Dr. David Kessler was appointed as commissioner of the FDA in 1990. At that time, the FDA had lost public support and credibility due to scandals and inefficient operations with long approval times. Kessler aimed to restore the FDA's reputation by streamlining operations. He applied management theories like dynamic engagement, contingency approach, and systems approach to decentralize decision making, empower managers, and divide the FDA into interrelated segments to solve problems faster. These changes increased the FDA's budget and staff while eliminating delays. Kessler viewed the FDA as an interrelated system and successfully reorganized it from a bureaucratic system to a more transparent one.

1. KESSLER AT THE FDA HELM
“Streamlining a Mammoth”
Prepared by
VISHNU SURESH
Asian School of Business
PGDM2016

2. About FDA
 Founded back in 1906.
 Headquarters at New Hampshire Avenue silver spring Maryland US
 Responsible for the Protection and promotion of public health
 Formulates Laws & Rules to regulate food safety, tobacco products,
supplements, Pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, Animal food& feeds
 Governed by The Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Appointed by
the president.

3. Dr. David A. Kessler
 Well known American pediatrician, lawyer, author, and
administrator.
 Served many governmental organizations as an active member of
the administrative panel.
 Served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) from November 8th 1990, to February 28, 1997.
 Played significant role in the revival of FDA and making it more
efficient.

4. Scenario in FDA before Kessler Joining
 Lost all the support from the public sector as well as organizations.
 Scam issues had ruined FDA’s reputation.
 Complaints about the delay in daily operations.
 Long approval timings for submitted proposals and applications.
 Lack of consistency.

5. Factors that influenced Kessler’s Decisions ?
 The Determination to bring back FDA’s reputation and speed up the mode of
operations.
 Restore the agency’s credibility.
 Earn back public faith and support.
 To eradicate inefficient bureaucracy that prevailed in the agency.
 Make FDA more user-friendly and accessible.

6. Effects of Kessler’s Leadership
 FDA restored its lost goodwill and credibility.
 Budget hiked by 8.7 percent compared to previous year.
 The Quantity of staff grew from 7800 to 9000.
 FDA became approachable and more user-friendly.
 FDA’s drug policies were considered to be a standardization of safety and free
from side effects.

7. Management Theories applied by Kessler ?
 Few managerial theories were used by Kessler which aided him in the revival of
FDA.
 Modern Management Theories used by Kessler :
A. The Dynamic Engagement approach.
B. The Contingency approach
C. The Systems approach

8. Dynamic Engagement Theory
 Kessler restructured the organization by empowering lower-level FDA managers.
 Delegated the authority to field officers also.
 He installed a kind of Inventing and Reinventing strategy in his organization.
Contingency approach
 Also known as “Situational Approach”.
 Defined as the manager’s ability to identify the current scenario and act accordingly
 To choose the best technique suited to achieve the goal
 To understand the prevailing situation and choose the best solution

9. Systems approach
 Kessler decentralized the organization.
 Divided FDA into smaller interrelated segments facilitating them to work together
as a system.
 This approach helped to sort out problems and solve them faster.
 Unnecessary delays in granting permissions were hence ruled out.

10. Alternative to Kessler’s Operational Theory
Henry Fayol’s Management Theory or Classical Theory
 Focus on Total Management of the organization.
 Principles that can be applied in the given scenario:-
• Division of work
• Authority
• Subordination of individual interest to general interest
• Centralization & Decentralization

11. FDA viewed from a Systems perspective
 Before Kessler’s Appointment
• Poor public reputation and support.
• Delay in operations.
• Primitive rules and regulations prevailed within the agency.
• Affected with Bureaucracy.
 After Kessler’s Appointment
• Received good public support and feedback.
• Unnecessary delays were eliminated.
• More input resources were introduced into operations.

12. CONCLUSION
 Kessler viewed FDA as an Interrelated system which was organized poorly.
 He converted it from a Bureaucratic system into a much transparent one.
 He was successful in identifying the errors that prevailed in each system and
thereby rectifying that.
 Kessler’s methodology of handling FDA from systems perspective played a huge
role in its transformation.

13. THANKYOU