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Abstract
This paper aims to do two main things. The first is to discuss interim management in the context of the biotechnology industry, the whys and the wherefores. The second is to offer some brief, but live, case studies where interim management has been used successfully and to offer pragmatic suggestions on how interim management may be used in the future.
What exactly is interim management? This paper defines interim management, what it is, as opposed to some of the other temporary executive options available to senior management. It examines the environment that has created the need for interim management, from changing demands of the business environment to the changing values of the workforce. Why would anyone choose a career as an interim manager? We examine some of the skills needed to become one, challenging the belief that 'if he/she was any good, they'd be in a permanent job'.
The paper also attempts to show the relevance of interim management to the biotechnology industry, particularly in Europe. Clearly to have a good management and scientific team to run a biotechnology company from day one is ideal, but the industry in the UK in particular has experienced just how difficult this can be and has few role models from which to draw any lessons. The paper uses actual, but anonymous, examples of biotechnology companies who have successfully used interim management and outlines other situations, peculiar to the biotechnology industry, where interim management could be and is used. Highlighted also are some of the potential problems and downsides of interim management, and some of the questions most asked about hiring interims are answered.
Finally, the paper attempts to identify the trends for interim management in the 21st century. It examines the skills that will be needed by senior management, permanent or interim, and offers some suggestions on how management of people issues, by using interim management, may allow biotechnology companies to become more effective, more quickly.
This paper was first published in the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology. For subscription information, click here.
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