Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

(March 2009) posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009

By Ron Romanik

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Andrew Witty joined GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 1985 as a management trainee. Last summer, at age 44, he was named GSK's new CEO. Shortly thereafter, he announced that GSK's executive offices on the 12th floor of the London headquarters would move to the ground floor to allow executives to be more accessible to-and interactive with-company staff. Today, the office space where executives work and meet is in plain view, enclosed by glass behind the reception area.

This change is emblematic of a company that has been reexamining how it manages product and packaging innovation for its seven strongest "global brands" in GSK's Consumer Healthcare (CH) division. After initiating a pilot program for an open space work environment several years ago, GSK CH studied the natural work team's productivity to measure its success in every aspect, from meeting deadlines to the number of emails sent.

Hubs without hubbub

The new "hub" concept has proven so successful at increasing efficient communication and effective product and brand management that the program is nearly fully implemented in all of its global brand management teams, five of which are located in GSK CH's Parsippany, NJ, office: 1) Panadol pain relief and fever reducer; 2) alli weight control; 3) Breathe Right nasal strips; 4) NicoDerm, NiQuitin and Nicabate smoking control; and 5) Dental Care. The other two teams, Aquafresh and Sensodyne, are located in the Weybridge, UK, office.

"The company is investing into the new vision," says Matthias Georgi, v.p. of worldwide packaging, who was a key supporter of the workspace redesign. There are no cubicles in the new office interiors, and the large hub spaces are airy, open, and well lit. Each main hub space contains connected desks where team members have their main workstations. Each main hub space also contains a long "kitchen table" that is often strewn with laptops and works-in-progress. Around the perimeter are medium-sized conference rooms and smaller rooms where a person can have a phone conversation that will not distract the team or just have time alone to focus on a project. Finally, each hub also features an informal "reception" area with a high reception desk-another locale promoting casual yet productive conversation.