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Life Sciences Monitor 1.03 - Spencer Stuart

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issue 1 2003<br />

<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> monitor<br />

a review of global leadership issues<br />

and industry trends<br />

1<br />

7<br />

global trends in pharmaceutical<br />

m&a: the impact on human capital<br />

inside the organization<br />

assisted living: an industry in<br />

transition<br />

Global trends in pharmaceutical M&A: The<br />

impact on human capital inside the organization<br />

Phil Le Goff, <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong> – Zurich<br />

John Mitchell, <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong> – Atlanta<br />

Pharmaceutical companies — both big and small — are walking a tightrope:<br />

how to continue to develop life-saving treatments while generating the highestpossible<br />

levels of shareholder return. With investors demanding double-digit<br />

increases, coupled with the rising costs of R&D budgets, pharmaceutical companies<br />

are seeking new ways to plug product gaps to achieve expected growth rates. As<br />

a result, M&A activity among the pharmaceutical sector has remained relatively<br />

strong during the economic downturn compared to other industries. Some<br />

speculate it’s become a matter of survival for the major players.<br />

The real changes are taking place inside these organizations as the emergence<br />

of the “superpharma” company shifts the human capital landscape. For example,<br />

the four major pharmaceutical players currently each employ 90,000 people, but<br />

over the next four years, this number is predicted to jump to 200,000 1 . In addition<br />

to the massive consolidation underway, leadership attrition skyrockets to 47 percent<br />

within three years following a merger 2 .<br />

Given these changes, the industry is taking a hard look at the positions and<br />

leadership requirements needed to successfully steer the next generation of<br />

pharmaceutical companies. We spoke with industry experts Neil Anthony, head<br />

of global human resources for Novartis Pharma AG; Don Nelson, head of human<br />

resources for Pfizer’s pharmaceutical business; Michael Pearson, a director in<br />

McKinsey & Company’s healthcare practice; and Joe Riccardo, head of healthcare<br />

investment research for Bear Stearns & Company, for their views on this topic.<br />

