tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45464885992239545682024-03-16T23:59:08.280+05:30BRIHASMANAGEMENT AND MARKETING FOR SALES AND MARKETING PROFESSIONALSvoxindicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10705865947567961052noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-38099721083066787622024-03-16T23:28:00.005+05:302024-03-16T23:58:34.167+05:30Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) Drugs<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmTYonr7hPuT4A51GWncnp2L_2uV3clOh27IthsAqtcOHHjK3yOTSodSDMOuRWB1F9YJkNs9bMq6Sx5BIKSEtlq0JEk8Kz63KoIZY7w1OQBT5o3562TPBbEeZuqrPFZ8Va9uIdrqw1q-cTju5vPku0PloVzbx9EQwumyCpV7Q5CrqTGM7NH6v8a9GJZAA/s626/FDC%20Visual.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="626" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQmTYonr7hPuT4A51GWncnp2L_2uV3clOh27IthsAqtcOHHjK3yOTSodSDMOuRWB1F9YJkNs9bMq6Sx5BIKSEtlq0JEk8Kz63KoIZY7w1OQBT5o3562TPBbEeZuqrPFZ8Va9uIdrqw1q-cTju5vPku0PloVzbx9EQwumyCpV7Q5CrqTGM7NH6v8a9GJZAA/s320/FDC%20Visual.png" width="320" /></a></div>Advantages</span></b></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">1. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Simplified
Treatment Regimen</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> One of the primary
advantages of FDC drugs is that they combine two or more active pharmaceutical
ingredients (APIs) into a single dosage form. This simplifies the treatment
regimen for patients, especially those with chronic conditions who may need to take
multiple medications daily. By reducing the number of pills or doses required,
FDCs can enhance patient adherence to medication schedules, which is crucial
for managing chronic diseases effectively [1].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">2. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Enhanced
Efficacy</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> FDC drugs can offer synergy or enhanced efficacy
compared to monotherapy or individual drug components. The combination of
multiple active ingredients with complementary mechanisms of action can target
different aspects of a disease simultaneously, leading to improved therapeutic
outcomes. This synergy between drugs in FDCs can result in better control of
symptoms and disease progression [2].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">3. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Reduced
Risk of Resistance</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> In infectious diseases
such as tuberculosis and HIV, FDC drugs play a vital role in reducing the risk
of drug resistance. Combining multiple drugs in a single formulation helps to
prevent the emergence of resistant strains by attacking the pathogen from
multiple angles. This is particularly important in the context of antimicrobial
resistance, where the overuse or misuse of antibiotics can lead to treatment
failure [3].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">4. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Convenience
and Cost-Effectiveness</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> FDC drugs can be more
convenient and cost-effective for both patients and healthcare systems. By
bundling multiple medications into a single pill, FDCs can streamline
procurement, distribution, and administration processes. This can lead to cost
savings for healthcare providers and reduce the financial burden on patients,
especially in resource-limited settings where access to healthcare services and
medications is limited [4].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Disadvantages</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">1. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Limited
Flexibility in Dosing</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> One of the main
drawbacks of FDC drugs is their limited flexibility in dosing. Because the
component drugs are fixed in specific ratios within the formulation, healthcare
providers have less flexibility to adjust individual doses based on patient
needs or response to treatment. This can be problematic, particularly in cases
where patients require titration or personalized dosing regimens [5].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">2. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Potential
for Increased Side Effects</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> Combining multiple
drugs in a single formulation increases the risk of adverse drug interactions
and side effects. Patients taking FDCs may experience a higher incidence of
adverse reactions compared to those taking individual medications separately.
This can lead to treatment discontinuation, decreased adherence, and
compromised therapeutic outcomes [6].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">3. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Risk
of Masking Symptoms</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> FDC drugs may mask
symptoms of underlying conditions or delay the identification of treatment
failure. When multiple drugs are combined into a single pill, it can be
challenging to determine which component is responsible for specific effects or
adverse reactions. This can hinder the timely adjustment of treatment regimens
and monitoring of disease progression, potentially leading to suboptimal
outcomes [7].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">4. <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Regulatory
Challenges</span></span></b></span><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;"> The regulatory approval process for FDC
drugs can be complex and time-consuming. Regulatory agencies require robust
evidence of the safety, efficacy, and quality of each component drug in the
combination, as well as data demonstrating the therapeutic benefits of the
fixed dose formulation. Meeting these requirements can pose challenges for
pharmaceutical companies seeking to develop and market FDCs, leading to delays
in availability and access to new treatments [8].</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">Conclusion</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs offer
several potential benefits, including simplified treatment regimens, enhanced
efficacy, reduced risk of resistance, and cost-effectiveness. However, they
also have limitations, such as limited dosing flexibility, increased risk of
side effects, potential for masking symptoms, and regulatory challenges. When
considering the use of FDC drugs, healthcare providers must weigh the
advantages and disadvantages carefully to ensure optimal patient outcomes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal;">References</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">1. World Health Organization. (2004).
Fixed-dose combination tablets for the treatment of tuberculosis: Report of an
informal meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, 2-3 March 2004. WHO.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="r-36ujnk"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">2. Gabbay, J., & le May, A. (2004).
Evidence based guidelines or collectively constructed “mindlines?” Ethnographic
study of knowledge management in primary care. BMJ, 329(7473), 1013.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">3. Lalloo, U. G., & Lim, L. E. (2006).
Respiratory drug resistance in tuberculosis in Africa: a systematic review.
African journal of respiratory medicine, 2(1), 8-11.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">4. Hirsch, M. S. (2007). Antiretroviral drug
resistance testing in adult HIV-1 infection: 2008 recommendations of an
International AIDS Society-USA panel. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 45(4),
457-467.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">5. Levy, A. R., & O'Brien, B. J. (2006).
Cost-effectiveness analysis of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected
patients. JAMA, 296(7), 769-781.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">6. Weatherley-Jones, E., Nicholl, J. P.,
Thomas, K. J., & Powell, R. J. (2004). The cost-effectiveness of
acupuncture for chronic headache: a pragmatic controlled trial. Health
Technology Assessment, 8(48), iii-iv, ix-xi, 1-35.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt;">7. Kaul, S., Diamond, G. A., & Weintraub,
W. S. (2006). Trials and tribulations of noninferiority: the ximelagatran
experience. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions, 9(3), 438-453.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13pt;">8. European Medicines Agency. (2009). Guideline on the clinical development
of fixed combination</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1419; font-size: 13pt; text-align: left;">medicinal products. EMA. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>VOXINDICAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05166460700565635327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-29019965130583270662020-09-03T13:03:00.001+05:302021-05-09T23:36:19.151+05:30Dynamics of Change & Cultural Inertia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There is an interesting relationship between organisational culture and
management of change. Organisations which were able to gear up cultural changes
within to changes in the environment, benefited while those which could not
overcome cultural inertia suffered. This article examines the relationship
between cultural inertia and the dynamics of change in organisations. </span></i><b><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The
rapid economic, political and technological changes at the global level affect
the business environment by increasing competition manifold, reducing lead
times, customer demand for high quality and low prices. It is therefore
imperative for organisations to develop an appropriate <b><i>customer
focused</i> </b>culture in order to achieve sustainable
competitive edge. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">John
Frain defines <i>culture</i> as a “<i>set of key values, beliefs,
understandings and norms of behaviour, which prevails within the organisation.</i>”
(</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Introduction
to Marketing</span></i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">,<b> </b>Fourth Edition. International Thomson Business Press.
London. 1999. p. 93</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">) Organisations have to cope with culture in three
different contexts. The first of these relates to the buying behaviour of
consumers whether individual or the decision-making units (DMU) in case of
business-to-business operations. The second is when they transact business with
or operate in different countries/geographical locations. The third and -
perhaps most important - cultural context organisations have to cope with is,
within the organisation itself. Culture influences organisational structure,
strategies, control systems and operations.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In
his book, Frain quotes the researches of two teams, Dale and Kennedy in 1982
and Baker and Hart in 1996, which proved that <i>culture</i> has a
major effect on the success of a business. The Baker and Hart team analysed a
sample of successful and less successful firms in a cross section of growing
and declining industries. They found that some of the critical attributes of
successful organisations (e.g. entrepreneurship, ‘<i>lean and mean</i>’
structures etc.) were found in less successful organisations also. This led
them to conclude that what makes some organisations more successful is
not <i>what they do</i>, but <i>how well they do it </i>- culture
and commitment are the key determinants for the success of an organisation.
Organisations will have to audit their culture as the first step to <i>manage</i> it.
The questions to be asked are: <i>is it functional</i>? or <i>is it
dysfunctional?</i> And <i>if it is functional, will it support the
organisation’s projected goals</i>?</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">To
illustrate his point, Frain cites the example of the acquisition of <i>Goetze</i> the
well-known German manufacturer of piston rings by <i>T&N</i> the
British components and specialist-engineering group. <i>Goetze</i> had
severe financial losses for three years when <i>T&N</i> took over
the company with the objective of acquiring a significant share of the German
market for piston rings. When <i>T&N</i> analysed the German
company, it found the company was steeped in the culture of the <i>rich</i> in
its arrogant behaviour towards customers. It had a bloated management
structure, with ten layers of management and seven tiers of secretaries. The
company was not able adopt new technologies because of a deeply
entrenched <i>cultural</i> inertia. <i>T&N</i> decided
that it needed to change <i>Goetze</i>’s culture<i> of hierarchy</i>.
The result of restructuring, rationalisation of work force and pruning
inefficient production lines resulted in a sharp lowering of costs and the
company returned to profits in 1994.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The <i>Goetze</i> case
is <i>not</i> an example of the imposition of an alien culture but a
release from inertia triggered from outside. What happens when there is no
external trigger? How does an organisation bring about changes that are
necessary for fostering long-term customer relationships? It is not easy to
bring about cultural changes because of an innate human resistance to change.
There is always a conflict between the <i>driving forces</i> that
seek to bring about change and <i>resisting forces</i> that seek to
preserve the <i>status quo</i>. Managers refuse to see that ‘<i>change</i>’
is real and continue to work as before. If they find that they are not able to
function as before because of their denial to see <i>changes </i>within
the organisation and the environment, their denial gives way to fear and
energies are diverted to politicking.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Nigel
F. Piercy (</span><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Market-Led Strategic Change</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">. Third Edition. Butterworth
Heinmann. Oxford. 2002.) identified four kinds of managers who can block
change. The </span><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">dangerous enthusiasts</span></i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">go about trying to
change everything without understanding the goals of change. The</span><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Yes…But”s</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> understand the
need for change but are not inclined to change. In fact their “Yes…But” is a
polite way of saying “No”. If pushed to implement change they turn to <i>malicious
obedience</i> only to wait for things to go wrong when they can point
out: </span><b><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“</span></i></b><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Look I have done what you asked me to
do, but see what happened!”</span></i><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The </span><b><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Dinosaurs</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> simply do not
want and won’t change.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Piercy
gives some amusing examples form Royal Dutch/Shell the world’s second largest
oil company to illustrate his point - of resistance to cultural change.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
Executives of Shell were encouraged to suggest three alternative courses of
action for the implementation of strategies with the result that they always
chose the middle path, as they felt, it was the safest.</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Shell executives have buried expensive exploration equipment
in Gabon, as they did not want to face the bureaucratic hurdles in
relocating it to another country.</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">An MD noted that the company believed that fourteen signatures on an
official note made it look better!<br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">
The company driver who picked up an executive from a delayed African flight was
driving him for a meeting at a sedate thirty mph speed as the car had a speed
governor on it and could not be driven faster. When questioned by the
exasperated executive as to what he would do in an emergency, the driver
replied that he would take a taxi!</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Piercy
noted that a conscious effort to bring about a culture change helped IBM to
turn back on the endemic losses of the late 1980s and return profits
beginning1993. Lou Gerstner who came in as CEO, created the ambience for
a </span><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“strong
customer-needs focus, leading to the development of integrated technology
solutions drawing on all of IBM’s R&D, product, service and software
skills.”</span></i><i><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Executives who tried to resist were
weeded out.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Philip
Kotler describes a study by the Stanford researchers Collins and Porras, which
they published under the title </span><b><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Built to Last</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">.* The researchers
identified two companies each in eighteen industries and designated one as a ‘<i>visionary
company’</i> and the other as a ‘<i>comparison company’</i>. <i>Visionary
companies</i> (e.g. General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and Boeing) were the
recognised industry leaders: they set ambitious goals, communicated the goals
clearly to their employees and most important they had a <i>higher purpose</i> other
than making money. They outperformed the <i>comparison companies</i> (e.g.
