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Pharmaceutical companies have seen the benefits of implementing knowledge management. Researching, developing, testing, and bringing a product to market is a lengthy, expensive process. Only after arduous testing and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval can a drug make it to the commercial market, and then, only one in 10,000 drugs is approved. It is estimated that each day of delay in a seven-year testing cycle can cost $2.5 million (Laudon & Laudon, 2006, pp. 453-454). As you can imagine, anything the pharmaceutical companies can do to use information that results in bringing a successful drug to market is a huge competitive advantage and cost savings.

Pfizer is the largest research-based pharmaceutical firm in the world, with more than 120,000 employees, of whom more than 10 percent are scientists working in research labs globally. Their “discovery researchers may test millions of chemical compounds to find just a dozen candidate medicines, of which only one might result in an approved medication. From discovery to approval can take up to 15 years, and the average cost of bringing a pharmaceutical product to market is $800 million dollars—and growing” (Pfizer, 2006).

Pfizer’s knowledge management system manages all documentation and data related to developing a new drug, identifies specific expertise in its scientists and knowledge leaders throughout the organization, and includes databases of drug information collected as a result of drug trials. In addition, Pfizer has web-based portals for document management and associated knowledge connected with the product life cycle development process. Pfizer does not limit its KM systems to internal information, though. It has also linked with an extranet for connecting global alliances with approximately 500 strategic teams to allow all involved to access legacy data and collaborate. Links are provided to the FDA Internet site, and a tool, calledE-sub, allows Pfizer scientists to access historical data that can be reused to shorten the labor-intensive process of FDA-required new-drug applications (Laudon & Laudon, 2006).

Pfizer seeks to improve its global approach to information management by enabling scientists to search journal collections in each major Pfizer library from a single listing. In the past, each library would search its own database first, and only if an article was not found would searches move to public libraries and other resources, finally being outsourced. Pfizer also implemented Oracle’s clinical application to help bring products to market faster. This software application establishes standards and common working practices that can be shared across the organization.

Pfizer provides an example of how one organization seeks to use effective knowledge management as a key business strategy.

Which of the following is a key business driver for Pfizer for knowledge management?

Question 1 options:

Identify the potential benefits of knowledge management.

Question 2 options:

What was a business benefit for Pfizer of using knowledge management systems in its organization?

Question 3 options:

Which organizational cultural issue inhibits the effective use of knowledge management?

Question 4 options:

The following is not an example of explicit knowledge:

Question 5 options:

Knowledge that resides in the minds of employees that has not been documented is called:

Question 6 options:

Data that have been organized, grouped, or otherwise assembled into a useful form are called:

Question 7 options:

The knowledge-management process

Question 8 options:

The following is an example of a knowledge management practice:

Question 9 options: