1) How should Anja interpret the silence at the end of the meeting? If you were Anja, how would you ensure the buy in and commitment of the other members in putting forth the Best Practices Sharing Project Charter?

2) Why is inspiring a shared vision critical to the long term success of an organization? Can an organization operate without a shared vision?

3) Why is being genuine such an important trait for a leader to have when trying to get their organization's buy into their vision?

4) As you can see from the case, Anja will have to work with various individuals on the project. Speak to the challenges each member will pose and also how Anja can leverage each member's strengths in ensuring this project implementation is a success.

THUNDERBIRD SCHOOL OF GLOBAL MANAGEMENT A15-11-0018 WILLIAM E. YOUNGDAHL ANJA BREMMER'S INFLUENCING CHALLENGE The Best Practices Sharing initiative will help us work more effectively within and across divisions. It will enable innovation and revenue growth across our global markets. Alex Gordesky, Project Sponsor, CIO I am very excited to be leading this important initiative. Anja Bremmer, Project Leader, Corporate IT I want off this project. Thomas Dorfmann, External Consultant "Why wasn't I selected to lead this project? " Mary Knowles, Marketing Project Leader, Diagnostics "I really don't have time for one more initiative." Andreas Gott, Finance Analyst, Research & Development "I'm not sure why I was appointed to this project team." Toshi Shimano, Production Engineer, Pharmaceuticals Anja, the project leader for a major initiative aimed at encouraging sharing of best practices across Genizome divi- sions, was preparing to meet for the second time with her core project team, consisting of Mary from Marketing, Andreas from Research, Toshi from Manufacturing, and Thomas from a consulting organization. During the first meeting, Anja read the initial draft of a comprehensive project charter to ensure align- ment of the team around deliverables and processes. Nobody raised concerns, so she planned to use the second project meeting to develop the risk management plan, develop the overall work breakdown structure, and assign specific responsibilities. Genizome Genizome, a fully integrated global pharmaceutical company, was a product of several merged or acquired companies. These mergers, occurring in the early 1990s, left the German company with the challenge of stan- dardizing many IT systems and business processes across its three divisions: Pharmaceuticals, Diagnostics, and Research & Development. The company had recently switched from a country head structure to a global functional structure with over 80,000 employees spread across 120 countries reporting through division lines to corporate division heads rather than country heads. The corporate division heads quickly concluded that there were too many different ways of doing things across geographies. The Best Sharing Project During an executive committee (ExCom) meeting, Alex Gordesky, the corporate CIO, argued for more harmo- nization of processes on a global basis based on sharing of best practices within and across divisions. Excellent Copyright 2011 Thunderbird School of Global Management. All rights reserved. This case was prepared by Professor William E. Youngdahl for the purpose of classroom discussion only, and not to indicate either effective or ineffective management.processes abounded within Genizome. but they were often wellvkept local secrets. The ExCom members agreed and encouraged Gordesky to pull together a team to develop a oompanywide process for best practices sharing. Gordeslty asked division heads to recommend a set of core team members for the Best Practices Sharing {BPS} initiative. He selected Anja Bremmer1 an IT project manager from Berlin, to lead the initiative. Bremmer had been with an IT group within the Diagnostics division for one year, after spending six years with another pharmaceutical company in which she successfully led a signicant best practices sharing initiative. Bremmer held an advanced degree in oomputer science. She was also certied by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional. Bremmer met with the CIO to better understand the nature of the project. Gordesky had limited time1 but agreed to meet briey to share the big picture with Anja. He let her know that the ExCom members agreed that the move from country groups to divisions created a need for greater harmonization of business processes within and across divisions. The aim of the BPS initiative was to identify best practices that would be candidates for divisional and companywide common processes. Gordesky reminded Anja that a best practice was a practice or set ofprooesses that demonstrated positive results in one area of the business and mg! provide benets elsewhere. Anja asked permission to select core project team members. Gordcsky made it clear that the selection would be made by division heads. He wanted to ensure their full buyin, and believed they were in the best position to identify the team members. Anja did not object and hoped for the best. Since it took several weeks for the division heads to identify core team members, Anja used the time to develop a project charter {see Exhibit 