Pharma Veterans

Issues with Leadership Development Programs – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1057 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1057 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: Alax Matias Credit: Chu Chup Hinh Credit: Mustapha Damilola This blog post in based on a McKinsey article published ten years ago in January 2014 but is still very relevant. Link at the end. I have added my own point of view based on Pakistan experience.  Preamble Every organization of substance and character spends money on leadership development programs. US companies alone spend almost $14 billion annually on leadership development. Most universities offer degrees and courses in leadership development even in Pakistan. Elitist institutions in Pakistan may charge 1.5 million for a two-week management development program while a top bu...

Pharma Veterans – Concept and Practice – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1015 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1015 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. Designed with Microsoft Designer Designed with Microsoft Designer Preamble Pharma Veterans is a group of senior pharmaceutical professionals which came together to form a core group under the umbrella of ‘Pharma Veterans’ in 2019. Pharma Veterans domain and blogs were launched in 2017 by Asrar Qureshi and had been continuing since. All group members are full time working professionals who take out time occasionally to meet and discuss the industry situation and what may be done. Pharma Veterans Fundamentals Vision Build and Run a Vibrant, Inclusive, Evolving, and Growing Platform for Pharma & Healthcare Industry Veterans Mission 1. To project and c...

Corporate HR Function – Responsibilities and Limitations I – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1013 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1013 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: Lubomir Satko Credit: Mikhail Nilov Credit: Ron Lach HR – Human Resources Department – as it is mostly referred to, is among key functions in any corporate. Owing to its importance, the entrepreneurs prefer to keep it directly under them for as long as they can. It is the entrepreneurs’ wish to control the staff tightly, hence the love for HR function. HR is one of the two functions that are very close to the top boss/owner; finance and HR. Finance is about money matters, and HR is about people matters; both are vital areas. In this 2-part blog post, I wish to address the following points: • What are key functions of HR – in...

Credit: Christina Morillo Credit: Lombe K Credit: Mikhail Nilov Credit: Timur Weber Credit: Vitaly Gariev Credit: Yan Krukau Multiple Generations at Work – Strategies – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1008 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1008 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. We have seen how the generations have been classified and what challenges come up in the workplaces. In this last part, we shall look at strategies to mitigate risks and take advantage of the presence of multiple generations. Deploy Tailored Management Strategies The foremost strategy is to tailor management strategies, not once but on a continuing basis.     For example, different generations have varying preferences for feedback. The strategy should be to design feedback strategies that include both real-time, in...

Managers and Employees Perceive Differently – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 959 Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post 959 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: Liza Summer Credit: Koolshooters Credit: Vika Glitter This blog post has been inspired by Gallup® research on managers’ strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots, link to the article at the end. As a first line manager, I attended a management training course arranged by the company in collaboration with an external trainer. Among the many exercises we did, there was one where we, as managers, had to rate ourselves on various management parameters. Whatever we rated ourselves was not discussed individually, but collectively these were discussed. After returning to office, I, on an impulse, gave the same form to my team members and asked them to rat...

Implications of Pharma MNCs Exit – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #824 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #824 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: Anna Tarazevich Photo Credit: cottonbro studio Photo Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko When I joined Pharma industry in 1975, there were around 50 multinational pharmaceutical companies in the market; the number of local companies would be around 100. The market was dominated by MNCs with over 80% market share. Presently, the number of MNCs has decreased to under 20. Some merged, while others rolled back operations. Most notable exits have been Roche, MSD, Merck Marker, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Fresenius Kabi, Sanofi, and Bayer.  Pharma MNCs are not the ...

Management Consulting in Pakistan – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #799 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #799 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: cottonbro studio Photo Credit: Kampus Production Photo Credit: Victoria Rain I had been thinking of writing on this topic for quite some time, but other topics kept taking priority somehow. It is here now finally. It is an important topic because the huge body of evidence shows that independent consultants have been adding very significant value to organizations and individuals since so many decades. Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Michael Porter, Marshall Goldsmith did not achieve world fame for doing nothing. Consultancies are of several types; firms like KP...

Sales Force Effectiveness – Part 3 – Purpose & Practices – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #780 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #780 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: RODNAE Productions Photo Credit: RODNAE Productions Photo Credit: Diva Plavalaguna Continued from Previous…… SFE Purpose The sole purpose of SFE is to maximize growth. Period. SFE Practices Let me emphasize again, for clarity, that Sales Force Effectiveness is to be measured at the level of each salesperson, if you really wish to have meaningful SFE. It must be built bottom up and should not be generalized to get quick results. It can be challenging due to several factors such as absence of enough data, but the quest must go on....

Tired Organizations – Reasons & Cures – Part 10 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #769 Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #769 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: Kampus Production Photo Credit: George Milton Photo Credit: RODNAE Production Continued from Previous…… We continue with the suggested cures.  Implement/ Update Technology Technology has helped to revolutionize the way work is done in every sector, and it is not just about technology industry. Have you been to an embroidery unit lately? One design made by computer and copied into the HMI – Human Machine Interface – is embroidered on a length of cloth simultaneously by 10 – 100 machines in synchronization; the sight is not just aweso...