1 Delany, Kevin; The Future of Pharma HR 2002<br />

2 Bogan, Christopher and Keith Symmers; “Marriages Made in Heaven,” Pharmaceutical Executive January 2001


<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

“Given that organizations are growing so quickly, the question remains:<br />

is this productive or counterproductive for our human capital strategy?”<br />

2<br />

motivating factors behind<br />

today’s mega pharma mergers<br />

Today’s pharmaceutical companies are facing a<br />

number of challenges: increased competition from<br />

generics companies, anticipated patent expirations<br />

and a depressed economy. By merging with a midsize<br />

player and creating a superpharma, the organization<br />

has a better opportunity to develop the next<br />

blockbuster product — which allows them to stay<br />

in the big pharma category over the long term.<br />

“All companies need growth for survival,” says<br />

Pearson. “A decade ago, most pharma mergers<br />

were initiated based on impending patent expirations<br />

and anticipated earnings pressures. In order<br />

to sustain positive earnings momentum, they<br />

merged to benefit from opportunities to reduce<br />

costs and help earnings. Today, it’s both about<br />

size, especially on the commercial side, and cost<br />

opportunities.”<br />

“This ‘merger mania’ is driven by the need to<br />

leverage R&D and the sense that sheer scale and<br />

size of sales forces and marketing efforts will be<br />

the determining factor, particularly in the U.S.,”<br />

says Anthony.<br />

“A pharmaceutical company’s survival hinges on<br />

its ability to create new products,” says Riccardo.<br />

“However, the timing and rationale of each merger<br />

depends on the company. In some circumstances,<br />

the CEO is being proactive and strategic. He or<br />

she initiates a merger and/or acquisition if time<br />

is running out on a particular patent or if there is<br />

an opportunity. But in the majority of cases, the<br />

pharmaceuticals need to strengthen their business<br />

and find new synergies.”<br />

“Everyone agrees, for the most part, that the principal<br />

drivers of a merger are to strengthen the<br />

current product portfolio and the R&D pipeline,”<br />

explains Nelson. “However, given that organizations<br />

are growing so quickly, the question remains:<br />

is this productive or counterproductive for our<br />

human capital strategy?”<br />

the human capital challenges<br />

inherent in a mega merger<br />

While the pharmaceutical mega merger may<br />

increase R&D budgets on paper, there are challenges<br />

that all newly merged companies will<br />

need to handle if they hope to reap the long-term<br />

benefits of the deal.<br />

Managing the overall complexity of the organization,<br />

according to Nelson, is an issue. “These<br />

mergers, inherently, create complex organizational<br />

structures and work processes,” he says.<br />

“It’s a result of the sheer size of the new organization.<br />

For example, our research group has<br />

more than doubled in size in less than five years.<br />

So, how do you organize all of those people, get<br />

role clarity and manage complex matrices?”<br />

“For many years, the best R&D groups were from<br />

the small- and mid-size players,” explains Riccardo.<br />

“These organizations were not complex. Rather,<br />

they purposely had small R&D units focused on<br />

very specific objectives. Today’s superpharmas<br />

have to act like the little guys. We’ve observed this<br />

in GlaxoSmithKline’s approach, where they are<br />

replicating what works at companies like Amgen<br />

and Immunex.”


