Reference no: EM133097608

Richard Clark was thrust into the CEO job at Merck & Co. during its darkest hour. The pharmaceutical giant was drowning in liability suits stemming from its arthritis drug Vioxx, which was pulled from the market because of a link to heart attacks and strokes. Meanwhile, two of the company's other blockbuster drugs were getting close to the expiration of their patents. And Merck's labs, which other companies once hailed as a bastion of scientific innovation, were crippled by a culture that buried good ideas under layers of bureaucracy. To revitalize drug development, Clark had to inject a new set of values where Merck's 60,000 employees- scientists, regulatory staff, and salespeople-would be motivated to work together. This BusinessWeek case study describes the actions of CEO Richard Clark to change Merck's culture into one that is more in tune with the current environment. Read the full text of this BusinessWeek article at www.mhhe.com/mcshane5e , and prepare for the discussion questions that follow.

Discussion Questions

1. Describe the main features of Merck's past culture, and explain why that culture was not effective.

2. What are the key cultural values that CEO Richard Clark wants to instill in Merck employees? Explain how this new culture is better aligned with the external environment.

3. What strategies has Clark applied to transform Merck's culture? In your opinion, to what extent will each of these strategies be effective at bringing about cultural change?