Pharma Veterans

Thoughts on Flatter Corporate Hierarchy – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1037 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1037 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing our contributions here. Credit: Alena Darmel Credit: Cedric Fauntleroy Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Preamble In recent years, tech-based companies like Google, Meta, and Netflix are experimenting with doing away with the traditional hierarchical model and redistributing authority more evenly and horizontally. Bayer, the crop sciences giant and a well-known pharma company, last year went for radical decentralization. The jury is still out on how beneficial it is because more time is needed to analyze its pros and cons. This post is in continuation of previous discourse on the subject and invites open discussion. What Does It mean? Two models have been experimented with decentralizatio...

Generative AI – Lovers, Haters, and Their Arguments – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #968 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 968 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Ron Lach Credit: Cedric Fauntleroy Credit: iam hogir Credit: Mikhail Nilov Credit: Nabath Otieno Credit: ROMAN ODINTSOV Help for this two-part blogpost has been taken from ChatGPT4o, HubSpot, Mckinsey, and MIT. Prologue Generative AI has sparked significant debate, drawing strong opinions from both advocates and critics. The technology's potential to transform industries and society at large is undeniable, but so are the concerns it raises.  CSER – Center for the Study of Existential Risk – is an interdisciplinary research center within the University of Cambridge, UK. Their website says, ‘We are dedicated to the study and mitigatio...

Corporate Management in Personal Ownership Firms – Solutions – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #939 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #939 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com . Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Christina Morillo Credit: fauxels Credit: olia danilevich Credit: Yan Krukau I had concluded the last blog post with hinting at two suggested solutions. Raising issues is important but providing solutions is even more important. In this blog post, I shall expand upon the two suggestions. Delegating Responsibilities with Authority Delegation is most recommended but less practiced in most corporates. The managers do not understand the benefits it accrues, or they feel threatened as they consider it an encroachment on their managerial turf. We shall focus on the benefits here. Delegation is a cornerstone of effective leadership...

Corporate Management in Pakistan – Personal Ownership Firms – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #938 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #938 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Artem Podrez Credit: Bali Demiri Credit: Dziana Hasanbekova Preamble Pakistani companies may be divided into various types based on their legal constitution. Sole proprietorship companies are those who have only one owner, who owns the entire organization, its assets, and its operations. Partnership firms are those which have two or more partners who come together to start and run and business. Whatever may happen later because many partnerships somehow dissolve at some stage. These firms are legally registered under companies ordinance. Private Limited companies are those which are more formal and are registered with the Secur...

Place of Intuition in Executive Decision Making – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #935 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #935 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Daniel Kahneman Credit: Emma Keshavarz Gary Klein Credit: Kamaji Ogino Corporate Executives, as they become more senior, tend to rely more on their intuition, or gut feeling. Mr. Nasir Mahmood (late) was a legendary marketing head who grew Abbott Labs Pakistan from a small company to one of the fastest growing companies in 1980s, and 1990s. He once asked in a meeting of managers (I was a relatively new manager among the group), “how do you hire? You go by your gut feeling. That is what I do, and it never fails me”. He was not the only senior executive doing it, many others also did it. And it was not just about hiring, for all important decisions,...

The Critical Importance of Analysis – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #853 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #853 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: RDNE Stock project Credit: Karolina Grabowska Credit: Karolina Grabowska Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored – Aldous Huxley (Writer) Good and solid analysis and a formal way of looking at a problem are the core ingredients of good decisions – Colin Powell (Ex. Secretary of State, USA) Analysis, an intellectual process involving discerning examination and systematic dissection of information, is pivotal in academic research, decision-making, problem-solving, and strategic planning. We shall explore the foundational significance of analysis, and ...

Data – Blessing or Bane? – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #843 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #843 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Christina Morillo Photo Credit: Scott Webb Photo Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko We have taken rather long time to get used to and comfortable with the data. It is not that we were not collecting data, we had been doing it since long, however, we did not know what to do with it, or how to use it. In many cases, the concerned people did not want to use data collected digitally. Few glaring examples will show our deliberate aversion to use of data.  Safe city project was launched several years ago, and cameras were installed at strategic spots in major cities. Many a ...

When Shall Pakistan Pharma Industry Start Using Data? – Part 3 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #777 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #777 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Kindel Media Photo Credit: Ivan Samkov Photo Credit: Pavel Danilyuk Use of data is our critical weakness. To correct this weakness, we first need to exercise to collect proper data, learn to analyze it properly, and then have the heart to take data-based decisions. What should be done to improve this situation?  Let me start by saying that the industry does not have the choice to ignore data any longer. Much has changed since the beginning of COVID19. The world has undergone unexpected changes in the last about three and ...

When Shall Pakistan Pharma Industry Start Using Data? – Part 2 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #776 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #776 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here. Photo Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko Photo Credit: Rodnae Production Photo Credit: Mikael Blomkvist Market research also includes market feedback. 1. Feedback on own marketing campaigns 2. Feedback on market happenings 3. Feedback on competitor activities The effort to get feedback on all three counts though sales teams has been going on since a long time, however, the success have never been achieved. The sales teams are the ones who implement campaigns and plans designed by marketing team. They are also supposed to provide feedback on ...