Leadership and Management in Healthcare: A Case Study of GlaxoSmithKline

This paper discusses the leadership and management style of GlaxoSmithKline in the healthcare industry, comparing it to research findings on leadership. It explores the organization's democratic leadership style, active listening, and effective communication.

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INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
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Introduction:
Leadership and management are often perceived as synonymous terms however
there is a distinct difference between the two terms. According to Gopee and Galloway
(2017), leadership can be defined as the course of action taken by a leading group to
direct people towards a common goal. It should be mentioned in this context that in the
words of Kumar (2013), leaders are characterized by three important traits that include
the ability of the leader to share a vision, inspire the workforce to act in the direction of
the vision and motivate the workforce to overcome the obstacles in the path of realizing
the vision. On the other hand, management can be defined as the process of controlling
people and managing the work process (Fitzgerald et al. 2013). The central focus of
management is on monitoring and controlling the workforce and not on the employees.
The key attributes of manager involve the process of planning, organizing as well as
coordinating (Al-Sawai 2013; D’Andreamatteo et al. 2014). In addition to this managers
stringently monitor their processes in order to improvise on the work process. In this
context, it should be stated that for the smooth management of the work process and
work flow in an organization the organizational leaders must adapt a unique leadership
style best suited to drive the working employee force to acquire maximum productivity
(Mosadeghrad 2014). A number of researchers have conducted studies to evaluate the
existing relationship between leadership and management within an organization. A
study conducted by Alvesson and Sveningsson (2003), stated that the manner in which
the supervisors or managers in an organization interacted with the employee workforce
deeply affected the work environment. The researchers conducted interviews with the
managers and the findings established that managers who were cordial to the

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employees and participated in informal chatting and actively listened to the concerns of
the employees generated a positive impact on the employees (Alvesson and
Sveningsson 2003). The employees could connect better, feel respected, recognized
and not treated as anonymous within a team. This paper is going to focus on the
healthcare and pharmaceutical industry with special emphasis on the GlaxoSmithKline
pharmaceutical company to compare and contrast the main points on leadership
mentioned by Alvesson and Sveningsson in their research paper.
Discussion:
The GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) pharmaceutical industry is a British based
pharmaceutical industry with it headquarters in Brentford, London (GSK 2019). The
company was established in the year 2000 by merging the two enterprises of Glaxo
Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham (GSK 2019). Research studies indicate that in the
year, 2015, GlaxoSmithKline was recognized as the sixth largest pharmaceutical
enterprise (Delmatoff and Lazarus 2014). The present CEO of the organization is Emma
Walmsley who is also the first woman CEO to manage the company affairs (GSK 2019).
It should be mentioned in this context that the organization functions with a powerful
combination of resources and expertise skills that has helped the organization in
attaining stability in the dynamic pharmaceutical market (GSK 2019). The organization
typically promotes pharmaceutical products under four major therapeutic domains that
include, the respiratory system, the gastrointestinal system, the central nervous system
and the anti-allergic drugs. In addition to this, GSK is also a global leader in the field of
vaccines.

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The organization at present employs more than 99,000 employees within 114
nations. Also, at present the company manufactures more than 100 prescription
medications as well as vaccines (GSK 2019). The organization also successfully runs
H/V/AIDS support programs and promotes health literacy in approximately 21 countries
(GSK 2019). Therefore, it can be said that the statistical figures testify the tremendous
growth of the organization. The growing productivity of the organization suggests that
the employee workforce is highly motivated to work for the vision of the organization.
The vision of the organization includes three short phrases which critically reflect the
purpose of the organization to serve the cause of humanity. The visionary statement
can thus be mentioned as, ‘DO MORE’, ‘FEEL BETTER’, ‘LIVE LONGER’. The phrase
‘Do More’ is indicated to the employees to put in sincere effort with increased
concentration and cooperation to serve the organization in the best way (GSK 2019).
The phrase ‘Feel Better’ is for the consumers to experience a difference in their health
condition after taking the medication and live longer. The organization offers a positive
work environment to the employees and functions on a democratic leadership style.
The rationale for the choice of the organization can be explained as the
relatedness with the type of industry chosen by the authors in their research paper
Alvesson and Sveningsson (2003). The researchers had conducted the research on the
Byoteck organization which is a life-sciences based firm. The choice of the organization
in the paper can be directly compared to the points mentioned by Alvesson and
Sveningsson (2003) and accordingly evaluated. Alvesson and Sveningsson (2003) in
their paper emphasized on the adaption of a non-conventional form of leadership to
manage the employee workforce. The authors have stated that the common perception

