Innovation Journey of Pfizer Hong Kong

Embracing Innovation

Mr. Stephen Leung, the Country Manager of Pfizer Hong Kong, who spoke about his core belief regarding business, “the Chinese character of business ‘企’ consists of the word people ‘人’ and halt ‘止’. Without people, business will cease.” This illustrates the importance of people to the establishment of a successful company. Equipped with a library, an innovative “Wall of Ideas” and meeting rooms named after the firm’s 9 Core Values, Pfizer Hong Kong has always strived towards innovation. It is the company’s never-ending pursuit to uplift its standards of quality through developing an innovative culture among staff. Despite the challenges the industry faces, our colleagues are never afraid to embrace new ideas, making Pfizer a major innovator and active trendsetter in the pharmaceutical industry.

What is Innovation?

Innovation is usually understood as the creation of a new method or idea, it does not necessarily mean that ideas must start from scratch. Rather, it could be a re-alignment of familiar concepts. Viagra, one of Pfizer’s most well-known products, was initially thought to be a failure in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. With constant perseverance, it was later discovered with slight adjustments in dosage, the same active ingredient was found to be a successful medication in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. This example reveals Pfizer’s unique culture that supports the spirit of innovation.

Integrating Innovation into the Workplace

Mr. Leung also likened his management philosophy to a tree, with the roots being company culture, the trunk being the staff and the fruits and leaves being the results. Mr. Leung hence dedicates himself to strengthening the tree from the roots up by building an innovative culture among staff. Pfizer Hong Kong has established an innovation team, which takes continual steps towards achieving the goal of spreading the spirit of innovation in the workplace. The firm has also created an innovative “Wall of Ideas”, where staff can anonymously express their thoughts on how productivity can be improved by means of putting up post-it notes. Occasionally, Innovation Café is organized to enable colleagues to exchange ideas freely while enjoying breakfast together. There is also a “straight-talk rule” inscribed in every meeting room, which encourages the free flow of different ideas and opinions. It is these little things that propagate the culture of encouraging innovative ideas and collaboration.

Continuous & Never-Ending Improvement

Pfizer also believes that humility and continuous learning is the foundation of innovation, as knowledge and wisdom lead to the inception of new ideas. There is a staff-led weekly announcement every Monday, where colleagues can get updates from different departments. This is followed by an “iShare” session, when employees take the initiative to share anything that interests them, such as book recommendations, volunteering experiences, parenting tips, travelling, wine tasting and the like with all fellow colleagues. Pfizer also invites senior executives from well-established companies across industries to share their best practices and experience on innovation, such as “Design Thinking” and “The 7 habits of Highly Effective People”. These activities motivate staff to improve themselves constantly and humbly, empowering creative thinking.

Advancing Quality through Innovation

All of the aforementioned encourages the employees to be self-driven and continually improve themselves and hence the standard of quality manpower of the firm. In 2012, with the latest technology Pfizer Hong Kong adopted a breakthrough program named Project PASS, or “Patient Authentication to ensure Safety via SMS”. There is a unique authentication code on Pfizer’s product packaging; by sending this through SMS or validating it on Pfizer’s website, customers can instantly verify the product’s authenticity. This advanced technology served to protect patients from counterfeit medicine, and it was also lauded with the WW Innovation Award for its concept and technological interface. This is one of the many examples that clearly demonstrate how an innovative idea can directly augment the standards of quality of Pfizer products.

Conclusion

A colleague from the sales department once rightly told me, “Pfizer is the perfect company for individuals who have high expectations of themselves.” Pfizer strongly advocates “CAN-I” culture, which stands for Continuous And Never-ending Improvement. It values not only the advancement of the company, but also that of each individual employee. It is the common mindset here at Pfizer Hong Kong to strive for the best and to keep moving forward, all thanks to the beautiful and enriching culture that the firm has developed over the past decade. Pfizer’s strong belief that their culture affects their staff, and thus their business, is truly the key to sustaining its outstanding standards of quality.