Guidant

BACKGROUND:

Guidant Vascular Intervention (Guidant VI), which has since been acquired by Abbott Labs, is a world leader in the design and development of cardiovascular medical products. When Guidant VI introduced a new stent product, it captured a staggering 80% market share within the first three months. This explosive growth made Guidant VI the market leader in the production of coronary stents. Rapid growth also brought unforeseen challenges.

THE CHALLENGE:

Management, challenged by the demands of rapid growth and accelerating product development timelines, turned to Vanto Group for support in bringing about a shift in the organization’s culture. The goals were to create alignment, integration, and collaboration among disparate functional groups that had traditionally operated as independent entities.

THE APPROACH:

The engagement began with the formation of a leadership group comprised of managers from key areas throughout the company. Vanto Group facilitated the group in recognizing the embedded assumptions and attitudes that had divided them. Aligning behind a shared commitment to the company’s larger goals and objectives, these managers began operating as a cohesive, cooperative, unified team.

BUSINESS OUTCOME:

Facilitated by Vanto Group, Guidant VI employees worked together across functional boundaries to bring a new coronary stent to market in an unprecedented 18 months.

Since then, the company has maintained a working environment characterized by high levels of innovation, productivity, employee satisfaction and teamwork.

With its new culture of integrated teams and an effective product development process, Guidant VI has been able to introduce successful new-generation stents each year and to stay at the cutting edge of technology and product innovation. This has provided an ongoing competitive advantage for the company, enabling it to maintain its leadership position in the medical device marketplace.