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Because these items can easily derail a potentially beneficial partnership, it is prudent to clearly specify joint communication policies, procedures, and processes to deal with the following: |
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Define who are the decision makers, how decisions will be made, and how they will be communicated: In most cases, it is advisable to create an Executive Board, composed of equal numbers from both companies, but with a clear mechanism for who has the overall authority to break any deadlocks. This type of forum is essential for major alliance/joint venture issues, but should not be the forum for technical or discipline specific issues, such as clinical, marketing or formulations. These types of issues, problems and questions should be dealt with at technical level committees. In some cases, such as an R&D committee, it is advisable to include Marketing representation to insure commonality of vision and action. |
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Define the process for problem resolution: In creating a problem resolution process, it should be emphasized that the earlier a problem is revolved by the lowest possible hierarchical level, the better. In as many cases as possible, the people actually doing the work should resolve the specific problem. For example, the inclusion/exclusion criteria for a clinical protocol should be defined by the clinical experts, as long as the criteria are in line with the overall study objective. In some instances, however, issues and questions arise that could affect more than one area. In these instances, the relevant experts in the appropriate disciplines from both companies must be brought into the decision making process. |
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Clarify how information, both good and bad, will be shared and discussed: It must be clearly defined who gets to see what and when. Because both parties should be equally involved in the success of the project, both partners must be intimately involved and privy to all information. |
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Report Generation: A procedure needs to be developed that defines who sees and reviews data and, then, who will write individual study reports, how they will be reviewed and approved, and by whom. It is important to include an expert review by a panel composed of experts from both companies to review, query, and interpret all data from an experiment or study, agree on the outcome, and then, create a report. If a report is created first, it is much more difficult to change the interpretation or ask more questions. In many cases, defensive positions are taken by authors who may feel that their individual ability as experts is being challenged. |
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