The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets medicines for use as medications to treat patients to cure them, heal them, vaccinate them, or alleviate a symptom. The contribution of the pharmaceutical industry is extremely essential to the people in the world so as to improve the life expectancy and overall health of the people.
CIOLook recognizes the leaders contributing in the Pharmaceutical industry. One such proficient leader contributing to the pharmaceutical industry is Augusto Mitidieri. He is the Corporate CEO of Sintetica. He has been awarded Best Manager of the Year for high achievements and professionalism in the company management. He is awarded by The Socrates Committee of Oxford; this award recognizes exceptional human-centric leadership and the global success of Sintetica. This award was presented at the Socrates Award Ceremony of the Achievements Forum 2019, Institute of Directors, London. Below is his story:
Augusto Mitidieri, is Italian and Swiss citizen, graduated in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, he has also obtained a CAS (Certicate of Advanced Studies) in Economics and Health Policy at the University of Lausanne. His work in the pharmaceutical industry began as Project Manager for the Engineering Division of Bioren SA, (Bigmar Group) in Couvet (NE); he went on to become Production & Logistics Manager of Bigmar Pharmaceuticals SA in Barbengo (TI). In 2000 Augusto joined Sintetica SA, Mendrisio (TI), as Production & Engineering Manager. In Sintetica, he also worked as Quality Assurance Manager, before becoming General Manager of the Company in 2004. Since 2011, Augusto has held the position of Corporate CEO of the Sintetica Group. Under his guidance, Sintetica SA, the oldest pharmaceutical company in Ticino, has undergone a period of extraordinary growth and entered international markets with its high-quality products in the sector of local anaesthesia and pain therapy.
Able to implement a real strategic vision which places the individual at the very centre of corporate decisions, Augusto Mitidieri, together with the whole of Sintetica SA, has earned important international awards and recognition. Participating in the international research project called Ideals of the Politecnico di Milano for creative leadership, innovation and design as leadership, Augusto Mitidieri is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s leading CEOs. Sintetica SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical company founded in 1921, hospital market leader for analgesics and local anesthetics, with offices located in Germany, Italy, England and two national production and development sites in Mendrisio and Couvet, with 300 employees.
Human-Centered Organization
The “human-centered” organization model, based on a deep cultural change, already underway in Sintetica, requires an innovative managerial philosophy, which places responsibility and merit on center, changing organizational models and behaviors at all levels. The company environment, dynamic and highly innovative in terms of ideas, projects, products and operational/management solutions, is not in line with idea of managing people according to definition and activities’ control. On the contrary, the company environment gets along much better with an approach based on increasing people’s sense of responsibility with regard to clear objectives, by exercising greater delegation and autonomy in the management of their duties. Augusto is of the opinion that Managers, therefore, shall move from a role of command and control to a more coaching one, in order to manage people, enhance talents, through delegation and accountability for results, and to reward their merit. He is of the opinion that managers should act as a driving force to transmit the organization’s values.
Augusto emphasizes human centric leadership. He believes in having strong corporate values and ethical behavior. He considers it is important that leader should be passionate to perform his role diligently. He strongly believes in involvement of all individuals in the organizations. He considers confidence and autonomy as important qualities of leader. He prioritizes respect in the organization in terms of corporate and individual priorities. He values authenticity. He believes in constructive feedback for the improvement of the employees. Augusto is calculative and believes in culture based on results. He values skills and knowledge in employees and he focuses on enhancing them. The last essential element he considers in the organization is smiling. He says, “A characteristic of our DNA is the research for quality without compromises, which is measured, first of all, by enjoying togetherness. A true smile is contagious and is the identity of Sintetica and its concept of “great place to work”.”
Peripheral Decisional Autonomy
Augusto believes that Managers shall move their mindset from the control of activities and how these activities are carried out, to an approach based on the control of results and accountability for results, so as to create peripheral decision-making autonomy, based on the conscious risk assumption. He emphasizes that managers should use active listening techniques. Augusto also considers it is essential to select proper talent and then develop it.
Responsibility and Merit
Augusto values responsibility and merit. He considers that the merit must be recognized at all levels with feedbacks (on work) and rewarding (recognition of merit). The merit of each manager is the “enriched” sum of the success of every single member of his team. The received delegation must be used by every person of the organization with responsibility and autonomy and must be oriented towards achieving the objective. Augusto considers that conscious use of the feedback tool is fundamental in order to improve oneself in a clear and honest way. He says that if one makes a mistake, apologizing to the people concerned and assuming one’s own responsibilities, is the fairest and most appreciated way.
The Digital Transformation
Augusto believes that “human-centered” organization will lead to digital transformation. He thinks that only if the human resource play a central role, then digital revolution be useful to us and will take us into the future with the following pivotal paradigm:
- Transforming data into information
- Organizing information
- Using information in order to improve, innovate and compete at a global level.
The IMR Model of Strategy-operations Management
The company’s dynamic, innovative and growth oriented corporate environment, combined with the corporate strategy based on the global diffusion of innovation, requires deep focus in order to build a management model able to be “dynamic and innovative” and to help the company in the difficult task of balancing its strategy with operations. If, on the one hand, the human-centered organization ensures the effectiveness/efficiency of the processes, thanks to its strong managerial cultural connotation oriented towards responsibility and merit, on the other hand, the new management model has to ensure continuous consistency between operations and strategy.
Inter-functional Management Routines (IMR) have been created, which consists of groups of people whose level of responsibility is not necessarily homogeneous, coming from heterogeneous functions, able to harmonize operations with the strategy in the hinge sectors for the development and growth of Sintetica. Basically, IMR pool which, thanks to the exchange of critical information, decides and acts “easily” by continuously combining strategy and operations, and maintaining a live coordination throughout the entire organization. They reach a horizontal dimension thanks to inter functionality and the exchange of decisive information; but also a vertical dimension, thanks to the multilevel composition and the mechanism of the peripheral decisional autonomy present in the organization.
By rebuilding strategy and operations means acting, changing one or the other, correcting routes, abandoning paths, all in the shortest time possible and with the highest involvement of responsibility in the organization results in maximum agility. Augusto considers that Flowing of critical information is the essential condition for the proper functioning of IMR. Augusto shares the identified Routines, cornerstones of the new management model:
- IMR Innovation Pipeline Purpose: to target, coordinate and monitor drugs development and critical records and their impact in terms of expense/investment
- IMR Infrastructure for Growth Purpose: to target, coordinate and monitor industrial developments and major investments and their impact in terms of expense/investment
- IMR “Human-Centered” Organization Purpose: to address sustainability and human resources development policies, to define high-level targets and to monitor progress in macro-projects IMR Digital Transformation Purpose: to direct, coordinate and monitor the identification of new business processes, up to the digital company with the related expense and investment plans
- IMR World Markets Purpose: to direct, coordinate and monitor international divisions and broad strategic marketing projects
- IMR from Control to Integrated Management Purpose: to address and guide the integral process of forecasting, budgeting, controlling and action IMR Switzerland Global Innovation Lab Purpose: to address and monitor the efforts to develop and search for new national opportunities in a global key perspective.