Westinghouse, Texas Instruments and McDonnell Douglas) by a wide margin. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The <i>visionary
companies</i> had three common features. First, they held a distinctive
set of values from which they did not deviate. IBM’s values included <i>respect
for the individual, customer satisfaction and continuous quality improvement</i>.
Johnson & Johnson’s believes that its <i>first responsibility is to
its customers</i>, <i>its second to its employees, its third to its
community and its fourth to its stockholders</i>.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The second common feature these companies had was they expressed their purpose
in enlightened terms. Thus Xerox wants to improve <i>office productivity</i>,
Monsanto wants to <i>end hunger in the world</i>. According to the
researchers the core purpose of a company should not be confused with its
business objectives or product list.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The
third common feature of the industry leaders is that they have developed a
vision for the future and worked to implement it. Thus IBM is now working to
establish leadership as a <i>network-centric </i>company and not
simply as a leading software manufacturer.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The
first step to induce change is to allay any unfounded fears that the change is
likely to cause in the minds of its employees, rather than pressuring for
change. The issue that organisations face in the specific context of developing
a customer-led culture is that customer interests are regarded as concerning
only the <i>marketing</i> function. In many organisations, the other
departments see<i> marketing</i> as alien to the larger
organisational interest of making profits. Therefore there is always a conflict
between marketing and other departments. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">*<span style="letter-spacing: 0.15pt;">An update since Philip Kotler referenced it in his
“<i>Marketing Management</i>” (2003. Eleventh Edition). Pearson Education.
Singapore:</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: .3in; margin-right: .3in; margin-top: 5.0pt; margin: 5pt 0.3in; mso-outline-level: 1;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">“Ten
years on, almost half of the visionary companies on the list have slipped
dramatically in performance and reputation, and their vision currently seems
more blurred than clairvoyant. Consider the fates of Motorola, Ford, Sony, Walt
Disney, Boeing, Nordstrom, and Merck. Each has struggled in recent years, and
all have faced serious questions about their leadership and strategy. Odds are,
none of them today would meet <i>BTL</i>'s criteria for visionary
companies, which required that they be the premier player in their industry and
be widely admired by people in the know." —</span><b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.05pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Reingold, Jennifer and Underwood</span><span style="background: white; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">, </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.05pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Ryan. (2004). </span><i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/50992/was-built-last-built-last?page=0%2C0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Was “Built To Last” Built To Last? </a></span></span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.15pt;"></span></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0Hyderabad, India17.389958246585564 78.458862304687517.147458746585563 78.1430053046875 17.632457746585565 78.7747193046875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-17388035934238160022020-06-21T10:16:00.004+05:302020-06-24T02:05:38.061+05:30COVID–19 and the endless search for ‘scientific serendipity’!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Many scientific discoveries were indeed <i>serendipitous</i> and medical
science is no stranger to <i>serendipity</i>. The word <i>serendipity</i> is
derived from <i>Senrendip</i> (an ancient name for Sri Lanka) and is applied
for discoveries that were accidentally stumbled upon. The word is sometimes
translated as ‘happy accident’. A number of products from <i>nitroglycerine </i>(in
its medical use, not in blasting powder); the first antibiotic <i>penicillin</i>;
the local anaesthetic<i> lidocaine</i>; several analgesic drugs, anti–psychotic
drugs, anti–cancer drugs, tranquilisers; the use of an antihistamine as an appetite stimulant; several pesticides
like <i>malathion</i> and the sticky <i>Post–it</i> have been <i>serendipitously</i>
found. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We all know that Alfred Bernhard Nobel made his millions with the
discovery of <i>nitroglycerine</i> a component of dynamite, and other explosive
substances. In 1895 he developed a condition called angina pectoris and died of
cerebral haemorrhage<i> </i>in 1896. When blood vessels which supply blood to
the chest muscle are constricted, depleted blood supply and the resultant
depletion of oxygen supply cause chest pain known medically as angina pectoris.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The reason for Alfred bequeathing the bulk of his estate for the
endowment of the famous <i>Nobel</i> Prizes is not clear. According to a
theory, when in 1888 his brother Ludvig died in France, a French newspaper mistaking
him to be Alfred reported, “<i>The merchant of death is dead.</i>” (The
expression used in the Indian context was not original, after all!) It was
possible Alfred wanted to make reparation for his probable posthumous notoriety.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 1944 </span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">Antoine Balard working
at the Sorbonne </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">observed that inhalation of <i>isoamyl nitrate</i> gave him headache.
Other researchers like </span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">Frederick Guthrie in Owen’s College, Manchester experimented with <i>nitrates</i>.
Thomas Lauder Brunton, a researcher who worked at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
put </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">nitroglycerine</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">to use. It was William
Murrell’s work at the Westminster Hospital (his findings were published in <i>The
Lancet</i>) that confirmed </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">nitroglycerine</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> dilates blood vessels,
reduces blood pressure and relieves pain caused by angina pectoris. In the
initial days British doctors took care to see that patients were not unduly
scared if they found out that the tablets they were prescribed were the same
compound that was used in dynamite. The longer acting form of <i>nitroglycerine</i>
(</span><i><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">pentaerythritol
tetranitrate</span></i><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">)
was introduced in 1896 on an experimental scale and its applicability was
finally announced in 1901. Had it been in use in 1896, it would probably have saved
Alfred Nobel’s life! The active form of the drug known as <i>isosorbide</i> is
prescribed (for sublingual use for faster absorption) even today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">While on the subject of
angina pectoris, the multinational pharmaceutical company <i>Pfizer</i>, which
experimented with <i>sildenafil citrate,</i> was unable to obtain desired
results. It did not reduce cardiac pain as the researchers hoped. However the
researchers were pleasantly surprised by an unintended effect the drug caused.
In some patients it caused penile erections. Enthused by a study conducted in
the </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 15.0pt;">Johns Hopkins
University, <i>Pfizer</i> continued</span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;"> work on <i>sildenafil</i>. An enzyme called <i>nitric
oxide synthase</i> (NOS) localised in the penis produces the neurotransmitter <i>nitric
oxide</i>, which is responsible for penile erection. <i>Sildenafil </i>was
found to reverse the action of NOS inhibitors. Thus was borne the blue pill
known the world over as <i>Viagra</i>! What is less known is that <i>Viagra</i>
is equally effective in women, in inducing clitoral erection. It is
particularly useful for women with sexual dysfunction caused by a class of antidepressant
drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: AdvTimes;">Another drug <i>minoxidil</i>
which was originally intended to lower blood pressure turned out to have an
unintended consequence. In initial trials it caused body hair growth in some
female patients. Continued trials with the drug proved that it is useful for
hair regrowth in what is known as ‘male pattern baldness’. There are other
drugs with a similar ‘side effect’ but are limited in their use because of other
concomitant adverse effects. The advantage with <i>minoxidil</i> is that it is
available as a lotion and can be locally applied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;">What is
strange in the current scenario is for researchers trying to look for
anti–viral properties in every conceivable drug. In the absence of a preventive
vaccine for the COVID–19 virus, researchers have experimented with <i>hydroxychloroquine</i>
an anti–malarial drug, also found to be useful in the treatment of rheumatoid
arthritis, <i>azithromycin </i>an anti–biotic and </span><i><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;">remdesivir</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;"> an anti–viral drug—with varying results. As the
pandemic grips the whole world, there is prestige involved in being the first
to find a remedy for it.<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The latest candidate drug under experimentation is <i>dexamethasone</i>.
A group of researchers at the University of Oxford </span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt;">said “trial results show the drug [<i>dexamethasone</i>]
reduced death rates of the most severely-ill Covid-19 patients by around a
third.” The British Prime Minister hailed it as the “biggest breakthrough yet”
in the fight against the disease. However, as per a report published in the <i>Independent</i>,
US experts led by Dr Kathryn Hibbert, director of the intensive care unit at
Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital expressed scepticism about the
findings of the trial. They cited the recent publication and withdrawal of a
study in <i>The Lancet</i>, the results of a trial with </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">hydroxychloroquine</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> as a cautionary
tale. (“</span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt;"><a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-dexamethasone-treatment-uk-us-doctors-a9570591.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: blue;">Dexamethasone: USdoctors cast doubt on UK’s coronavirus ‘breakthrough</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">’</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”, June 17, 2020.)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;">Dexamethasone</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;"> belongs to a group of drugs called <i>glucocorticoids</i>. As the name
suggests the primary function of <i>glucocorticoids</i> is to conserve glucose
for use in times of stress. The <i>glucocorticoids</i> convert carbohydrate
into <i>glycogen</i> and store it in the liver. But <i>corticosteroids</i> are also
known immunosuppressants. It is for this reason they are prescribed along with
other immunosuppressive drugs like <i>cyclosporine</i> and <i>azathioprine</i>
to prevent donor organ rejection in organ transplant cases. An earlier
commentary article published in <i>The Lancet</i> (“</span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt;"><a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200206110703.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Steroids could do more harm thangood in treating coronavirus</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;">”, February 6, 2020</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt;">) </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;">highlighted
the immunosuppressant property of the drug and advised caution in including it
in treatment regimens for COVID–19. <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h1>
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 15.0pt; font-weight: normal;">As experts
and researchers grapple with finding a remedy for the corona virus infection
that has changed the world forever, the last word on the subject is yet to be
said!<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is a slightly modified version of the article originally published
in </span><span style="font-size: 15.0pt;"><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voxindica/covid-19-and-the-endless-search-for-scientific-serendipity/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: blue;">The Time Of IndiaBlogs</span></span></i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Labels</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: Analgesics, Azithromycin, Anti–cancer drugs, Antihistamines, Anti–psychotic
drugs, Corticosteroids, Dexamethasone, Glucocorticoids, Hydroxychloroquine,
Isosorbide, Lidocaine, Minoxidil, Nitroglycerine, Nobel, Penicillin, <i>Post–it</i>,
Remdesivir, Tranquilisers, Serendipity, Sildenafil, Viagra</span></div>
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voxindicahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10705865947567961052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-28656895135535746772018-05-10T13:00:00.000+05:302018-05-10T13:00:25.375+05:30Viagra Is Not Just For Men!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There was a time when the profession of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">medical representatives</i> (called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">drug reps</i> in the USA) held an enigmatic
charm for those outside looking in. They were considered to be articulate, charming,
suave, well-paid and well-informed. As with other (often erroneously)
generalized stereotypes, the ‘bohemian’ quality of their lifestyle that was
often whispered about was neither more nor less on an average than for any
other profession. The opening up of information technology jobs in the middle
1990s, which offered astronomical salaries by the existing standards and
international exposure disrupted many existing orders and changed many social
paradigms. As the industry attracted articulate and intelligent youngsters, pharma
selling jobs lost much of their sheen. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">C. Northcote Parkinson's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In-laws and Outlaws</i><span class="textexposedshow"> (1962) teaches
enough tips and tricks to those interested in scaling the corporate ladder,
from first entry, right up to the top – without actually working hard.