Anthony concurs. “A merger will only be successful<br />

if the company is committed to growing and<br />

enhancing its human capital in the new environment,”<br />

he says. “An assessment of what exactly<br />

you are taking on in terms of people and quality<br />

is rarely a part of merger assessments.”<br />

“You only have partial insight into what you are<br />

getting before the merger closes,” explains Nelson.<br />

“The due diligence completed prior to the announcement<br />

is focused primarily on the financial<br />

implications of the merger and not heavily on<br />

the human capital implications. This is a mistake.<br />

We need to do more during the due diligence<br />

phase to understand the human capital side of<br />

the equation.”<br />

According to Nelson, you also have to understand<br />

whether the company you are buying will deliver<br />

short-term results, long-term results or both, and<br />

make your decisions accordingly. The key is the<br />

ability to make these decisions during the due<br />

diligence phase. This is made difficult by the lack<br />

of information generally available, particularly on<br />

the human capital side, during due diligence.<br />

This added layer of complexity makes producing<br />

early returns — following the merger — even<br />

more difficult to accomplish. “Immediately following<br />

the merger, there is automatic pressure to<br />

show investors and Wall Street that the deal was<br />

a sound business decision,” explains Anthony.<br />

“Focus tends to be, obviously, on cost savings as<br />

a result. Attention is often taken away from the<br />

brands and there is inevitably a period of time<br />

when the organization gets ‘distracted.’ It takes<br />

time to get brand-building back on top.”<br />

managing the obstacles through<br />

restructuring<br />

One of the first steps that a newly merged pharmaceutical<br />

company takes is to restructure the<br />

organization to better manage the complexity<br />

while still being productive. “I firmly believe<br />

that whoever figures out how to organize around<br />

R&D in a large organization,” says Nelson, “and<br />

is able to thoroughly assess the talent they are<br />

getting in the merger — that organization will<br />

have the competitive advantage.”<br />

“To work around the organizational issues, we<br />

have to consider different organizational structures<br />

and rethink the ways we do work,” adds Nelson.<br />

“For instance, there may be cases where breaking<br />

the larger organization into smaller, semi-<br />

autonomous organizations makes sense in terms<br />

of getting clarity of the work process and crispness<br />

and timeliness of decision-making. In such a<br />

regulated industry, however, this has to be balanced<br />

against the need for standardization of many<br />

processes across the corporation. Notice I said<br />

standardization, not centralization.”<br />

The challenge for the larger pharmaceutical<br />

companies is that they have had great success<br />

with a standard business model, according to<br />

Pearson. “In most cases, this consists of centralized,<br />

global functions,” he says. “While some are<br />

experimenting with decentralization, only a few<br />

have adopted this model. What we haven’t seen<br />

are radically different business models within the<br />

industry. Organization innovation is occurring on<br />

the periphery — often with specialty pharmaceutical<br />

companies.”<br />

continued<br />

3


<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

4<br />

“Traditional drug companies are not the most<br />

efficient operations,” explains Riccardo. “They<br />

have operated for a long time in monopoly situations<br />

that have reaped very high profit margins.<br />

Today, they are facing unprecedented competition,<br />

which is forcing them to find another way<br />

to operate efficiently.”<br />

Similar to the oil industry, which needed to adjust<br />

its business model in the 1970s, the pharmaceutical<br />

industry will need to adjust its cost and<br />

pricing structure accordingly as the price of pharmaceuticals<br />

drop, adds Riccardo. In doing so,<br />

leadership will need to adjust to the new environment,<br />

purposely seeking out those executives<br />

who can drive sales and marketing to propel the<br />

business forward.<br />

assessing your talent<br />

With approximately 80 percent of employees<br />

stating that senior management cares more<br />

about the bottom line than the quality of the<br />

product or the people, following the merger,<br />

it is imperative that leadership does not overlook<br />

its talent. 3 While restructuring the organization<br />

in an effort to overcome the chaos is needed,<br />

so is properly assessing the people in those<br />

structures. “Understanding the cultural fit of<br />

the talent that you are acquiring and how that<br />

talent fits in with the restructured organization<br />

is critical,” says Anthony.<br />

“We’re definitely seeing a better assessment of<br />

human capital following a merger, but there is<br />

still much room for improvement,” says Nelson.<br />

“We need to continue to find ways to assess the<br />

3 Bogan, Christopher and Keith Symmers; “Marriages Made in Heaven,” Pharmaceutical Executive January 2001<br />

talent prior to engaging in the merger/acquisition.<br />

However, this is not always easy to accomplish.”<br />

The primary source of information about the<br />

talent comes from the current management<br />

team — those executives who, understandably,<br />

are trying to save the jobs of their team members.<br />

To counteract this problem, Nelson recommends<br />

that the acquiring organization minimize the<br />

dependence on information received from<br />

current management and maximize the use of<br />

information about historical performance.<br />

“Because,” as he points out, “once senior<br />

management is committed to the acquisition,<br />

they will likely remain committed, no matter<br />

the situation or discoveries.”<br />

searching for the ideal leadership traits<br />

There are no hard and fast rules regarding the<br />

executive leadership characteristics needed to<br />

successfully manage a newly merged pharmaceutical<br />

company. Those traits often depend on<br />

the personality and the culture of the organization.<br />

However, there are common themes and skillsets<br />

that have been proven highly effective in this<br />

ever-changing climate.<br />

1. External experience in a complex environment<br />

“Senior executives from the industrial sector may<br />

be best equipped to run these new organizations,”<br />

says Riccardo. “They have first-hand experience in<br />

an ever-changing environment and they have seen<br />

their stock prices fall apart. While it isn’t easy, the<br />

pharmaceutical industry needs executives who<br />

can adjust to new ways of thinking and are able<br />

take a hard look at productivity.”


