Actavis, a generic pharmaceuticals company based in Iceland, last week announced that Harvard Business School had produced a case study on the company and its president and CEO, Robert Wessman.
The study, entitled “Robert Wessman and Actavis’ ‘Winning formula'” was presented in an MBA class in international entrepreneurship at Harvard and will be made available to business schools around the world.
Dr Daniel Isenberg, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, created the case study to show how a relatively small Icelandic pharmaceutical company became one of the world’s largest producers of generic pharmaceuticals, lead by 39 year-old CEO Robert Wessman.
Robert Wessman participated in extensive interviews with Dr Isenberg to develop the study, providing financial data as well as historical and personal information. He was also class guest for the case debut on 22 April where he answered numerous questions from the students who asked about a variety of topics, including the Actavis way of doing business and the CEO’s leadership style.
“I really enjoyed the experience”, said Mr Wessman. “We are delighted that Harvard Business School is interested in Actavis’ growth story and our winning formula. It’s a great honour for Actavis and for me personally to be part of the Harvard Business School curriculum.”
The case study examines Actavis’ company culture and the CEO’s management style. It details the Actavis story from 1999 when the company had around one hundred employees, all located in Iceland, to the end of 2007 when employees numbered more than 11,000 in 40 countries. During this period Robert Wessman led the company through 26 acquisitions and extensive integration of the acquired companies.
Dr Isenberg said, “Actavis has grown from a small domestic player to one of the world leaders within 7 years, an accomplishment which is very unusual, to say the least, especially given the extremely competitive nature of the generics industry. The fact that Actavis has simultaneously globalized its supply chain, its markets, its research and development, and, to a lesser extent, its management, is an achievement which speaks for itself.”
For more on Actavis and generic pharmaceuticals visit www.actavis.com