Rethinking the research environment: Change management, open workplaces, and the metrics that make the case

Drawing on his recent work overseeing workplace transformation, capital investments, and operational performance for Bristol Myers Squibb, Bill Bullock examines how research environments can be reconfigured — physically, operationally, and culturally — to drive productivity. He presents a change management framework for moving scientists into open labs and open offices, and examines innovative equipment design strategies that bring traditionally fixed lab functions into the flexible footprint. He also makes the case for insourcing previously outsourced research functions as a strategic play for reclaiming scientific control and organizational agility. He delivers a precision metrics framework — including specific ft²-per-scientist targets differentiated by scientist type — that moves the industry beyond rule-of-thumb planning and gives leaders the numbers to defend every square foot.