In addition to those executives with industrial<br />

sector experience, executives from the consumer<br />

goods and services industry — people who can<br />

manage large, global brands and possess a strong<br />

understanding of a sophisticated selling matrix<br />

— also are highly attractive, according to Anthony.<br />

“For many staff support functions, they do not<br />

need to have any experience in life sciences,”<br />

adds Nelson, “so the industry does not matter<br />

as much. However, there is no way we could go<br />

outside of the industry for some specific skillbased<br />

jobs, such as a disease category specialist.”<br />

2. Industry insiders with strong management<br />

background<br />

As Nelson explains, while outsiders can bring<br />

attractive qualities, there are many times when<br />

industry insiders are required. Pearson believes<br />

that successful pharmaceutical executives need<br />

to have a strong scientific understanding,<br />

especially in the area of products. “The success<br />

rate for outsiders coming in is quite low,” he<br />

says. “However, with insiders, often the general<br />

management experience comes quite late in their<br />

careers. The pharma industry has the reputation<br />

of attracting great talent, but often focuses this<br />

talent in specialized areas without exposing<br />

younger executives to situations where they can<br />

develop more broad-based managerial skills. To<br />

stay competitive, companies will need to speed<br />

this up — familiarize younger talent to the<br />

different functional areas earlier in their careers.”<br />

“However, with insiders, often the general management<br />

experience comes quite late in their careers.”<br />

3. Personality matters<br />

The competitiveness of the pharmaceutical<br />

industry has only intensified as a result of the<br />

mega mergers. At Novartis, as with most<br />

organizations, the culture prescribes the type<br />

of personality required to successfully navigate<br />

the company.<br />

“While we look for executives with multi-faceted<br />

backgrounds, we’re also searching for top performers<br />

who understand how to work through a<br />

complicated matrix,” Anthony explains. “This<br />

type of person often possesses a competitive edge<br />

and a certain level of intensity. They also must<br />

be focused on being innovative in a team environment<br />

— a combination that is not always easy<br />

to find. And finally, because of our pricing and<br />

margin pressures, everyone must be 100 percent<br />

focused on beating the competition. That was<br />

not always the case in the past within the industry.”<br />

looking to the future<br />

There are no signs that the pharmaceutical consolidation<br />

flurry is ending. Pearson predicts that<br />

in the coming years, we will see fewer than six<br />

major pharmaceutical players. Mid-sized companies<br />

will be pushed out, with only the smallersized<br />

companies remaining.<br />

“The only constant in this industry is change itself,”<br />

says Riccardo. “Today’s changes are being stimulated<br />

by new forces — states, federal government,<br />

competition — with generic companies winning<br />

patent disputes 75 percent of the time. In order to<br />

remain successful, companies are going to have<br />

continued<br />

5


<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

6<br />

to learn how to live and be productive. This will<br />

take some adjustment in terms of management,<br />

culture and operations of today’s drug companies.”<br />

Successful leaders of a mega pharmaceutical<br />

company will be able to run a complex, decentralized<br />

organization — that shares a common<br />

purpose — through motivation. The most effective<br />

leaders will accomplish this by building trust<br />

amongst the different arms of the company<br />

through constant and open communication;<br />

about the authors<br />

Phil Le Goff is the European <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> Practice<br />

Leader for <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>. He has 25 years of corporate<br />

experience in the healthcare sector and has held senior<br />

positions in general management, sales and marketing,<br />

and research and development within the pharmaceutical<br />

and medical device arenas.<br />

Prior to joining <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>, Phil served as group<br />

president of vascular and non-vascular businesses at<br />

Boston Scientific Corporation in the U.S. Prior to<br />

that, he was head of strategy and public affairs and a<br />

member of the global executive committee at Novartis<br />

Pharma in Basel, Switzerland. Phil previously had spent<br />

13 years with Sanofi-Synthelabo, where he served in<br />

several senior positions, including CEO of Sanofi North<br />

America in New York and worldwide president of the<br />

bio-industries division in Paris. He began his career<br />

with Ciba-Geigy, where he held positions of increasing<br />

responsibility in Switzerland, Brazil and the U.K. In<br />

addition, he has served on the boards of several international<br />

organizations, including the council of the<br />

International Federation of Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers’<br />

Associations (IFPMA) in Geneva and the policy<br />

board of The Centre for Medicines Research (CMR)<br />

in London.<br />

setting the moral tone of the organization; and<br />

identifying and empowering those in the organization<br />

who also can drive the business. By honing<br />

these skills, today’s superpharma executives will<br />

be better equipped to walk the tightrope: to lead<br />

their organizations as they search for new treatments<br />

and products that generate the highestpossible<br />

returns for shareholders. <br />

John Mitchell is the North American <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong><br />