Parkinson warns the reader that his book is not like other self-help books that
</span>“urge you to be a little more intelligent; a little more hard working; a
little more painstaking.” He wryly observes that if a reader was all that, he
would probably not need a book! Jamie Reidy’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hard Sell: Love & Other Drugs</i> (2005)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>may be less classy, as it was written by a first-time writer but
it teaches enough tips and tricks for drug reps to beat the system, despite the
industry’s sophisticated surveillance systems to check on its field sales
people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There were several works on the fascinating profession
of pharma sales reps. Sidney Sheldon’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bloodline</i>
(1977) is the story of a giant pharmaceutical company. Sheldon called the
company Roffe & Sons, similar to the real life Hoffman-La Roche. The novel has
a drug rep character and gives an account of the profession. The plot of Arthur
Hailey’s fictional work <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Strong Medicine </i>(1984)
is based on the career of a drug rep who eventually becomes the chairperson of
her company. Robin Cook’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mindbend </i>(1985)
puts in perspective the lengths to which pharma companies go to – literally – “bending
doctors’ minds” and the role played by drug reps in the manipulation. Douglas
Farrago’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Diary of a Drug Rep </i>(2017) gives
an interesting and realistic peep into the seamy side of the enigmatic
profession in manipulating the medical profession. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Hard Sell:
Love & Other Drugs</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> is however a first person
account of a drug rep and reads like memoirs. The book is witty and hilarious,
especially the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Viagra</i> tales! It lists
quite a few maneuvers drug reps have tried and capers they pulled to beat the
system. For some Indian medical reps there could be a sense of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">déjà vu</i> in reading the memoirs. But
there are quite a few that they could not even imagine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Jamie Reidy disproves <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pfizer</i>’s assumption that former army men are malleable to
organizational discipline, which was why the company recruited its drug reps
from the army. After a career in the army, Reidy joined <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pfizer</i>'s paediatric division as a drug rep and then moved on to the
urology division that marketed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Viagra</i>
the breakthrough drug for erectile dysfunction. Many would be surprised to know
that the drug is not just for men! Reidy’s first inhibition when he sought to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">detail</i> the drug to a lady doctor – as he
explained how it worked in women – and how he she reacted makes for hilarious
reading. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Reidy was with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pfizer</i> for five years from 1995 to 2000 and then spent another five
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eli Lilly</i>'s oncology division. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eli Lilly</i> sacked him after he published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hard Sell: Love & Other Drugs</i> in
2005. Naturally! What he revealed was enough for pharma companies to see the
need to scrutinize the work of their drug reps and probably sack half of them! He
explained how he did his ‘best’ to beat the system: from bulging expense
accounts to buy dinners for self and friends to scooting work and filing false
reports. In any case, Reidy must have found that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cancer</i> was more macabre and less interesting than erectile
dysfunction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The book has been adapted into a major motion
picture starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. The success of the book and
the motion picture set Reidy on a new course, as a writer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: red;"><i>Originally published at </i><a href="https://www.voxindica.net/2018/05/viagra-is-not-just-for-men.html" target="_blank">VOXINDICA</a></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-73226117609840912552014-12-31T00:51:00.000+05:302016-11-24T11:47:11.933+05:30I HAVE A STRATEGY FOR EVERY KIND OF CUSTOMER!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Field
Humour</b></span><span style="color: #0000cc;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">There is this
interesting story of an insurance salesman in the <i>Speakers</i>’ </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Encyclopaedia</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;"> of </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Humour</span></i><span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The meek insurance
salesman entered the sanctum of the big, burly Sales Manager. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The BBSM growled,
“What is it?” – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The meek salesman
mumbled “Sir I am from “α-β” Insurance Company; but I suppose you may not be interested in a policy. It’s OK” and began walking back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">The BBSM has been a
very successful salesman in his time and trained hundreds of salesmen in his
career. He took pity on the insurance salesman and said, “Hey come here; just
to give you some confidence, I will buy a policy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">As the salesman
wrote the policy proposal and collected the cheque, the BBSM felt he should
encourage him and said, “Look you should exhibit confidence if you want to
achieve success in your profession.” He added, “You should plan a strategy to
sell to each prospect and implement it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "book antiqua" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The salesman
collected the signed form and the cheque, put it in and closed the bag. While
walking out of the room he said, “I do plan a strategy to sell to each
prospect, Sir. And this is the one I use for dynamic Sales Managers!”</span></div>
</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-18421837410971519782013-04-06T12:31:00.000+05:302019-04-26T12:58:45.382+05:30Novartis Vs. The People Of India<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />
Ivan Illich opened his seminal work, <i>Limits to Medicine</i> with the observation that ‘<i>the growth of the medical establishment is a major threat to health.</i>’ A large part of Illich’s work dealt with <i>iatrogenic</i> (meaning physician-induced) diseases. But to Illich, the ‘<i>medical establishment</i>’, also includes the pharmaceutical industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The recent Supreme Court verdict in the Novartis’ <i>Gleevec</i> (<i>Glivec</i>) patent case has generated a lot of heat and <i>uninformed</i> debate in the media. Novartis challenged the order of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), for rejecting a patent for its ‘old wine in a new bottle’, first in the Madras High Court and then in the Supreme Court. Novartis filed world-wide patents for its active molecule <i>imatinib </i>in 1993. In India, the company filed patent in 2003 for <i>imatinib mesylate </i>a beta crystalline form of the active ingredient, under the ‘mailbox provision’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">NOVARTIS Vs. PEOPLE OF INDIA</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Novartis’ application for a patent for its beta crystalline form was rejected by the IPAB in 2006 on the ground that Novartis’ original patent application covered all forms of <i>imatinib</i>. The Madras High Court decreed that IPAB’s rejection of the application under Sec. 3 (d) of the Indian Patents Act as amended in 2005 did not violate Article 14 of the Indian constitution. This is now upheld by the Supreme Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Indian Patents Act of 1970 did not recognize <i>product</i> patents but only <i>process </i>patents. However India agreed to consider patent applications filed from January 1 1995 for granting <i>product</i> patents pending amendment of its laws in line with the requirements of the WTO. The process was known as the ‘mailbox’ provision. Eventually India amended its patents law in 1999, to grant <i>product</i> patents with effect from January 1, 2005. A patent is an intellectual property which has a life of 20 years from the date of filing and which gives its holder exclusive marketing rights. The actual period of <i>exclusive</i> marketing depends on the company’s ability to <i>develop</i> the product for <i>commercialisation</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">R&D COSTS</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the pharmaceutical industry, Research and Development (R & D) is of course an expensive and risky process. A company begins with thousands of molecules and narrows down its search to a few (less than a dozen) for further experimentation. After initial animal experimentation to establish efficacy, safety and toxicity a candidate drug (known in the industry as New Chemical Entity or NCE) is selected for human clinical trials. A patent application is generally filed at this stage and approval sought for commencing human clinical trials. These are conducted in four phases before it is submitted for marketing approval by the regulators. It is called filing a New Drug Application (NDA). The process takes quite a few years. This means, although a patent is granted for 20 years a company gets to <i>exclusively</i> market it for the residual period after conducting clinical trials and obtaining marketing approval. Even after a drug is approved for marketing it is still tested in a process called, Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) every year to find out if any hitherto unnoticed side effects come to light. The company has an obligation to market a product only to be used in conditions for which it is approved. However a physician may use it in other conditions if he finds it suitable. This is known as off-label usage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are varying estimates about the cost of research and development of drugs. Several years ago an article in the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Readers’ Digest</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> put it at between $ 100 and 200 million. Recent estimates vary from $ 500 million to 1 to 2 billion depending on the therapeutic category and method of calculation used, such as inclusion of </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">capitalization</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">opportunity costs</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. This does not mean that the entire amount is spent by a company. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is public funding and tax write-offs on R & D spending, <i>which is a not unlikely incentive for bolstering the figures</i>.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pharmaceutical companies quite naturally argue that they have to make profit out of successful candidate drugs because they have to incur huge expenditure on R & D, which is a long drawn and uncertain process. This is the reason they claim, new drugs cost so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">MARKET RISKS</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However pharmaceutical companies are aware there is an element of uncertainty in the business. For, even if a company is able to come up with a successful candidate drug, there is no guarantee that a rival company with a competing product might not upstage it. As an illustration, see the case of the first anti-ulcer drug <i>cimetidine</i>. It was introduced by the British multinational, <i>Smith Kline & French</i> (<i>SK&F</i>) in the mid-seventies when the only cure for peptic ulcers was surgery. The drug was indeed a boon for patients as it reduced the necessity for surgery in about 90% of cases. The drug marketed by SK&F as <i>Tagamet</i> entered the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Guinness Book of World Records</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>for maximum number of prescriptions received in a year. A few years later another British multinational <i>Glaxo </i>came up with an updated version of the drug <i>ranitidine </i>which it marketed as <i>Zantac</i>. It too entered the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Guinness Book of World Records</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in the year of its introduction, and <i>Tagamet lost 50% of its market share</i>. As a result, many heads rolled in <i>SK&F </i>and its Chairman had to resign. The two companies merged in the mid-nineties to become what is now known as <i>GlaxoSmithKline </i>(<i>GSK</i>). (In its process of mergers and acquisitions, <i>GSK</i> has also absorbed several other companies like <i>Beecham</i> and <i>Burrows Wellcome</i>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The success of the first two molecules, in the class of drugs called <i>H2 receptor antagonists</i>, made other companies board the bandwagon and many variations of <i>cimetidine</i> were launched. These include <i>famotidine</i>, <i>loxitidine</i>, <i>nizatidine</i> and <i>roxatidine</i>. Of these molecular variations only <i>ranitidine </i>and <i>famotidine</i> could achieve <i>significant </i>commercial success, while the others remained small players. For the treatment of peptic ulcer, another class of more powerful drugs known as <i>proton-pump inhibitors</i> emerged with members like <i>omeprazole</i>, <i>esomeprazole</i>, <i>lansoprazole</i>, <i>pantoprazole</i> and <i>rabiprazole</i>, a few years later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wouldn’t it be unfair for a company marketing, for instance, <i>roxatidine </i>to claim the same pricing privilege as <i>SK&F</i> which has laid the groundwork for finding a drug for peptic ulcer? On the flip side could <i>SK&F</i> claim that, as there was every possibility of its market monopoly being upstaged, it should be permitted to recover its costs at the earliest? In view of this should the company be allowed to price a tablet of <i>cimetidine </i>at $100 a pill?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">R&D – WESTERN BIAS</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It would be unfair to see the Indian Supreme Court verdict as a triumph of </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">left-liberal</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> altruism against Western capitalism for several reasons. Firstly, US courts too held that derivatives of known substances are not eligible for patent protection under the ‘</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">doctrine of inherent anticipation</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’. Also in the US a patentee cannot claim rights for more than one substance with identical claims, under the ‘</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">doctrine of double patenting</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’. The third principle governing US jurisprudence in relation to </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">intellectual property rights</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> is the ‘</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">patent misuse doctrine</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">’, which prevents pharmaceutical companies from extending their patent rights by obtaining multiple patents </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">covering essentially the same invention</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. In her extensively researched paper, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Trials And TRIPS-ulations: Indian Patent Law And Novartis AG v. Union Of India, </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(</span><a href="http://btlj.org/data/articles/23_1/281-313.