Decentralisation : A Strength
The McNeil name has been associated with the manufacturing and sale of pharmaceutical products since 1879, when Robert McNeil opened his first retail drug outlet in Pennsylvania. Growing as a producer of prescription pharmaceuticals, McNeil Laboratories, Inc. was incorporated in the U.S. in 1933, and became a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies in 1959. Mcneil Consumer Healthcare began operations in Canada in an existing administrative Johnson & Johnson facility in Guelph, Ontario in 1980. McNeil Consumer Healthcare (nonprescription pharmaceutical products) in Guelph, Ontario is member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies in Canada. An important difference between Johnson & Johnson and most other companies—is the concept of decentralised management. Instead of operating as one large multi-billion dollar corporation, Johnson & Johnson is operated as 190 smaller companies, each focused on a specific medical or product franchise and/or geographic area, with each affiliate generating multiple options for growth. Through decentralisation we combine the advantages of being big with the agility and focus of smaller firms. Decentralisation enables each company to stay close to its customers, maintain short lines of communication with customers and employees, and accelerate the development of talent. The Johnson & Johnson - Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals company also operates from our Woodlawn Road facility in Guelph.
Identify the incorrect statement:
Decentralisation enables each company to
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Cater to a smaller geographical area
Option (1) Cater to a smaller geographical area — An incorrect statement (Correct). The passage says decentralisation lets each Johnson & Johnson company do three things: stay close to its customers, keep short lines of communication, and speed up the development of talent. This is not one of them.
Option (2) Accelerate the development of talent — A correct statement (Incorrect). The managers of each small company take decisions themselves, and this trains them for bigger roles.
Option (3) Maintain short lines of communication with customers and employees — A correct statement (Incorrect). There are few levels between the unit and its people, so messages move quickly and are not distorted.
Option (4) Stay close to its customer — A correct statement (Incorrect). Each small company serves one franchise or area, so it knows its customers well.
Note: The passage does say that each of the 190 companies is focused on “a specific medical or product franchise and/or geographic area”, so a company may well serve a limited area. But the passage gives this as the way Johnson & Johnson is organised, not as something decentralisation enables. The sentence that begins “Decentralisation enables each company to” names only the other three, and the question is built on that sentence. Hence Option (1) is the answer. NCERT (2026-27 Edition): “Decentralisation : A Strength … An important difference between Johnson & Johnson and most other companies — is the concept of decentralised management. Instead of operating as one large multi-billion dollar corporation, Johnson & Johnson is operated as 190 smaller companies, each focused on a specific medical or product franchise and/or geographic area, with each affiliate generating multiple options for growth. Through decentralisation we combine the advantages of being big with the agility and focus of smaller firms. Decentralisation enables each company to sty close to its customer, maintain short lines of communication with customers and employees, and accelerate the development of talent. …” |