Practice Leader for <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>. In addition, he<br />

leads the global Pharmaceutical Specialty Practice,<br />

coordinating with more than 100 colleagues in the<br />

global <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> Practice. He has 25 years of<br />

experience in the industry and executive search,<br />

focused exclusively in life sciences/healthcare.<br />

John is a former partner with another leading international<br />

executive search firm, where he served as the<br />

managing partner of its life sciences practice. He<br />

also served on that firm’s board of directors. Before<br />

entering the search profession, John was a senior vice<br />

president of Efficient Health Systems, one of the fastest<br />

growing cost management/utilization review organizations<br />

in the managed care industry. Earlier in his career,<br />

he served as vice president and area manager of American<br />

Hospital Supply Corporation, becoming the youngest<br />

company officer elected in the history of this marketleading<br />

company. His functional experience has included<br />

general management, marketing and sales, strategic<br />

planning and business development.


Assisted living: An industry in transition<br />

Ronald Zera, <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong> – Dallas<br />

Karine Gill, <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong> – Miami<br />

In the late 1980s, as the parents of the baby boomers neared retirement, there was an accelerated<br />

demand for assisted living facilities that could handle their daily living needs without having to enter<br />

a nursing home. Assisted living was designed to provide long-term supportive care for chronically,<br />

but not acutely ill elderly. The premise was to allow for the elderly to gain an ability to live a more<br />

autonomous lifestyle, while enjoying the comfort and security of on-site services. Now, almost 20<br />

years after its introduction and on the cusp of another demographic influx, the industry is in throes<br />

of monumental change.<br />

To further explore the implications of this evolving<br />

industry, we spoke with Jeff Ferguson, recently<br />

appointed president of management and operations<br />

for Erickson Retirement Communities, formerly<br />

with Marriott Senior Living Services Division;<br />

John Hopkins, chief operating officer and president<br />

of Benchmark Senior Living; Werner Neuteufel,<br />

president and COO of Atria; and Mark<br />

Pacala, a venture partner in Essex-Woodlands<br />

Health Ventures, L.P.<br />

changing demographics<br />

By 2030, it is predicted that the number of Americans<br />

who are age 65 or older will make up 20<br />

percent of the populace. And in Europe, by 2050,<br />

nearly half of its entire population could be over<br />

the age of 60. There are a number of reasons for<br />

this trend. Advances in nutrition and medical<br />

science are increasing life expectancy, especially<br />

throughout Europe and North America. The<br />

nuclear family also is changing. With more<br />

women entering the workforce, the primary caregivers<br />

for elderly parents are less available. In addition,<br />

the average U.S. family moves every five<br />

years — taking them further away from relatives.<br />

As a result, there is an increasing number of elderly<br />

who are not sick enough for nursing homes,<br />

yet are too old to live alone. Both the healthcare<br />

and hospitality industries have become instrumental<br />

in the growth of assisted living facilities. But<br />

what can each industry learn from one another’s<br />

best practices to enhance the sophistication of the<br />

relatively new industry? And more importantly,<br />

what type of executive will be needed to lead an<br />

assisted living organization through increased<br />

customer demand and government regulations?<br />

hotel operators transition into healthcare<br />

After 10 years of running Omni, Hopkins decided<br />

it was time for a change. Having spent his entire<br />

career exclusively in the hotel business, he was<br />

persuaded to invest in an assisted living community.<br />

Two years later, Hopkins now is the<br />

chief operating officer and president of Benchmark<br />

Senior Living, the fastest-growing provider<br />

of senior housing in the Northeast.<br />

Many executives from the hospitality industry<br />

have transitioned into assisted living. Neuteufel<br />

joined the industry for professional and personal<br />

reasons. “It was, and is, an industry of rapid<br />

growth and development,” he says, “allowing me<br />

7


<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

“Some of the hospitality expertise transfers well to assisted living, but a<br />