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #91b254; text-decoration: none;">Berkeley Technology Law Journal, Vol: 23. Mar 21, 2008. 281-313</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">), Lynda L. Lee opined that the stand of the Indian courts </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">‘<i>indicates that the objective of India’s Section 3 (d) is not a radical departure from international practices to regulate the patenting of derivatives and new uses.</i>’</span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It must be noted that the article was based on the Madras High Court judgment and written much before the final verdict of the Supreme Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The reaction of Novartis to the Supreme Court judgement appeared a bit peevish. In a press statement, the company’s Vice Chairman <i>warned</i> that it will discourage R&D spending by multinational companies in India. This is a bit surprising as multinational companies may have been using India as low cost hub for manufacturing and conducting clinical trials but never seem to be bothered about diseases specific to India. For a long time the healthcare fraternity has been complaining that multinational companies focus on diseases prevalent in the western world for researching remedies. For example, we have not seen new drugs introduced to combat malaria and tuberculosis which are endemic to countries like India, in years. The incidence of both the diseases is seeing virulent, intractable forms. Today tuberculosis resistant to multiple drugs – multidrug resistant TB or MDRTB is quite prevalent. On the other hand new drugs for cancer, diabetes and hypertension and related diseases are introduced by the dozen every year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">R&D – ALTRUISM OR BUSINESS STRATEGY? <i>THALIDOMIDE </i>TO <i>GATIFLOXACIN</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Multinational companies which have been assuming moral high ground for their <i>altruistic </i>R&D efforts ‘<i>to ameliorate pain and suffering of humanity</i>’ have also been guilty of destroying the lives of millions of people for short term gains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The introduction and withdrawal of <i>thalidomide</i> is a classic example. In the 1950s, Distillers & Co (the makers of Johnnie Walker whisky) purchased <i>Grunenthal</i>, a small German pharmaceutical company. <i>Grunenthal</i> developed a tranquiliser named <i>thalidomide</i> which was then believed to be so safe it could be prescribed to pregnant women to relieve them of morning sickness. It was introduced in several countries in Europe and freely prescribed for pregnant women. In the early sixties a causal link was established between the use of <i>thalidomide</i> and delivery of malformed babies. This property of a drug which causes foetal abnormalities known as <i>teratogenicity</i>, was unknown till then. By 1961 an estimated 10000 to 20000 <i>thalidomide </i>babies were born and the drug was withdrawn. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">thalidomide</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> story should have warned the managements of pharmaceutical companies to be extra careful in vetting and </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">promoting</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> their products. But alas no, drugs with serious adverse effects have been introduced by pharmaceutical companies with unceasing regularity. Here are a few examples, some of which may not be as lethal as </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">thalidomide</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">: </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Analgin</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (like </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">penicillin</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">) is known to cause anaphylactic reactions so severe a single tablet could kill a patient. Anti-inflammatory drugs like </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">oxyphenbutazone </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">phenylbutazone</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> have been known to cause blood disorders. </span><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However all these drugs were marketed by multinationals in India for a long time after they were banned in their home countries.</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> The newer pain-relieving drug, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">nimesulide</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> has been banned in several European countries but is still marketed in India (however not by multinationals, but by Indian pharmaceutical companies). </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Terfenedine</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, introduced as an advanced, non-sedating anti-allergic had to be withdrawn a few years later as it was found to cause heart-problems. The latest in the series of drugs to be withdrawn was the antibiotic </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">gatifloxacin</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, which was found to cause cardiac problems. Illich mentioned in his book that the American innovator of </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">chloramphenicol </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(trade name, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Chloromycetin</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">) marketed the drug for simple conditions like </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">acne</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Originally introduced for treating typhoid, the drug is known to cause bone-marrow depression. (The human body produces red-blood cells in the bone-marrow.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">PRICING DRUGS</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An argument that was vociferously voiced in the television debates relates to pricing; especially that pharmaceutical companies which spend millions (billions?) should be allowed the freedom to price their products. And any regulation would be a disincentive for them to introduce newer products. This argument lacks substance because the pricing of drugs is not uniform even in the western world. For example the prices of drugs in Canada are far lower than the corresponding prices of drugs in neighbouring USA. In some cases the Canadian prices are about half of their American counterparts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The marketing of <i>anti-retroviral</i> drugs (used to treat AIDS) in South Africa offers an object lesson for those who blindly take sides with the advocates of free-pricing. Indian companies like <i>Cipla </i>and <i>Hetero Drugs</i> offered to sell a combination of <i>anti-retroviral</i> drugs @ $350 for a year’s course. Four multinational companies challenged them in the South African Supreme Court, on the ground that these companies were infringing their patent rights. They were selling the drugs @ $10,000 for a year’s course. They had to withdraw their suit following worldwide revulsion. For, more than a third of the world’s AIDS population lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the television debates, medical doctors representing Novartis claimed that the company has a scheme for providing the medicine free of cost to ‘<i>below poverty line</i>’ patients. This is not entirely true because the company stopped providing <i>imatinib</i> free after two Indian companies were permitted to introduce low cost alternatives in 2006. (<i>See the research paper cited above.</i>) Even if the company has been providing the medicine free to BPL patients, how does one define a BPL patient? Certainly a household with an income of Rs 50,000 per month cannot be considered BPL? If the household has a patient who requires <i>imatinib</i>, can it expend Rs 1.20 <i>lakh</i> a month? Besides, many cancers require multiple regimens of treatment, which include <i>chemotherapy </i>(drugs), radiation and surgery. The latter two are even more expensive than the cost of medicines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: blue;">TAILPIECE: <i>By the by, the promotional or marketing budgets of pharmaceutical companies exceed their R&D budgets by a long chalk.</i></span> </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This article originally appeared in <a href="https://www.voxindica.net/2013/04/novartis-vs-people-of-india.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+voxindica/loAc+(VOXINDICA)" target="_blank">VOXINDICA</a> on April, 04, 2013</span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-38545527246134352872012-04-09T10:41:00.005+05:302013-02-04T18:14:25.651+05:30'You Can Sell!'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Book Review</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Khera, Shiv. (2012)<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><b><i>You Can Sell</i></b>.
Chennai. Westland. Pages: 316. Price: Rs 275</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">For some strange reason,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>selling</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is referred to as the second oldest
profession in the world. A number of other professions compete for the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>second<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>spot including<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>spying</i>. Designating<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>selling</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>as the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>second</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>might be an attempt at disdain,
ascribing to it associative notoriety with the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>first</i>. Notwithstanding the fact
that sales people are generally<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>unwelcome</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and viewed with suspicion, they do
have a useful function in the society. A successful sales manager was fond of
saying, ‘<i>the only person in the world who prays for your long life is your
insurance salesman</i>!’ Quite true! The reason is simple. An insurance
salesman receives<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>commis</span>sion<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>on a life policy as long as the
insured person lives, but his heirs bequeath his property when he ceases to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">The lighter side apart, every human interaction has an element of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>selling</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in it. It need not be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>sel</i></span><i>ling</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>goods or services. It could be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>selling</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>ideas. The obvious implication of this
idea is that to get ahead in life, one has to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>sell</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>oneself. Quite often we find the same
attributes or prerequisites listed as factors for success both in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>self-improvement</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>/<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>success</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>literature and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>selling skills</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>manuals. They are a pleasing
personality, a positive outlook, an ability to forge harmonious interpersonal
relations and good communication skills. Conversely this is the reason why for
sales people<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>success<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>literature has been a first manual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">Napoleon Hill’s 16-lesson<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">The
Law of Success</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(1928) was one
of the earliest tomes on the subject in modern times. This was followed by Dale
Carnegie’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">How to win friends
and influence<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>people</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>(1936). Since then there has been a
steady stream of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>success
literature</i>, the most popular in recent years being Stephen Covey’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Seven <span style="color: blue;">Habits of Highly Successful
People</span></i>. Some like Norman Vincent Peale’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">The
Power of Positive Thinking</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>(1952)
and Robert Schuller’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><span style="color: blue;">Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">(1983)</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB">had
religious overtones embedded in them. Parkinson & Rustomji’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">Business is People</span>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>Walter Veira’s booklet on
salesmanship, revised and updated as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">The
New Professional Salesman</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Spencer Johnson's<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>OneMinute<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Sales Person</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>deserve mention in this context as
they are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>precisely<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>very<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>well written books on the subject.
There are hundreds of others, including biographies of great sales people and
fiction, which among them must have covered every aspect of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>selling<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>skills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">Therefore there is not much new ground left for Shiv Khera to cover in
his (new) book,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><span style="color: blue;">You Can Sell</span></i>.
However one must give it to him for putting together a comprehensive manual for
sales people which covers the entire range of mechanics<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>positive
thinking to professional<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span>pride; from prospecting to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>selling; from goal setting to time
management. There is also a chapter on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>ethics</i>.
