Business Turnaround and Innovation Management in a Global Contract Research Organization- A Case Study

​Innovation Management and Business Turnaround Case Study.

Problem:  A Global Contract Research Organization (CRO) was sick and on the verge of being sold out. The management wanted to give a final shot for its revival prior to potential sell off.

All projects were running late. Not a single project milestone was achieved hence, clients had stopped payment. Company’s cash-flow had come to standstill. Many employees were laid off. As the company had no funds to pay vendors, they had stopped supplying raw materials, hence work stopped too. It was turning into a vicious catch 22 situation. No funds- so no project work was happening and clients paid no funds- because no project milestone was delivered.

Due Diligence: Financial and Technical Audits, RCA, Pareto and Ishikawa studies were conducted to evaluate CRO’s financial health, site, systems, products, problems, processes, human capital, customer complaints etc. The objective was to review the CRO and bring back its glory.

Solution: Business process redesign/ re-engineering was undertaken alongside strategic portfolio management. Hoshin, QbD and DOE were installed for strategic innovation management. Lean and Just-in-time methodologies were installed to help cash-flow and prompt project deliveries. 8D and Kaizen models were executed to turnaround the business.

Result Dashboard:

• The CRO was reviewed in just 9 months! Balance sheet showed first signs of positive growth within 5 months of ‘process change’ implementation.
• An effective customer relationship management process was introduced which provided repeat business from existing clients.
• New clients were added. New contract research projects of over $ 35 million was received.  

To learn more about how Shruti can help your organization achieve new heights or to book a Workshop, Contact Dr. Shruti Bhat via Form or WhatsApp

Follow Shruti on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn


​#ContinuousImprovement #Innovation #BusinessTurnaround #Kaizen #JustinTime #HoshinKanrii #QbD #DOE  #Lean