lot of the core fundamentals of the day-in, day-out operations do not.”<br />

8<br />

the opportunity to apply my knowledge and<br />

experience to let me start a ‘new’ career in a<br />

field where I could truly make a difference —<br />

running a company and having the chance to<br />

enhance the lives of older people.”<br />

Pacala also wanted a change. “As a consultant<br />

for Booz Allen’s healthcare strategy practice, I<br />

was appalled at the quality of service execution<br />

within healthcare,” he recalls. “I joined Marriott<br />

to see how the best service companies in the<br />

world maintain a relentless focus on the customer.<br />

In other words, I wanted to learn how to recruit<br />

and motivate the hourly service worker all the<br />

while intending to incorporate these learnings<br />

into healthcare.” Pacala now works with existing<br />

assisted living companies to figure out how to<br />

either improve their operational execution or<br />

come up with a transactional strategy.<br />

healthcare versus hospitality<br />

Given that many hospitality executives are<br />

moving into the assisted living industry, is it<br />

safe to assume that the hotel industry is taking<br />

the lead in transforming this industry? If so,<br />

what is the role of the healthcare professional?<br />

“While there are clearly technical differences<br />

between hospitality and assisted living, I was<br />

surprised at the extent at which similarities did<br />

occur,” Hopkins says. “One does not necessarily<br />

need to be a healthcare professional to succeed.<br />

However, one must certainly surround themselves<br />

with direct care experts. Hospitality is a real<br />

estate-based service industry, as is this one. It<br />

is very capital intensive and very labor intensive.<br />

They are both operating businesses, with similar<br />

functional disciplines: accounting, sales, marketing,<br />

human resources, food and beverage. But<br />

while the hospitality industry has been around<br />

for a long time, this industry is very immature.”<br />

“Some of the hospitality expertise transfers well<br />

to assisted living,” counters Pacala, “but a lot of<br />

the core fundamentals of the day-in, day-out<br />

operations do not.”<br />

“As to which industry has the advantage, it’s<br />

really a toss up,” explains Ferguson. “I don’t<br />

think that if you are a natural in the hospitality<br />

industry that it’s an easy transition into assisted<br />

care. Food service and housekeeping skills do,<br />

but there are core fundamentals that do not.<br />

However, if you have a healthcare background,<br />

it’s a big jump as well. So while it draws aspects<br />

from each, assisted living requires an unusual<br />

skill-set with a high degree of flexibility.”<br />

what the industries learn from one another<br />

But to succeed in the relatively new industry,<br />

best-in-class executives acknowledge that assisted<br />

living operators would do well to adopt the best<br />

practices from both industries rather than focus<br />

on only one set of experiences. Hospitality executives<br />

bring operational and business experience<br />

while healthcare professionals understand the<br />

medical and regulatory issues.<br />

“Creating conventional operating performance<br />

metrics at all levels is something that hospitality<br />

experts offer assisted living,” explains Pacala.<br />

“This sounds pretty simple, but metrics were not


commonplace in the retirement industry until<br />

the mid-1990s. When we provided our managers<br />

with performance expectations around productivity<br />

measurements we were able to compare property<br />

to property against those measures. You wouldn’t<br />

believe how quickly performance improved.”<br />

In addition to performance metrics, hospitality<br />

executives also provide operational and real<br />

estate experience. “The genesis of the assisted<br />

living industry was formulated on the altruistic<br />

basis of providing care to seniors,” says Hopkins.<br />

“While this is a necessary ingredient, once<br />

institutional investors entered the sector, the<br />

demand for performance metrics and executive<br />

talent became far greater. Many young companies<br />

have been forced by investor sophistication to<br />

look outside to find leaders who understand<br />

metrics, real estate and service and who can lead<br />

an industry whose success is based upon a wide<br />

spectrum of skill levels of employees.”<br />

