TABLE OF CONTENTS Aaron Schacht, managing director, Lilly University
Eli Lilly and Company marked its 125th anniversary in 2001. The global research-based company was founded by Colonel Eli Lilly in 1876 in Indianapolis, in the U.S. Midwest. Lilly is a leader in the pharmaceutical industry. The company employs more than 35,000 people worldwide (50% outside the United States) and markets its medicines in 159 countries. In 2000, it reported revenues of approximately $11 billion and a net income of $3 billion. The company spends about $2.0 billion in Research and Development and almost 7000 employees are engaged in this knowledge-creating activity. Despite these impressive numbers, Lilly recognizes that it is increasingly hard to create knowledge alone. It has, therefore, entered into dozens of research alliances worldwide to gain access to new research capabilities.
Back in 1999, Eli Lilly s CIO, Roy Dunbar, hired Ernst & Young (E&Y) to help the company quickly shape its e-business and knowledge management strategy. A number of senior executives participated in a series of intensive workshops organized by E&Y. Out of this hyperlearning environment came a leadership commitment for KM at Eli Lilly. Despite being commissioned by the CIO, it soon became clear that KM was not simply an issue of information management. It certainly involved a seamless integration of hard and soft issues that would be better handled under the leadership of a newly appointed chief learning officer (CLO), Sharon Sillivan, former VP of Human Resources. In February...