He has provided an exercise at the end of each chapter for self assessment of
readers as they go along. The book is peppered with interesting anecdotes. Old
salesmen’s jokes have<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>been<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>skillfully<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>used to make points. For people in the
profession they might sound jaded but planted in a context, make for
interesting reading. Even the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rotary
Club</i>’s four way test is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>planted</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in the chapter on<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>ethics</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-GB">You Can Sell</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB">is highly recommended. For people in the
business of selling it makes for a thorough revision of all that they have
learnt over the years. For others it is a comprehensive, useful p</span>rimer on the subject.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: blue;">This review is part of the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"><span style="color: #91b254; text-decoration: none;">Book Reviews</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>programme<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #91b254;"><a href="http://www.blogadda.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #91b254; text-decoration: none;">Blogadda.com</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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VOXINDICAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05166460700565635327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-7507049563563147882012-03-29T01:39:00.001+05:302012-03-29T02:21:47.753+05:30Scammed - Confessions of a Confused Accountant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Book Review</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;"><i>Anonymous. (2011) <b>Scammed - Confessions of a Confused Accountant</b>. Bangalore. Grey Oak Publishers. Pages 175. Price: Rs 175/-</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB">Auditing
and business consulting cannot be combined just as oil and water do not
mix. The reasons for this are simple. Auditing is retrospection. It
deals with hard, cold facts. It advises against adventurism and
advocates conservation. <i>Caution</i> is its watch word. On the other hand business consulting is prospective in nature. <i>Optimism</i> is its <i>mantra</i>. It functions in uncertainty. Its principle is gung-ho adventurism. It favours exploration of new ideas and new markets. ‘<i>The only safe ship is the ship in a port</i>’, business consultants wryly quote! Therefore the twain cannot meet. The split and demise of </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">Arthur Andersen LLP</span></i><span lang="EN-GB">
is attributed to the firm’s overweening ambition to ride the dichotomy
between auditing and business consulting at the same time. Eager to
compete with its (own) business consulting arm, <i>Andersen Worldwide</i> in revenue generation, <i>Arthur Andersen</i> compromised on accounting standards, as a result of which <i>Enron</i>, the Texas-based energy firm sank. Along with it the original accounting firm </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">Arthur Andersen</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> broke up and its regional fragments merged with </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">, <i>Ernst & Young</i><span class="apple-converted-space">, <i>KPMG</i>, three of the ‘Big Five’ Accounting firms (which included <i>Arthur Andersen</i>) and </span><i>Grant Thornton</i>.</span><span lang="EN-GB"> In order to ward off the stigma attached to the name <i>Andersen</i>, <i>Andersen Worldwide</i> is now renamed <i>Accenture</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">However
auditing firms jockeying into business consulting is not new. James
Oscar McKinsey a Professor of Accounting at the Chicago University
founded <i>McKinsey & Company</i> in 1926. McKinsey was hired to turn around <i>Marshall Field & Co</i>
a company manufacturing and marketing readymade garments that ran into
the doldrums during the great depression of the 1930s. Many decades
before words like ‘downsizing’ were heard, McKinsey proposed that <i>Marshall Field & Co</i> do exactly that to turn the company around. Unable to implement his <i>radical</i>
suggestions the company brought him in as CEO and charged him with
implementing them. McKinsey was initially successful but because of his
overbearing nature, made potential enemies. As he ventured into areas he
knew nothing about and his mistakes caught up with him, the pressures
of work finally got him and at the age of 47 McKinsey died of pneumonia.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">If
we delve into the history of businesses and accounting firms, we are
likely to come up with many more such cases. Do we learn any lessons
from these stories? The answer is ‘no’ going by the experience of <i>Satyam Computer Services Ltd</i>. (<i>Satyam</i>) and its auditors </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">PwC</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"> – well, the Indian ‘member firm’ of </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;"> (<i>PwCIL</i>)</span><span lang="EN-GB"> anyway. The two were charged with fudging accounts for several years and a partner of </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">PwC</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;"> along with the Founder Chairman of <i>Satyam</i>
and some others of the two firms were arrested on charges of criminal
conspiracy to defraud the public. The charge-sheet ran into 55000
pages. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">Did the story of </span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">Satyam</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"> and </span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">PwC</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"> inspire </span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">Anonymous</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">, the author of </span><b style="line-height: 18pt;"><i>Scammed</i></b><i style="line-height: 18pt;"> </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">to
write the novel? It possibly did. The setting of the novel is Hyderabad
and Visakhapatnam. (The British, who could not pronounce </span><span style="background-color: white;">Visakhapatnam, </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">made
it Vizagpatam and then shortened it to Vizag. For several years now the
state has reverted to its original Telugu pronunciation but the author
seems to have not noticed it. He insists on calling it Vizag). Its
characters </span> ‘<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i>speak with a thick </i></span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">South Indian </i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"><i>accent</i></span><span style="line-height: 18pt;">’!</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"> (What else would you have them do?)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">There was a time when literary critics in the West dismissed fiction by authors like <i>Arthur Hailey</i> and <i>Irving Wallace</i> as <i>pulp fiction</i>, meaning<i> </i>really
not serious literature. This of course leads to the question whether
literature should really be as sombre as a Russian novel to be
considered serious literature. While authors like <i>Somerset Maugham</i> were hailed by critics in their life time, others like <i>Jane Austen</i> achieved this distinction only with passage of time. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">Although
Indians have been writing in English for a long time it was only in the
last few decades that they have really made it big on the international
scene. At the same time the Indian approach to learning, writing and
speaking English has been dramatically changing. There was a time when
people who could speak and write grammatically and idiomatically correct
English were in a minority. The purists lament that as the numbers of
English speaking and writing people multiplied, there has been a
dilution of standards. There is less exactitude with regard to grammar
and syntax. Fastidious adherence to the ‘English pure’ gave way to
colloquial <i>Indianisms</i>. This is because the curriculum of English
teaching in the country has also been changing. Instead of studying
Shakespearean plays, Milton’s poetry and </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">Johnsonese,
students are taught, what has come to be known as business
communications in English - writing letters, advertisements and notices
etc.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In the literary arena, it all started (perhaps) with <i>Shobha De</i> who introduced <i>Hinglish</i> in her writings. She was not taken seriously (or kindly) by critics at first. But as her novels acquired popularity – from those readers who
did not have a stomach for more serious authors like <i>Nirad Chaudary</i>, <i>V. S. Naipaul</i> or <i>Salman Rushidie</i> – her publishers recognised her as a saleable author. If one can say <i>De</i> marked a turning point in Indo-Anglican literature, she opened up the market for more authors who catered to the needs of a <i>certain type</i> of burgeoning English-speaking class.</span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The explosion of communications through the IT, ITES and off-shoring of jobs truly <i>Indianised</i>
English and there is no looking back. Employees of the Business Process
Outsourcing Centres (BPOs, popularly known as ‘Call Centres’) have
created their own patois - different of course from what they were
expected to speak with their customers outside. In short, the expansion
and proliferation of the English-speaking <i>elite</i> (?) has resulted in a ‘dumbing down’ of standards. <i>Shobha De</i> did not have serious competition for maybe a decade and a half till <i>Chetan Bhagat</i>
debuted. He found a winning formula by precisely identifying his target
audience. If the (Indian) English-literature consuming market is
largely populated by the information technology guys (and girls) why not
directly address them? This he did and was an instant success. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></i>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;"><b>Scammed</b></span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;"><b> </b>is in the Chetan Bhagat mould. Its setting is the accounting / business management industry. Its protagonist <i>Hitesh Patel</i>
was entrusted by his accounting firm to audit a motor car company in
Visakhapatnam, where he espies a lot of white-collar crime and siphoning
of funds in it. While making a report of it to the principal board
members he finds himself making some useful suggestions for the
expansion of business. To an outside observer his formula of forward
integration may not be very appealing. For example if a motor car
company wishes to diversify into car-hiring business is it necessary
that it should confine itself to cars manufactured by the parent
company, unless it was for captive consumption? Be that as it may, the
director was so impressed with the idea that he offers him a job at five
times his salary to implement it. As fate catapults <i>Hitesh</i> into
the big league of five figure salaries, five star hotels and of course
beautiful girls he also willy-nilly gets sucked into a vortex of
organisational politics, political intrigues and financial
wheeling-dealings and finally financial offences. The novelist seeks to
paint <i>Hitesh</i> as a self-righteous manager with only a weakness for
a few girls. How else could he plant those steamy scenes so essential
in a formula novel? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXAcjhnZ-5PA1YTws0Q-39Bx50pywZfGaKGpmEqOX-s5WKep2tryV2pYH86QjoUxMEpGhgf137elbcmWsvuBJbdBzUJzpRNUSoIsaMbBQw9kOuNvK1rQvbGeOjp8XYgmenHNCZdDWPkA/s1600/Scammed+Book+Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOXAcjhnZ-5PA1YTws0Q-39Bx50pywZfGaKGpmEqOX-s5WKep2tryV2pYH86QjoUxMEpGhgf137elbcmWsvuBJbdBzUJzpRNUSoIsaMbBQw9kOuNvK1rQvbGeOjp8XYgmenHNCZdDWPkA/s200/Scammed+Book+Image.jpg" width="131" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white;">In <i>Indish, </i>the
adjective ‘homely’ has a cultural connotation, quite different from
what the word means in general English, and qualifies a woman as <i>dutiful</i>, <i>home-loving</i> and <i>not coquettish</i></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">. Therefore high-paid eligible bachelors look for ‘homely girls’ in matrimonial advertisements. In this story too after </span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">Hitesh</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"> had had his flings with attractive but unfaithful girls he finds succour in his ‘homely’ personal assistant </span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">Payal</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;">,
whom he had ignored for long. As she dotes on him as a mother-hen he
finally finds his soul-mate. She lends him a shoulder to cry on when he
is down and generally offers him solace and succour. The characters are
too linear and colourless but the book may be a good travel companion in
a short journey. The novel could have done with some editing and
proofing - its </span><i style="line-height: 18pt;">Indish</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18pt;"> notwithstanding. But the last two chapters seem to have been written by a more professional hand.</span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This review is part of the <a href="http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank"><span style="color: #91b254;">Book Reviews</span></a> programme at <span style="color: #91b254;"><a href="http://www.blogadda.com/" target="_blank">Blogadda.com</a> </span></span></i></div>
</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-35146131667558552312012-02-10T12:23:00.005+05:302017-12-29T09:39:53.335+05:30A modern management seminar!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: blue;">You'll find here all there is to learn from modern management wisdom. Follow its simple steps to ascend the management ladder. Not since Parkinson has management wisdom been imparted in such succinct and easy to follow form. It is not the usual </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: #0000cc;">‘</span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: blue;">how to succeed</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: #0000cc;">’ </span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: blue;">stuff which requires you to be </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: #0000cc;">“a little more intelligent, a little more hardworking, a little more painstaking” to succeed. As Parkinson said, if you were all that you would n</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: #0000cc;">o</span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: #0000cc;">t require a guide to succeed. So here</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: white; color: #0000cc;">’s <i>to success and ascendance to the top!</i></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">As always, Subbu barged in crying ‘Guruji, I need your help! I have to make a presentation at our annual sales conference next week. The boss wants me to make a presentation about how I plan to double my sales in the coming year. Top management will be there and if I goof up, it will be outer darkness for me.’ ‘No problem’, I said. ‘I have just returned from a management seminar myself and acquired all the wisdom there was in it……… </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">In the post lunch session, a Senior Vice President has been droning on for over half an hour. Half the participants were dozing from the exhaustion of overnight travel and the effects of a sumptuous lunch. He was saying, “we live in a 24/7 world.” </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: blue;">Yeah, at least I do. In fact 24 hours in a day are not enough for me even to browse through the torrent of communications I receive. I receive mails from my boss, his boss and the head office. EDP (electronic data processing department for the uninitiated) sends me enough paper to drown in. Lest I forgot its existence, ‘HR’ sends me communications. In the olden days it was ‘Personnel’; now ‘Human resources’ has a nice ring to it. The only thing I could make out of ‘HR’ was it regularly denies me the type of increments I feel I deserve. I receive circulars from ‘Logistics’ (in the days of yore it was called ‘Distribution’). I also receive communications from ‘Corporate Communications’. In the olden days the function of CC was mainly to produce the monthly in-house magazine and occasionally liaise with the press if there was a need. There were no pink papers and businesses did not make it often to the media. Now CC has a larger role. It is to see big-boss’ mug-shot appears in the newspapers at least once a month and he makes it to the television at least once in a quarter for his fifteen seconds of fame. The rest of the time CC throws its weight around and takes it out on </i></span><i style="color: blue;">‘</i><i style="color: blue;">minions</i><i style="color: blue;">’</i><i style="color: blue;"> like us.