“Marriott’s initial strategies in the mid- to late-<br />

1980s were fundamentally sound,” says Pacala.<br />

“There were cross-over aspects from hotels:<br />

property location placement, reception, hospitality,<br />

food service, maintenance, what goes on behind<br />

the scene. However, you still have to understand<br />

the healthcare components: regulation, the<br />

service execution, the kind of psychology of the<br />

professional caregivers, the nursing assistant.”<br />

“Healthcare providers understand the regulatory<br />

aspects of the business,” explains Neuteufel.<br />

“When I entered the assisted living industry<br />

from hospitality, I found myself with a big<br />

learning curve. Also, executives with healthcare<br />

experience have built the necessary networks<br />

that enable them to more actively identify the<br />

track of the medical profession and innovations<br />

and how they will influence the assisted living<br />

industry.”<br />

the ideal executive<br />

Is there such thing as an ideal executive for an<br />

industry undergoing vast changes?<br />

“Minimally, assisted living executives should have<br />

a bachelor’s degree in business, or even better,<br />

an M.B.A.; 10 years of experience in a servicerelated<br />

industry; and somebody with a passion<br />

for good customer service,” says Neuteufel. “It<br />

does not matter where they come from, but they<br />

have to be customer oriented with a love for our<br />

seniors.”<br />

“At Marriott, our executive team was a mixture<br />

of people with both healthcare and hospitality<br />

backgrounds,” says Ferguson. “I was very proud<br />

of the caliber of our executive team. Our industry,<br />

however, needs more people who have experience<br />

in healthcare. Take the CFO. Our broad portfolio<br />

mix required that we have someone who understood<br />

the reimbursement environment since we<br />

did some business with Medicare and Medicaid.<br />

Our prior CFO had no background in healthcare.<br />

It made the job extremely difficult for him and<br />

problematic for the business unit.”<br />

For Pacala, his executive team captures the best<br />

of both worlds. “We recruited people from the<br />

service healthcare industry and from outside,”<br />

he explains. “You need to have some proficiency<br />

and experience that is deep-seeded in healthcare<br />

continued<br />

9


<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

10<br />

and you need executives from a range of<br />

industries to broaden the perspective and<br />

hopefully infuse non-healthcare business<br />

elements into the industry.”<br />

challenges facing assisted living<br />

The biggest obstacle today faced by assisted<br />

living operators is regulation — both on a state<br />

and national level. “I fear our industry will<br />

become over-regulated, which is exactly what<br />

happened to skilled nursing,” explains Hopkins.<br />

“While we are a for-profit company, we also<br />

recognize that we have to do what is right for the<br />

residents. And if the industry does what is right,<br />

it shouldn’t be in opposition to making a profit<br />

and should mitigate the need for excessive<br />

government oversight.”<br />

“The greater the intrusion of government into<br />

the business, the more difficult it will be for<br />

providers to be creative in the ways they satisfy<br />

customer needs,” says Ferguson. “I have seen<br />

how regulation doesn’t really sync in with what<br />

the customer wants. I know that the government<br />

is going to be intrusive, but I would like to<br />

minimize their encroachment. They will not only<br />

destroy the economics, but it will change the<br />

whole flavor of the environment for the<br />

customer; it will make it more institutional.”<br />

looking towards the future<br />

Despite fears of government regulation and<br />

insurance costs, assisted living business leaders<br />

believe in the industry’s growth potential. “It is<br />

just a matter of time,” says Neuteufel. “The<br />

emergence of assisted living that took place<br />

15 years ago was, unfortunately, 20 to 25 years<br />

early — given the changing demographics. It’s<br />

soon going to be a huge industry.”<br />

And according to Pacala, the industry needs to<br />

prepare for tomorrow by doing three things today:<br />

rigorously operate around a tightly defined<br />

customer focus, instill a sense of excitement<br />

within the team, and hold firm to simple,<br />

conventional operating performance metrics.


