Who talks to whom about what? How interdisciplinary communication and knowledge of expertise distribution improve in integrated R&D labs.

Although several studies have examined the impact of open workspaces, there is still an on-going debate about its advantages and disadvantages. Our paper contributes to this debate by shedding light on three issues: the effect of open workspaces on (1) the flow of communication along and across hierarchical lines; (2) the content of communication; and (3) the specificities of open integrated laboratories. Our findings derive from a longitudinal case in a large pharmaceutical company that has relocated some R&D teams from enclosed to multi-space offices and labs.

Design principles for innovative workspaces to increase efficiency in pharmaceutical R&D: lessons learned from the Novartis campus.

When managing R&D departments for increased efficiency and effectiveness the focus has often been on organizational structure. Space is, however, of outstanding importance in an environment of large task uncertainty, which is the case in pharmaceutical R&D. Based on case studies about the Novartis campus in Basel, Switzerland, we propose some design principles for laboratory and office workspace to support the strong and weak ties of scientist networks.

General practitioners are the future intermediaries.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: Technological changes will have a large influence on medical practice. This article discusses the influences of technology and innovation on the role of general practitioners.

Methods: This conceptual paper is based on a triangulation of expert discussions and literature studies.