Sanofi Pasteur is the vaccine division of the global pharmaceutical company Sanofi. Its headquarters is in Lyon, France. With about 1500 workers around the globe, and a production rate of one billion vaccines each year, Sanofi Pasteur is the world’s largest company dealing with vaccines. The company depends on the hierarchical top-down process, although according to experts, this process is the organization’s biggest problem. This paper aims to discuss how IT has influenced the company’s organizational strategy. The report also critiques the central IT system application and evaluates how information system projects are aligned with the company’s strategy and goals.
According to Sanofi Pasteur management, the best solution to the hierarchical top-down process that hindered the workers and managers from sharing information and innovating was to adopt new technology. This technology, Microsoft Yammer, changed Sanofi Pasteur from a hierarchical work environment to one in which employees engaged actively (Bravo, 2021). Unlike before, the Information system tool increased employee engagement and teamwork, where employees and managers adhered to a specific hierarchical mode of communication. Because of Microsoft Yammer, the organization became more innovative and cost-efficient. Microsoft Yammer made the company more social as workers using Yammer could share feedback and updates and match volunteers to growth initiatives. For large manufacturing sites, Sanofi employees set up activist networks, which helped create a unique culture that helps individuals feel settled about airing opinions.
As a knowledge-intensive company valued innovation, the hierarchical top-down process, as a core information system channel, hampered it. The company depended on innovation and information sharing to create and deliver new cutting-edge products. However, the process discouraged the free sharing of information, thus hampering it. Also, because of a lack of involvement from the team in project planning, they might feel as if they are hindered from voicing their opinions (Jia et al., 2019). In this system, communication is channeled vertically through levels and horizontally through teams, a process that delays decision-making (Price & Moncrieff, 2021). The system was not sufficient enough to encourage employees to engage in dialogues, work with other employees of the company, including individuals they might not recognize, and share ideas.
Information system supports organizational goals and strategies by assisting in dispersing information by enabling the organizational leaders, including the managers, to store information in files and folders that can be shared harmoniously with relevant workers. The alignment process is crucial to the organization for various reasons. A significant advantage is to make the overall business objectives and goals simple. The ability of Microsoft Yammer to help the employees comprehend the goals of the organization shows the role of IT in aligning organizational goals.
In summary, Microsoft Yammer has changed Sanofi Pasteur from a hierarchical top-down organization to one in which employees engage actively and freely. This means that initially, the company did not allow employees to share their ideas freely, but with Yammer, employees can join a group and collaborate. The company lucked relevant tools to encourage workers to share ideas, have conversations, and work with other members of the organization. Information system supports organizational goals and strategies by assisting in dispersing information by enabling the organizational leaders, including the managers, to store information in files and folders that can be shared harmoniously with relevant workers. The ability of Microsoft Yammer to help the employees comprehend the goals of the organization shows the role of IT in aligning organizational goals.
References
Bravo, C., Castells, V. B., Zietek-Gutsch, S., Bodin, P. A., Molony, C., & Frühwein, M. (2022). Using social media listening and data mining to understand travellers’ perspectives on travel disease risks and vaccine-related attitudes and behaviours. Journal of travel medicine, 29(2), taac009.
Jia, X., Khan, W., Wu, Z., Choi, J., & Yip, A. C. (2019). Modern synthesis strategies for hierarchical zeolites: Bottom-up versus top-down strategies. Advanced Powder Technology, 30(3), 467-484.
Price, C. N., & Moncrieff, D. (2021). Defining the Role of Attention in Hierarchical Auditory Processing. Audiology Research, 11(1), 112-128.