about the authors<br />

Ronald Zera has been involved in executive search<br />

for more than 20 years, specializing in the <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong><br />

Practice of the firm since 1993. At <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>, he<br />

has worked with search committees in academic<br />

departments, integrated healthcare delivery systems,<br />

HMOs, emerging biotechnology companies, managed<br />

care groups, drug discovery endeavors and medical<br />

device manufacturers.<br />

Ron has developed the candidate specification and<br />

conducted the recruiting for senior managers, physicians<br />

and scientists in well-established public companies as<br />

well as in startup firms. The engagements have called<br />

for experience in understanding the position of the firm<br />

and its need for continuity or its need for transition to<br />

new functions. He has responded to companies<br />

requesting “visionaries,” “world-class authorities,”<br />

“technocrats” and “seasoned executives.”<br />

Prior to entering executive search, Ron was associate<br />

dean at Iowa State University before beginning his work<br />

in professional placement for Frito-Lay (PepsiCo) and<br />

Nucor Corporation. He serves on the President’s<br />

Research Council at the University of Texas Southwestern<br />

Health <strong>Sciences</strong> Center, the board of Hope Cottage and<br />

the board of the Center for Research Management.<br />

Karine Gill, based in Miami, leads <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>’s<br />

Hospitality & Leisure Specialty Practice and takes<br />

an active role in search assignments in the hotel,<br />

restaurant, cruise line, gaming and timeshare<br />

industries on a global basis. Clients include Fortune<br />

500 companies as well as high-potential emerging<br />

startups and turnaround companies. As a member<br />

of the firm’s broader Consumer Goods & Services<br />

Practice, Karine has immediate access to talent and<br />

resources in that area.<br />

Prior to joining <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>, Karine was managing<br />

director for a boutique executive search firm that<br />

specialized in the hospitality, leisure and gaming<br />

industries throughout the Americas. Prior to this role,<br />

she was vice president of sales for the Exclusive Division<br />

of Forte Hotels in New York, and formerly held senior<br />

positions with the ITT Sheraton Corporation, most<br />

notably in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and the<br />

Caribbean.<br />

A native of Antwerp, Belgium, Karine graduated from<br />

the University of Louvain (Belgium) with a master’s<br />

degree in applied economics. She is fluent in English,<br />

French, Dutch and Spanish, and has a working<br />

knowledge of German and Italian.<br />

11


<strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

spencer stuart’s life sciences practice<br />

The executive search firm of choice for top-level<br />

life sciences assignments, <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong> is the<br />

only firm with a fully integrated <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong><br />

Practice, placing executives in a wide array of<br />

functions in every sector of the industry. Our<br />

global practice comprises a network of more<br />

than 45 consultants — each of whom has seniorlevel<br />

management experience in the life sciences.<br />

In addition to our executive search work, we<br />

have placed directors on the boards of many<br />

leading life sciences companies and regularly<br />

act as consultants for our clients on a number<br />

of ongoing human capital-related issues.<br />

about spencer stuart<br />

<strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong> is the foremost privately held,<br />

global executive search firm, spanning over 50<br />

offices in 25 countries worldwide. Since 1956,<br />

we have been providing select clients with a<br />

range of human capital solutions, including<br />

senior-level executive search, board director<br />

appointments, strategic leadership services and<br />

middle-management recruiting. We conduct<br />

nearly 4,000 assignments each year, partnering<br />

effectively with clients ranging from the Fortune<br />

500, to mid-cap, to emerging growth companies<br />

across a broad range of industries and sectors.<br />

12<br />

for more information<br />

To request additional copies of the <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong><br />

or copies of our recent intellectual capital, please contact<br />

Kelley Allen at 312.822.0088 or kallen@spencerstuart.com.<br />

The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> <strong>Monitor</strong> is a publication of<br />

<strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>’s <strong>Life</strong> <strong>Sciences</strong> Practice.<br />

© <strong>Spencer</strong> <strong>Stuart</strong>, 2003<br />

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