Start-Up Development in Traditionally Operating Industries: Regional Subsidiaries of Pharmaceutical Companies

The authors shed light on the particularities in the setup and the development of regional subsidiaries of globally operating pharmaceutical companies and explore the relevance of the Three-Pillar Model (Wollmann, Kühn, Kempf, Three pillars of organization and leadership in disruptive times. Cham. Springer, 2020) (abbreviated: 3-P-Model). Geographic expansion brings a multitude of challenges; various internal and external factors limit the flexibility in shaping the subsidiary organization, while the diverse workforce becomes the melting pot for different expectations, motivations, feelings, and experiences. Especially the combination of the entrepreneurial mindset that characterizes a start-up with the highly regulated business environment and the traditional way of working in the pharmaceutical industry bears the risk of confusion, conflicts, and disruption of organizational development. Navigating the subsidiary organization into a successful future requires a commonly understood direction and the full alignment of leadership team and workforce on the “sustainable purpose.” The dynamic growth of the organization demands the ongoing integration of new roles and assets but also of strategic elements and processes to ensure “connecting resources.” Both “sustainable purpose” and “connecting resources” require continuous updating and adaptation to the current phase of the development journey to provide consistency and clarity for the “travelling organization.”