Pharma Veterans

Balancing Execution and Innovation in a Fast-Changing World – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1156 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1156 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma    Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: cottonbro studio Credit: Karolina Grabowska Preamble This blog post speaks particularly to senior managers who strategize, execute, and are responsible for results today and tomorrow. In today’s dynamic environment, organizations are caught between two equally critical imperatives: executing the existing strategy with discipline and efficiency and simultaneously doing constant innovation to remain relevant in a world of disruption. Lean too much into execution, and the company risks becoming stagnant, missing the next wave of change. Lean too heavily into innovation, and execution suffers, creating instabilit...

Technical Expertise vs Customer Experience – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1150 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 1150 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Anna Shvets Credit: Pixabay Preamble I am a regular reader of a technology newsletter by Rob Howard at innovatingwithai.com.  A recent edition talked about the disaster created by OpenAI upon itself when they launched GPT5.0 and disconnected earlier versions. The consumers were confused and unhappy. The analysis is that being a technology company is one part, while being a consumer company is an altogether different area, where OpenAI did not exist. Similar situations are seen in Pharma industry when a high-tech, great product does not take into account user/consumer/patient experience. Some examples follow. Technology vs Commerciali...

Strategy Meetings in Pharma Industry – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1126 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Kampus Production Cedit: Kampus Production Preamble - Why Pharma Strategy Retreats Feel Like Replays -- And How to Reinvent Them Having worked in pharma industry for decades, I have attended numerous strategy retreats which happen every year in any pharma company of substance. It has rather become a show that must be held every year. It is also desired that these should be held in newer, exotic places so that the participants feel more motivated. What I write below is reality as I became more aware of the futility of these retreats. Here is my take on this subject. I would also like to take up the brainstorming sessions that also happen in ph...

Pharmaceutical Marketing – Stuck in the Past – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1103 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1103 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Antoni Shkraba Credit: Eva Bronzini Credit: Leeloo The First Preamble The pharmaceutical industry is among the most scientifically advanced sectors in the world. It leads in innovation, from cutting-edge drug development to biotech breakthroughs and AI-driven clinical trials. Yet, when it comes to marketing, many companies continue to follow the same old beaten path. The strategies are repetitive, execution is formulaic, and innovation is often conspicuously absent. Despite changing customer behaviors, digital disruption, and growing demand for personalized engagement, pharmaceutical marketing often remains locked in outdated paradigm...

The Power of Organizational Culture – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1082 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1082 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Kindel Media Credit: Mikhail Nilov Credit: Theo Decker Preamble Organizational culture is one of the most significant yet often overlooked aspects of business success. It shapes how employees interact, influences decision-making, and determines how companies respond to challenges and opportunities. In an era where businesses must constantly adapt to rapid changes, culture is no longer a soft aspect of the organization—it is a strategic imperative. In this article, I would explore the definition of organizational culture, its impact on hiring, its role in strategy making, and why it should serve as a guiding force rather than a restrictive barr...

Five AI Trends to Watch in 2025 (and Beyond) – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1061 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1061 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com for publishing your contributions here. Credit: Brett Sayles Credit: Christina Morillo Credit: Ron Lach This post is inspired by an article by Rob Howard of https://innovatingwithai.com and PWC report. Link at the end. Preamble I keep returning to the topic of AI because it is the most happening field right now and shall remain so for the next several years.  According to PWC (Price Waterhouse Cooper) global report, Artificial Intelligence shall cause to increase global GDP by 14% in 2030. This will be the equivalent of additional $15.7 trillion. The report highlights that: • Labor productivity improvements will drive initial GDP gains as firms seek to augment the productivity of ...

Leaders Can Be Vulnerable – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1016 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1016 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: Anna Nekrashevich Credit: fauxels Credit: Henry Mathieu-Saint-Laurent Credit: RDNE Stock Project Leadership often comes with the pressure to always have the answers, appear strong, and project unwavering confidence. Vulnerability in leadership is often seen as a paradox. Leaders are traditionally expected to project strength, confidence, and decisiveness, but embracing vulnerability can be one of the most powerful tools for building trust, engagement, and authentic connections in a team. The truth is that the most impactful leaders aren’t the ones who never show weakness, but the ones who embrace vulnerability as a strength. In a world where we're conditi...

The Case for Business Growth – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 960 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 960 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: Antonius Ferret Credit: Ketut Subiyanto Credit: Pavel Danilyuk All businesses wish to grow and become big, some actively do things to grow, most do half-hearted measures. The other dimension is that achieving profitable and sustainable growth is even more challenging because various factors keep arising on the way. There are two major restrictions to growth: market, and competition. Any market, be it electronics, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, food etc., is the sum of all players in that market. The market expands because of two factors: addition of new products, and addition of new consumers. However, market expands at a slower rate in this way. The second rest...

New Diabetes Drug – Facts Vs Misinformation – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #838 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #838 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. A friend of mine forwarded the following text to me yesterday. It is a very catchy message for diabetic patients as it promises a revolutionary ‘treatment’ for diabetes. If you remember, I had done a blog showing that Pakistan had become number #1 country in the incidence of diabetes with over 38% population suffering from it. Pakistanis are also averse to standard treatment of diabetes and keep looking for miracles which never happen. For us, this kind of message is not just misleading, it is killing.  Let me tell me that this entire message is a pack of l...