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of bureaucratic leadership style harbors feeling of anonymity within employees within a
team. On the basis of the case study findings, the researchers were of the opinion that
maintaining an open relationship with the employees by casually charting and actively
listening to the input provided by the employees, a level of transparency and at the
same time a smooth flow of communication could be maintained. GlaxoSmithKline
functions on the democratic leadership style and in support to the findings of the
research study believes in decreasing the hierarchal structure and making the most use
of team work (GSK 2019). In addition to this, the authors in their research also
suggested that active listening strengthens team bonding and at the same time also
helps in evoking a sense of mutual responsibility among the employees. Studies
conducted by researchers have also mentioned that active listening provides an
opportunity to employees to voice their immediate concerns which helps in knowing
what processes needs to be restructured (Kumar 2013; Gopee and Galloway 2017). In
addition to this, active listening and effective communication also helps in developing an
in depth understanding about the organizational process and strategic operation
(Alvesson and Sveningsson 2003). Active listening was also found to be extremely
effective in regulating the decision making process and at the same time providing
reassurance to the employees about their grievances (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2003).
In close association to the research findings, the GSK pharmaceutical
organization also fosters a work environment of openness with increased collaboration
between employees and the managers (GSK 2019). The organization regularly obtains
employee feedbacks so as to assess the functioning of the management. In addition to
this, the communication stringently adheres to the principles of effective communication

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so as to avoid the possibilities on internal conflicts within the team. Effective
communication on the other hand also eradicates the masked barriers that block the
process of an effective communication(Fitzgerald et al. 2013). The hierarchal structure
of the organization is simple and three fold with the CEO at the apex of the pyramid
followed by the management and the subordinates and workers (GSK 2019). The
organization value employee opinion and builds on the participative decision making
principle that involves the employees as well as the management. The organization also
builds on the constructive feedback obtained from the employees in order to introduce a
change or amend the existing policies that could potentially be problematic for the
employees. In addition to this, the organization also hosts social events so as to
strengthen team bonding (GSK 2019).
The organization follows a unique level of performance evaluation so as ensure
positive quality outcome. This is achieved by emphasizing on the quality of resources
and ensuring that the system and the process are in proper place prior to working on a
project (GSK 2019). Therefore, it can be mentioned that the leadership and
management style of GSK pharmaceutical organization is uniform with the findings of
the research study conducted by (Alvesson and Sveningsson 2003)
Conclusion:
Therefore, to conclude, it can be mentioned that the production and performance
output of an organization is significantly dependent on the work environment and the
attributes of the leadership style and management followed to run the organization. The
traditional concept of leadership includes the use of hierarchal characterization to

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manage the work process. However, the GSK pharmaceutical organization follows the
democratic leadership style so as to foster a positive working environment with
enhanced performance output. The organization builds on the traits of active listening
and effective communication so as to ensure a better functioning of the work flow. In
addition to this, active listening also allows the managers to understand the immediate
concerns of the employees and accordingly devise policies to address the concerns.
Active listening also helps in instilling the belief among the employees that their opinion
is valued in the structuring of the organizational policies. Further, it helps in maintaining
a level of transparency between the managers and the employees so as to avoid cases
of internal conflict within the team. It also helps in acquiring valuable input from the
employees which that effectively improve the decision making process and contributes
to the overall growth and development of the organization. Therefore, healthcare
organizations must typically move out of the mundane or traditional styles of leadership
based on critical hierarchal structure and make room for the adaption of a relatively
democratic leadership style to promote a healthy working environment.

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References:
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