</i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">…“We must leverage our core competences for greater customer focus.” </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: blue;">A colleague who was sitting next to me whispered, ‘oh yeah, his core competence is in placating the boss and flattering his wife. Leverage, certainly he does. Last weekend he was out playing golf with him. His wife was quite unhappy; nowadays he spends his Sunday mornings at his boss’ residence you know.’ The last part jerked me out of my reverie. So my colleague was a regular visitor at our boss’ residence. How remiss of me? Haven’t I lost my customer focus?</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">…“in order to take on competition, we will have to look for synergy within, benchmark our efforts with the best practices in the industry and think out of the box. Let us ask ourselves if we are able to achieve a strategic fit; if not we should revisit our game plan. I call upon you ladies and gentlemen, let us become more proactive.” </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: blue;">Yes, be at the boss’ side throughout the seminar and bring him coffee and cookies during breaks. Carry a pack of his brand of cigarettes. It comes in handy when he runs out of his pack, which to be sure he often does.</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">…“let us empower our team members” (for some inexplicable reason, in modern management parlance, the word ‘subordinate’ is taboo; so ‘team members’ it is.) “We need to change our mindsets and expeditiously look for a paradigm shift; let us think win-win.” </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: blue;">Yeah, for sure! We do all the donkey’s work and you promote your favourite acolyte. He wins and you win because you get promoted too!</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">…“As you all know the competition is breathing down on our necks. If we are serious about outpacing it, we will have to fast-track in enhancing our knowledge base. Let us come out of the loop and provide value-added service to our customers, for it is a result-driven world.”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">...“don’t forget, the truth is at the end of the day, it is the bottom line that counts.” </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="color: blue;">Yes Sir, we are looking forward to the end of the day. The bottom line is, that at the end of the day there would be dinner and drinks. Bosses would be around, so the party would begin on a cautious note but after a couple of rounds the lions within would come out.</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">… “Good Luck folks, God go with you, till we touch base again!”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">The seminar made me wiser. I knew I have picked up the essence of management ‘Gita’. I gave Subbu a list of twenty five words. I suggested that he sprinkle these words throughout his presentation and presto, he would be a hit with his bosses. Here they are, in alphabetical order:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">“<i><span style="color: #0000cc;">at the end of the day<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>benchmark - best practice<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>bottom line<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>client focus<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>core competencies<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>empowerment<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>expeditious<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>fast track<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>game plan<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>knowledge base<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>–</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>leverage<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>mindset<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>out of the loop<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>paradigm<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>proactive<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>result-driven<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>revisit<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the truth is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>think outside the box<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>touch base<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>strategic fit<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>synergy<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>value-added<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>-</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>win-win.</span></i>” I told him, ‘don’t forget the most important of them all is “<i><span style="color: #0000cc;">24/7</span></i>”.’ </span><br />
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<i><span style="color: red;">The article first appeared here: </span></i><span style="color: magenta; font-family: "vollkorn";"><a href="http://www.voxindica.net/2012/02/modern-management-seminar.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A modern management seminar!</a></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-15796871401359617042011-01-28T12:31:00.010+05:302011-01-28T18:20:40.330+05:30SUCCESS TIPS FOR FRONTLINE MANAGERS - 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">PREPARATION OF CUSTOMER LISTS</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: blue;"><b>You will agree that the first step towards achieving sales success is to help your team members in preparing right CUSTOMER LISTs. You will also agree that the Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule) is generally applicable to CUSTOMER LISTs as well. </b><a name='more'></a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TIP 1 - BASICS</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">How well do you involve yourself in the preparation of CUSTOMER LISTs by your team members? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>I approve CUSTOMER LISTs prepared by my team members.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>I sit with them when they prepare the CUSTOMER LISTs every year.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">c)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>I believe that CUSTOMER LIST is a dynamic instrument and requires constant revision and re-validation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">d)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>I believe CUSTOMER LIST is important enough to demand my team members discuss with me every CUSTOMER that they include in their lists.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">e)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>I validate during my field work every top CUSTOMER that my team members include in their lists. In a 3-tier CUSTOMER LIST I shall try to validate every CUSTOMER in the second tier as well because in applying the 80-20 rule the 20% is too important to make up for the 100%. [A 3-tier CUSTOMER LIST of 300 CUSTOMERs roughly has the following proportion: A = 60, B = 120 and C = 120.]</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is your answer a) or b)? But that is what every FLM does. If you want to be successful your answer should be c), d) <i>and</i> e).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">You may wonder, “Should there be no delegation at all?”, “Should I hand-hold my team members even for such an elementary task?” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The answer is ‘yes’, at least in the initial stages. Let the salience of the right CUSTOMER LIST to their success sink in. When you are sure of this you can gradually ease controls. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">[<i><span style="color: blue;">Remember the situational leadership grid. Depending on the maturity / readiness level of your followers you DIRECT them in the first phase; COACH them in the second phase; COUNSEL them in the third phase and DELEGATE to them in the fourth phase.</span></i>] </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: small;">But you will continue to validate CUSTOMER LISTs even after your team members reach the maturity / readiness level for DELEGATION. <i>Remember it is one of the objectives of your joint field work.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TIP 2 - WHO IS ‘TOP CUSTOMER’</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The question we are asking is not, “who is ‘a’ top CUSTOMER?” We are trying to define the generic term ‘TOP CUSTOMER’. Yes, who is ‘TOP CUSTOMER’? What is the criterion for defining ‘TOP CUSTOMER’?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>A GP who sees 200 patients a day but when he prescribes a medicine he prescribes 3 tabs (presumably a day’s course) and asks the patient to come back ‘tomorrow’.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>A specialist who sees 30-40 patients in a day and who prescribes a month to three months’ course.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">c)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>A busy specialist who is very difficult to meet – he meets medical representatives once in a week at a specified – possibly at an odd and inconvenient – time. There are usually 30-40 competitors waiting to get a few seconds of his time, when we call on him. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">d)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>You have to travel 100 kilometres to meet him but he meets medical representatives at 8.30 A.M. There are usually 10-15 competitors waiting to meet him, when we call on him. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">e)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor is a busy professional all right, but meeting her is such a pleasure as she ‘discusses’ with you a wide range of subjects and even offers tea.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Are these the only criteria why we have such a ‘TOP CUSTOMER’ in our list; because all others have them on their lists? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">From a business point of view, the doctors / specialists described @ b) and c) are preferable to the one described @ a). However any doctor described @ a) to e) should satisfy the following conditions to be included in the ‘TOP CUSTOMER’ category. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">A thumb rule to define ‘TOP CUSTOMER’ is that the doctor has the potential to prescribe large quantities - qualitatively and quantitatively - of our products.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor prescribes the type of products that my company offers, in large quantities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor prescribes either my brands in large quantities or </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">c)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor prescribes my competitors’ brands in large quantities and therefore there is a possibility to convert him to prescribe my brands.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">[<i style="color: blue;">There is a caveat to the ‘possibility to convert’. It should be achievable in a specified time-frame. One can’t eternally invest time and energies on someone hoping that some day it would yield fruit. If it is going to be a long drawn struggle, such a doctor could be retained under a down-graded classification.</i>]</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">d)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor is amenable to requests for support when there is an urgent need. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">E.g.: 1. You are in the run for a sales contest. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">E.g.: 2. You have a quantity of a product nearing the end of its shelf life. This should not happen under an ACE FLM like you but then it does - at times.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">[<i style="color: blue;">Some might question the ‘amenable to requests’ premise, on the ground ‘my doctors’ continuously prescribe ‘my brands’ and never veer to competitors’ brands. That this is an erroneous assumption was proved by a survey conducted by a market research organisation several years ago. According to the survey report, doctors usually prescribe a brand - after effective detailing – for an average of three days.</i>] </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TIP 3 – THE “B” CATEGORY</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Which type of CUSTOMER belongs to the “B” Category?</span><span style="font-size: small;"> It is the kind of CUSTOMER who could not be accommodated under the “TOP” list but almost deserves to be. It is best illustrated by the university gradation system. We shall use the same with slight modification to avoid confusion: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">A = above 75% marks in the aggregate - also known as ‘Distinction’</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">B = 60% - 75% marks in the aggregate – first class</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">C = 50% - 60% marks in the aggregate – second class</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">If we apply the same analogy to a doctor how do we classify someone who has achieved, let us say 74% or 70 - 75%? It is this kind of doctor who with some effort from us can move up the scale that generally qualifies to be in the “B” Category. But the general criteria for inclusion in the list remain. Therefore at the risk of repetition let us recount the criteria:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor prescribes the type of products that my company offers in large quantities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor prescribes either my brands in large quantities or </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">c)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor prescribes my competitors’ brands in large quantities and therefore there is a possibility to convert him to prescribe my brands.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">d)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor is amenable to requests for support when there is an urgent need. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this category we can one more type of doctor:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">e)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The doctor can influence purchase by a hospital / institution in large quantities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The reason for including this type of doctor in “B” category is that although the doctor can influence purchase of large quantities of our products,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>such purchases are occasional, may be once or twice a year. Therefore although it is necessary to cultivate the influencer it may not be necessary to call on him at the same frequency as a “TOP” Category doctor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>we may offer a different kind of “special treatment” – an expensive gift; entertain him for dinner and such like - to this type of doctor.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">c)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>we offer products at a discounted price – which do not justify the same frequency of ‘call’ as a “TOP” Category doctor. Please remember every ‘call’ is a ‘cost’ to the company. And the call costs also depend upon the category under which it is classified.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TIP 4 - THE “C” CATEGORY</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="entry-content" style="font-size: small;">All other CUSTOMERs who can not be accommodated in “TOP” or “B” Categories may be included in “C”. But to extend the analogy of university gradation further, there is a cut-off below which the CUSTOMER does not qualify to be in our list. How do we determine the ‘cut-off’? The ‘cut-off’ simply is the minimum expected business from a CUSTOMER that justifies the expense of a call. Thus for e.g. the company expects a business of Rs 6,00,000 from a territory and the territory has a CUSTOMER LIST of 200 then the minimum expected business from a single CUSTOMER is Rs 6,00,000 / 200 = Rs 3,000. Any CUSTOMER who can not produce a business of less than Rs 3,000 <i>does not</i> have a place in our CUSTOMER LIST.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="entry-content" style="font-size: small;">We have, in this article, used the word “CUSTOMER” in most places but occasionally the word “Doctor” is used. As we are in the pharmaceutical industry it is generally agreed that our principal “CUSTOMER” is a “Doctor”. But occasionally we may have to include a non-Doctor in our CUSTOMER LIST, for e.g. an influential pharmacist or other purchasing authority like the administrative head of a large purchasing institution. All such “CUSTOMERs” may be included under the </span><span style="font-size: small;">“C” Category, with appropriate provision for special treatment.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TIP 5 - WHAT SHOULD BE AVOIDED?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">As a true professional you as an FLM will not allow the inclusion of certain kinds of doctors in your CUSTOMER LISTs for the sake of convenience:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">a)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>There is a couple – a husband and a wife – who sit together but only one has the potential to be our CUSTOMER for a variety of reasons. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>i.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The husband / wife does not see many patients but sits along with his wife or vice versa.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.75in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>ii.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The husband / wife practices in a therapeutic area in which we do not operate or are currently promoting our products.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -1in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>iii.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The husband / wife generally takes care only of the hospital administration.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This interesting anecdote not only illustrates the kind of situation that people in the field face but how tactfully a smart PSR handled a particular situation by injecting a little humour and <i>audacity</i> into it: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: blue;">Many years ago SK&F (long before its merger with Glaxo to become GSK) specialised in gynaecological products and was known for its aggression in the market place. On an occasion it operated a special campaign as a part of which gynaecs were given expensive gifts. A SK&F PSR had to call on an important gynaec who was sitting along with an ophthalmologist in a clinic in a district headquarters town. In this instance the ophthalmologist was not her husband but a partner sharing the clinic. The PSR detailed first products specific to their specialities and then the common products. He distributed samples appropriate to their specialities. At last looking both of them squarely in the face he informed them with a smile, “…And we are a bit partial to gynaecologists…” With that he boldly produced the special gift for the gynaecologist and handed it over.</span></i></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">It is needless to point out that so smart a PSR enacted the necessary drama as if he were giving away a million dollar gift! The gynaec laughed heartily to receive such special treatment, the ophthalmologist looked on smugly as if it did not matter but both of them were not a bit surprised by the PSR’s boldness and tact and the PSR continued merrily on his rounds. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;">b)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span class="entry-content" style="font-size: small;">There are 10 doctors in a small town or a hospital, sufficient for day’s norm or call average but only 7 out of the 10 are eligible to be included in the </span><span style="font-size: small;">CUSTOMER LIST.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-size: small;">In all these cases you of course as a true professional FLM will not permit pubic relations considerations or individual convenience to override business interests in the preparation of CUSTOMER LISTs but the more important thing is to convince your team members to do so willingly and not under compulsion. And that is the litmus test for leadership!<span class="entry-content"></span></span></div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-64839291662329086412010-09-18T12:21:00.012+05:302010-11-06T13:48:54.824+05:30BRANDELOQUENCE!<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;">This article by U NARAYANADAS on branding in the pharmaceutical industry is the fourth in the series that was published by </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">Express Pharma Pulse</span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;"> and appeared in its issue dated</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;"> <i>May 26, 2005</i></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="art-intro" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>While </i></span><b><span lang="EN-GB">“</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>marketing</i></span><b><span lang="EN-GB">” </span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>may not have absolute control on the communications which take place in the customer’s office, many factors influence the modes of communications through which brands communicate with their customers, feels <b>U Narayanadas</b></i></span></div><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="art-text" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">An American general visiting forward troops during the Korean War, had to engage an interpreter to address them. The general, seeking to grip the soldiers’ attention, told an elaborate joke, which lasted several minutes. Then, the interpreter said a few words and the assembly burst into laughter. After the speech was over the mystified general asked the interpreter how he translated the joke in so few words. The interpreter informed him, with a sheepish grin, that there would be no point in translating the joke word for word, so he told the soldiers that the general just told a joke, and they should acknowledge it with laughter.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The story may seem inconsequential, but consider the constant tussle between marketing and sales about implementation of strategies - especially communication strategies. </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">A familiar complaint from <i>'marketing'</i> is that '<i>sales</i>' does not faithfully implement strategies. '<i>Sales</i>', returns the compliment by whining that '<i>marketing</i>' does not understand the realities of the market place. While <i>marketing</i>’s uncouth brute and <i>sales</i>’ glamour doll spar at each other, sometimes communications assume strange forms. <i>Sales</i>’ perspective in the story is that the proof of the pudding, after all, lies in eating it.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">While marketing may not have absolute control on the communications which take place in the customer’s office, many factors influence the modes of communications through which brands communicate with their customers.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>MISSING THE WOOD FOR THE TREES</b></span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">A product manager’s eagerness to score a hit may sometimes cloud his/her better judgement. As a result he/she tries to project what she sees as the benefit, not necessarily what the customer desires. One such product manager insisted on using the hologram on a pack as the brand’s USP. It might have worked for a while, when the hologram was a novelty, but it was not the brand’s innate strength. </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The holographic seal offers, at best, an indirect benefit by offering the consumer the genuine article. The benefit, if any, is to the marketer as his objective is to prevent piracy. </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>BEGINNING WITH THE END?</b></span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Secondly the pressure cooker atmosphere, in which a product manager works, forces him to think of a <i>mnemonic</i> or <i>tagline</i> the moment a brand is assigned to him and not after he thought through a brand strategy, drawing it from an audit of the strengths and weaknesses of his brand and its competitors.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This, to use a familiar <i>cliche</i>, is putting the cart before the horse. Once the cart is put before the horse, the rest follows by weaving the communication around the <i>tagline </i>with the unseemly expectation that the cart would draw the horse! </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">A product manager wanted to use the <i>tagline</i> ‘<i>A tribute to womanhood</i>’ for an oral anti-fungal for vaginal candidiasis! He was dissuaded from offering such a ridiculous '<i>tribute to womanhood</i>', but long before another company marketing an iron supplement paid the same '<i>tribute to womanhood</i>'. The hallmark of a professional is his/her willingness to experiment and change. But, most creative people have this weakness: <i><span style="color: blue;">they fall in love with their work early on and are reluctant to change. </span></i></span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE AND SAUCE FOR ITS GANDER!</b></span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thirdly, a bit of amateur product management from the company’s power elite sometimes influences brand communications. A senior official of a company during a discussion on packaging material designs for a new brand insisted that they use the ‘<i>Colgate Ring</i>’ in the designs! He liked it in Colgate’s television commercials.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">According to him, the brand offered a protective ring to the patient - it did not matter in which condition it was prescribed. </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>WHEN IN DOUBT APPLY RULE No.1!</b></span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brands are mainly extended either to cash in on their popularity to step into other segments or shore up revenues from plateaued/flagging brands. There may be a situation where, in the new segment, the original product may have only a subsidiary role while the add-ons play a more important role.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For example, if a cough syrup is launched as brand extension of a popular antihistamine, the antihistamine may at best have a subsidiary role in the extension. Most textbooks assign a placebo role to antihistamines in cough mixtures. Therefore in such an extension, there would be no point in highlighting the original brand’s efficacy irrespective of its popularity. </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">A brand should deliver on its promise to be successful in the long run. That should be the eternal Rule No. 1. </span></i></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The primary objective of the brand extension in the above example, i.e. the cough mixture should be to relieve cough not allergy. When in doubt, Apply Rule No. 1 should be the guiding maxim.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Charles Revlon, chairman of the Revlon Cosmetics is reported to have said <i style="color: blue;">‘‘We make chemicals in the factory, the retailer sells hope in the store’’</i>. The chemical mixed and packed in the factory transforms into a brand, picking up <i>en route</i> a name, an image, an identity, a mnemonic, a tagline and - even a personality! (Brand personality may be more applicable in case of durable and some non-durable consumer goods.) <i style="color: blue;">And, the brand communicates hope!</i></span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>MNEMONICS AND GESTALTS</b></span></div><div class="art-subhead" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Integration and application of ideas developed by two independent researchers helped marketers along in their efforts in brand building. For a consumer to patronise a brand he should recall it in the first place.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The German word <i>Gestalt </i>is hard to translate into English but roughly means an '<i>organised whole</i>'. Dr Frederick Pearls, a Freudian analyst, developed the principles of Gestalt psychology and employed them in psychotherapy.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">But Gestalt theory’s more mundane application is in advertising. If people are shown a near incomplete circle and asked what they saw in it, nine out of ten people would reply that it was a circle. Readers of this article will have no difficulty in reading the following paragraph and understanding its meaning. We do not know whether such a research was indeed carried out at Cambridge but the paragraph is self-explanatory. </span><br />
<blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;">‘‘Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae, the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.’’</span></blockquote></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This could probably be the reason for some errors we see in print escaping the eagle-eyed scrutiny of the most intrepid proofreader.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The second important development was the Russian scientist Pavlov’s biological experiments. Pavlov set out to observe the effect of external stimuli on the gastric secretions of rats. The experiment was to ring a bell before offering rats their daily rations. The rats, conditioned to hearing a bell before their meals, continued to secret digestive juices in anticipation of food even when food was not served after the ring, for a few days. And in the process Pavlov stumbled upon the now famous theories of learning.</span><br />
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</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The principle behind development of mnemonics and logograms is a combination of <i>Gestalt</i> psychology and the results of Pavlov’s experiments. Its objective is to make people remember/recall a product or concept by looking at the proffered concept as an organised whole and remember it by association of ideas.</span></div><div class="art-text" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-credit" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The writer is Marketing Manager, VINS Bioproducts Ltd, Hyderabad. E-mail: unarayanadas@yahoo.com</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;"><i><br />
</i></span></b></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-8140299270055495122010-07-30T17:58:00.012+05:302018-12-20T10:51:38.252+05:30BRANDING IS POSITIONING...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This article by U NARAYANADAS on branding in the pharmaceutical industry, the third in a series of four appeared in </span></i><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-language: TE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Express Pharma Pulse</span></i><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-language: TE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of</span></i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> <i>February 03, 2005</i></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-language: TE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the chapter headings in an interesting book called FORENSIC MARKETING is ‘Interrogate a brand till it confesses its strengths’! Should it not spur us to think, asks U NARAYANA DAS</span></i></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">BETTER THAN SHAKESPEARE?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">George Bernard Shaw captioned </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Caesar and Cleopatra</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">’s preface with the poser: "</span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif;">Better than Shakespeare?</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">" Shaw and Shakespeare may appear incongruous in an article on branding but consider this: poets and artists, playwrights and politicians all vie to have the public interested in their work. To achieve this, firstly their work has to have intrinsic merit and secondly it should have distinguishing features.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Bernard Shaw’s prefaces written in powerful prose are as popular as his plays. Shaw did not mean any disrespect to the Bard of Avon as the first sentence of his preface clarifies: “I shall be remembered as long as Shakespeare and Aristophanes or shall be forgotten a clown down the turn of the century.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Bernard Shaw had merely positioned his play as different from Shakespeare’s. Some critics say that Shakespeare portrayed his male characters as weak-kneed and his plays had only heroines, no heroes. In contrast, Shaw’s delineation of Caesar was sharper and more masculine. Who would read Shaw’s play if it were to be in the same mould as Shakespeare’s and on the same subject?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">MONA LISA A BREAK FROM TRADITION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Some art critics believe that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa became as popular as it did because the ‘subject’ was a ‘departure’ from tradition. Divinity or nobility were subjects of art till then. da Vinci introduced a common housewife as his subject in Mona Lisa (She was the wife of a poor nobleman who commissioned the painting but could not pay da Vinci for it).