1), which she completed before the rst project meeting. She met several times with Gordesky to ensure alignment so she would have his Full support moving forward. The First Project Meeting Ania realized how important it would be to start the project with a clear understanding of the project scope and key deliverables. She started the meeting by asking each team member to spend a oouple of minutes to provide a brief introduction. Mary Knowles, Marketing Reject Leader. Diagnostics Mary, from Los Angeles, graduated from Harvard with an MBA. She had three years ochKinsey experience before joining the Diagnostics division one year before the Best Practices Sharing kickoff meeting. She was a special projects leader who had highlevel mentors at Group {company headquarters). During Mary's introduction, she underscored her Harvard MBA and her McKinsey experience. She also expressed strong opinions about how the project should be structured. She also suggested some specic McKinsey frameworks, and the need to talte some risks in front of senior management. Her English was rapid and lled with consulting jargon. Andreas Gets, Prime Amber, Research d'Dmbpmenr Andreas had an excellent reputation over his 25-year Genizome career spanning Pharma. Diagnostics, and now REED. where he was rather senior in the nance area. His introduction was the longest given his exten- sive experience across divisions and on prior best practices sharing initiatives. Andreas made several cynical remarks such as. \"Yet another initiative on top of my day job, take a number.\" While others were speaking, he responded to emails on his mobile. At one point, he looked like he might fall asleep. Rabi Sbr'mano. Production Engineer: Pbarmaeeurkab Toshi participated from a speakerphone in Toyl-to where it was 10:00 p.m. at the beginning of the meeting. During the project. he would participate from Tokyo while the other team members would assemble in an open workspace in Germany. 2 515-11-0018 Toshi, from Tokyo, had been with manufacturing in the Pharmaceuticals division for ve years. He had signicant experience working on prior best practices projects, but none of these projects succeeded. He was very tired during the meeting, and found it difcult to understand much ofwhat was said. 1When Anja ask ifhe was able to follow the conversation, he replied, "Yes. Thank you.\" Homo: Dagnann, Gum-Based Brim! Consultant Thomas had extensive experience working with Genizome and other companies on best practices sharing. He spoke with authority, but he also voiced some initial reservations about the project. He sat with his arms crossed for the entire meeting. Before the meeting, Mary heard from Alex Gordesky thatThomas was pushing within IT to have the project cancelled in favor ofother projects in the queue. He expressed a keen interest in a new simplicity initiative. Anja also heard that Thomas worked with Mary on other projects. They had professional respect for one another. Some said even more.... This disturbed Anja, especially since she heard that Mary was already bad mouthing Anja as a poor choice for project leader. After the introduction, Anja spent the next hour walking the team through the project charter, and shared her thoughts about the key project deliverables. At the end of the meeting she asked if anyone had any ques- tions. Nobody did, so she felt condent to push ahead to risk management, detailed scope management, and assignments during the second meeting scheduled the following week. On the train home that evening, Anja began to have some doubts about whether silence really indicated agreement with her approach. Could she count on the team members' professionalism and support despite any differences they might have at this point? 1Would Andreas poison the team with his attitude? Above all, what should she do about Mary and Thomas? Exhibit 1. Best Practices Sharing Project Charter Hair-rt Description The Best Practices Sharing (BPS) project will create a set of processes to identify best practices that can be shared within and across divisions. Business Need The recent reorganization from country to division organizational structure has revealed disjointed, and even conicting, business processes within and across divisions. A system for sharing best practices within and across Geniaome divisions will accelerate our ability to create common business processes. The planned implementation of SAP further highlights the need for common business processes. Moses! Solution A core project team consisting of experienced members From each division, a seasoned project leader with experience in leading best practices sharing initiatives, and a consultant with deep experience in best practices sharing will develop the solution. They will be supported by a Steering Committee made up of division heads or their deputies, with Alex Gordeslty serving as the project sponsor. K27 Deiiuembie: 1. A recommendation For a solution that will meet the stated business need of best practices sharing and common pro- cesses within and across division 2. A detailed cost-benet analysis 3. A detailed implementation plan Hardin: The deliverables will be due one calendar year from project kickoff. Budget The anticipated budget for this project is El million