is responsible for taking the pulse of the relationship and doing what is necessary to keep the relationship healthy. These two functions need to work collaboratively. The project manager needs to make sure the project is meeting all deadlines and delivering milestones within budgets while informing internal governance committees and the alliance manager regarding the progress. It is the alliance manager’s responsibility to provide relationship guidance, facilitate controversial issues and escalate if necessary to the appropriate governing bodies. The challenge of both the project manager and alliance manager is to manage both the project and the collaborative relationship. When there is more than one individual who communicates with the partner, it is essential to have established communication channels. All messages from your company should be the same - speak with one voice. Sending mixed messages to the partner is disastrous. When multiple messages are conveyed, the partner is left with the impression that your company is not in control of the project and undermines the partner’s confidence in your company and its joint team. In an effort to keep communication channels open between the company and the partner, it is not uncommon for the counterparts at each company to have an open dialog while keeping the project manager and alliance manager informed of all interactions. This allows the alliance manager to monitor the relationship while not being the sole communicator.
Identifying and practicing good partnering behaviors is beneficial to the relationship. At Wyeth, we train individuals who will be named as the alliance manager, as well as the internal team members, in alliance skills. These competencies include, but are not limited to, training on communication and interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, critical thinking and problem resolution and team management. We also implement other practices that facilitate understanding of the business relationship with our partner such as developing a summary of the agreement in layman’s terms that is shared with the internal and external teams, monitoring and tracking the contractual obligations of both Wyeth and the partner to ensure that commitments are being met, and conducting periodic anonymous surveys of all internal and external team members concerning their views on the state of the alliance. The results of the survey are shared with the project manager and partner’s alliance manager prior to communication of the results to the joint team.
We have shown in our experience that active management of the alliance correlates with successful alliances. At a recent workshop held among alliance managers at Wyeth, individuals shared some of their experiences relating to how management of the alliance has led to improved results. It is noteworthy that many of these alliance managers also serve as the project manager and as such have been able to meld the responsibilities of each of these roles into a single person handling the duties of both functions. Several individuals commented that successful relationships were enhanced by excellent partner communications. The proactive behavior established with formal and informal interactions to keep the partner informed were seen as beneficial to the relationship and important in building confidence between the teams – especially during times of conflict. Facilitating communication internally among working team members and governance team members ensures that progress is appropriately monitored, success acknowledged and that needs are promptly identified and communicated with a single voice to the partner. The speedy identification and acknowledgement of issues reinforces the trust established from the outset and confirms the overall alliance goals. A focus on understanding of the partner’s concern underlying a request and a frank discussion of the decision process has led to transparency regarding the outcome and established a framework for future decisions.
Paramount to the success of the relationship is the special association and liaison between the alliance manager and project manager described here. Building and maintaining alliance relationships involves a time commitment and dedication across all team members that begins during the partner identification and negotiation period and continues throughout the life of the alliance.
Kendra Eager, Ph.D. is Assistant Vice President, Alliance Management at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Kendra has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and is presently a core member of the team that created and implemented Wyeth’s Alliance Management Function. She is responsible for providing Alliance Management support to key alliances as well as contributing towards creating replicable Alliance Management best practices within Wyeth.
Kendra joined Wyeth in 1990 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in project management of late-stage research projects, research and commercial operations and strategic planning. A researcher by training, Dr. Eager started her pharmaceutical career at Bristol-Myers Squibb by establishing and leading a monoclonal antibody research laboratory for the Bristol- Myers Squibb Research Institute.
Kendra holds a BA summa cum laude in Biology from Rider University and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Pennsylvania. Kendra conducted postdoctoral research at the Wistar Institute in the field of tumor biology. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and has several issued patents.
This article was printed in the July/August 2010 issue of Pharmaceutical Outsourcing, Volume 11, Issue 4. Copyright rests with the publisher. For more information about Pharmaceutical Outsourcing and to read similar articles, visit www.pharmoutsourcing.com and subscribe for free.