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">POSITIONING AND POLITICAL CONTENT</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">During the election 2004, Indian media was agog about political parties marketing their icons and philosophies as brands. The new age of marketing infected the media into branding (pun intended) political parties but political parties have all along been indulging in it explicitly or implicitly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">From Indira Gandhi’s 'Garibi Hatao' to the BJP’s (in)famous 'India Shining,' all such slogans have been positioning statements. India Shining was a case in point where a political party’s positioning statement did not find favour with its target audience and the brand was rejected. And in the US, presidential election campaigns are virtually conducted by Madison Avenue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">THE CONCEPT OF POSITIONING AND POPULAR PERCEPTIONS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The concept of positioning is closely inter-related with market segmentation, target marketing, product differentiation, consumer benefit and brand image. Brand image is what the consumer perceives of the attributes of a brand vis-à-vis brand identity - what the marketer intends to portray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Chloromycetin</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> is a good example of consumer perception as it is often confused with its generic content <i>chloramphenical</i>. Or the brand name <i>Tossex</i>, which is not a sex stimulant. The expression 'Ivy League' is often misperceived in India as standing for scholastic excellence akin to Harvard or Oxford. The facts are different: eight universities in the US north-east joined in a league to play annual sports tournaments. As the universities, which formed the league, have green ivy on their walls the tournaments are called Ivy League tournaments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">There are many definitions of positioning in marketing literature but the most apt seems to be the one given by Beckman, Kurtz and Boone in Foundations of Marketing: ‘Product positioning refers to the consumer’s perception of a product’s attributes, use, quality and advantages and disadvantages in relation to competing brands’. The operative part of this definition lays stress on the consumer’s perception of a brand’s attributes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">IF YOU ARE SURE, GO FOR THE ENEMY’S JUGULAR...</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The note on H2 receptor antagonists in the British National Formulary mentions that <i>cimetidine</i>, <i>ranitidine</i> and <i>famotidine</i> have similar pharmacological and safety profiles. <i>Cimetidine</i> (<i>Tagamet</i>) the first to be introduced was a real chart buster and obviated the necessity for surgery for peptic ulcers by almost 90 per cent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">As the first to be introduced, <i>Cimetidine</i> had undergone post marketing surveillance by the time <i>ranitidine</i> made its appearance. For the introduction of <i>ranitidine</i> (<i>Zantac</i>), Glaxo needed a platform to overcome entry barriers and challenge the incumbent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Side effects - especially its binding androgen receptors - observed with ’long term use of <i>cimetidine</i> in high doses’ (<i>Goodman</i> and <i>Gilman</i> qualifies its warning) came in handy to ‘knock its block off’, as the Americans would say in boxing parlance. <i>Glaxo</i> seized the opportunity and positioned <i>Zantac</i> as an anti peptic-ulcerant with a better safety profile.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The rest, as they say, is history! <i>Tagamet</i> lost 50 per cent of its market share in the year <i>Zantac</i> was launched. <i>Zantac</i> usurped <i>Tagamet</i>’s Guinness Book slot and the entire top brass including the Chairman of <i>SKF</i> the company that launched the wonder drug (that probably rendered many surgeons jobless), lost their jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">...OR CHOOSE TO BE A BIG FISH IN A SMALL POND<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">In India when <i>Glaxo</i> made a foray into the ‘vitamin B complex with C’ segment, the company positioned <i>Cobadex</i> as a ‘<i>co-prescription B complex</i>’. The suggestion inherent in the brand name seems to be the obvious explanation. (Interestingly, Nancy Powers’ pocket medical dictionary includes <i>Cobadex</i> as a steroid cream in its list of proprietary medicines marketed in Europe).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But a more logical marketing explanation would be the company’s intention to piggy ride with the antibiotic market, which accounted for 20 per cent of the pharma market (then). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The company had to contend with a very strong number one in <i>Becosules</i>, followed by <i>Surbex-T</i> at number two, <i>Becozyme C Forte</i>, <i>Beplex Forte</i> and <i>Stresscaps</i> et al grouped together at a lower level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Glaxo</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> apparently sacrificed myriad indications (in which a ‘B complex with C’ could be prescribed) to be exclusively remembered as a <i>co-prescription B complex</i>. <i>Pfizer</i> launched an epic ’fight-back’, but was forced to make a course shift grouping <i>Becosules</i> and <i>Terramycin</i> together in all its subsequent promotions, a subtle acknowledgement of Glaxo’s positioning of<i> Cobadex</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Glaxo</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">’s aggressive entry however could not dislodge <i>Becosules</i> from its number one perch but achieved the company’s secondary objective of making the brand a big fish in a small pond. Marketing battles between the two - which may be called the Indian pharma equivalent of the famous Cola wars - expanded the market with <i>Cobadex</i> eventually settling at number two.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">START A NEW CATEGORY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Jack Trout and Al Ries recommend in their 'Twenty-two Immutable Laws of Marketing,' starting a new category as the best way to launch a new product successfully. If it is not possible to start a new category, they say, start at least a new sub-category.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The advent of 'Schedule V' in the eighties brought about changes vitamin formulae. Zinc became a cameo as companies made a virtue of what they were allowed to include to compensate for trimming down vitamins. Similarly anti-oxidants was a successful attempt at sub-categorisation as multi-vitamin mineral supplements always had the few ingredients seen in anti-oxidants, but <i>biotin </i>and <i>selenium</i>, which were not considered important earlier, were assigned cameo roles in the new (sub) category.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING...</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The objective of any positioning is to gain the elusive perceptual position in the consumer’s mind, often described as the black box.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The success of the strategy depends on the marketer’s ability to communicate the concept to the consumer and win instant recall. One of the chapter headings in an interesting book called <b>FORENSIC MARKETING</b> is ‘Interrogate a brand till it confesses its strengths’!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Should it not spur us to think? Taglines and mnemonics should emerge from a thorough audit of the strengths of a brand vis-à-vis competition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; mso-bidi-language: TE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The writer is a Hyderabad based practising manager and marketing consultant. Email: unarayanadas@yahoo.com</span></i></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-68814647318929526442010-07-03T10:51:00.006+05:302010-07-30T18:45:39.485+05:30BRANDING BEGINS WITH A NAME!<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;">This article by U NARAYANADAS on branding in the pharmaceutical industry, the second in a series of four appeared in </span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: red;">Express Pharma Pulse</span></i></b><b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;"> of</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: blue;"> <i>December 23, 2004</i></span></b></span><b><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></b><br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: small;">A ‘Brand’ is considered to be a mixture of attributes some tangible, others intangible. All these attributes are condensed into and expressed in a trademark that differentiates it from others and is expected to create value and influence (buying) behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div></div><div class="art-title" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><div class="art-text" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></i></b></div><div class="art-text" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-size: small;">The perceived value of a brand depends on the viewer’s perspective: for the marketer a promise; for the consumer the delivery of that promise; for the business the security of earning profits; legally an intellectual property.</span></i></b></div><div class="art-text" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-size: small;"></span></i></b></div><div class="art-text" style="color: red; font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span style="font-size: small;"></span></i></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>BRANDING BEGINS WITH A NAME!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The antecedents of branding may be traced to the days when cattle used to be tattooed with a mark to indicate their ownership. The objectives of modern branding are partly the same. A ‘Brand’ is considered to be a mixture of attributes some tangible, others intangible. All these attributes are condensed into and expressed in a trademark that differentiates it from others and is expected to create value and influence (buying) behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The perceived value of a brand depends on the viewer’s perspective: for the marketer a promise; for the consumer the delivery of that promise; for the business the security of earning profits; legally an intellectual property.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Additionally, brands aid customers to choose from a wide variety. Naming brands that pack so much value into them is a difficult exercise. It is not just coining a name but encrypting a concept that would unravel when the name is used. The famous positioning guru Jack Trout called one of his books ‘Get the Name Right’, but, essentially, it deals with encrypting a concept. Randall S Rozin, Global Manager of Branding at Dow Corning and an editorial board member of Journal of Brand Management, says that a good (brand) name is better than riches. In an instructive article on the dos and don’ts of creating names, he lists the interesting example of Chevrolet that wanted to name one of their cars Nova till someone pointed out that it means “Does not go” in Spanish. Similarly when Coca-Cola sought to name a citrus drink Urge in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region> (Surge in other countries), it ran into legal problems as people with the same surname objected to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">These examples may seem exotic, as Indian brand names may not encounter such problems at the moment. This may be so because we do not have any global brands (exceptions are few and far between). As the Indian industry looks towards wider horizons, hopefully, we shall soon create global brands. There is an entry in Drug Index listing Pamela as a brand of paracetamol and racemethionine. Let us hope that a Ms Pamela will not take umbrage at her name being bandied about associating it with an antipyretic.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>THE WORKS BEHIND THE WORDS:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Carmaker Daimler exhibited the prototype of a new car to some of its dealers. One of them, an enterprising chap, offered to sell a third of the produce if the car was named after his daughter Mercedes. Thus was born the brand name for the most coveted automobile - Mercedes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is a list of amusing and (maybe) instructive stories behind coining some other popular brand names. (See box.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>NAMING CATEGORIES<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">There are three broad categories into which brand names may be classified:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">DESCRIPTIVE NAME: A name, which describes a product or service for which it is intended.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For eg: Abdec, Cetzine, Ostocalcium.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">ASSOCIATIVE NAME: A name, which indicates a benefit or aspect of a product by association of an original or striking idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For e.g.: Acibloc, Mucolite.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">FREESTANDING NAME: A name, which has no link with the product but has a meaning of its own.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For e.g.: A M P M, 11 P M.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The following may also be considered:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">ABSTRACT NAME: A name that is entirely created and has no meaning of its own. Abstract names may also be classified as a sub-set of freestanding names as they too do not have any link to the product or service.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For e.g.: Avil, Zinetac. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">COINED NAME: Any name that has been in some way created; such a name may be descriptive, associative or freestanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For e.g.: Allenburys, Kokkos (See below)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">ACRONYM NAME: A name that has been coined by using an acronym of a larger unwieldy name.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For e.g.: Amul, Noida.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">We find a majority of Indian pharma brand names falling in the descriptive category and few in the associative category. The two examples given above under the freestanding category do not strictly conform to the definition as they indicate the two times in the one case and late night dosing in the other. And it was difficult to find names under the other categories on a cursory examination of Drug Index. Occasionally, we find (mostly generic companies) prefixing or suffixing all their brands with a part (or full) of their corporate name.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This may be because we would like to play safe by giving the reluctant doctor a cue to remember our product, which limits our freedom to be creative. As we move into the next epoch, which does not permit copycats we might see more creativity in coining names that encrypt concepts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>THE STORY OF A GREEK SOLUTION<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The writer was heading a marketing team that sought to introduce an <i>amoxycillin </i>and <i>cloxacillin</i> combination brand several years ago. The market was already choc-a-block with dozens of similar brand; some of them big names. The team’s objective was to launch its brand-successfully - into the crowded market. How does one do it without the doctor brushing it aside with: ‘Oh! Not another? I have enough of them’. With that the interview peters out and the field staff will not just lose morale but all interest in the product.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The team had many sittings to thrash out the issue. In one of the sittings the team went through the attributes of the product (which was not yet a brand) and decided to focus on its gram-positive spectrum, especially its ability to combat staphylococcal infections. The team tried the use of computer software that coined hundreds of names based on specified parameters. None of them was satisfactory.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="art-text" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">An idea germinated when someone pointed out in one of the meetings, that the word staphylococcus emerged from two Greek words, <i>staph</i> meaning bunch and <i>kokkos </i>meaning grape. In fact, the microscopic picture of staphylococcus looks like a bunch of grapes. The explanation seemed to deliver a name. A concept began to take shape. The team decided that it would tell the doctor about shapes and Greeks. And, of course, solutions to his problems. (Else what would be the point in meeting him?) The interview would not be killed. On the other hand it would kindle the doctor’s interest. The company’s medical representatives were instructed to tell the doctor about ‘<i>A Greek Solution for Coccal Infections</i>’. The first page of the Visual Aid carried only the picture of a bunch of grapes and the caption: ‘<i>A Greek Solution for Coccal Infections</i>’. The brand was christened <i>Kokkos</i>. Doctors who would normally rush medical representatives through their detailing gave the story an interested hearing, were amused with its details and asked several questions or entered into animated discussions. Needless to say that <i>Kokkos</i> was a runaway success as a brand and far exceeded the company’s marketing objectives during the year of its launch. There were other components in the marketing of this brand and may be discussed elsewhere on occasion. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-88893798825913051822010-06-26T13:54:00.011+05:302010-11-06T18:58:39.513+05:30PRAXIS NOT THEORY<div style="text-align: right;"><b>Book Review</b></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><i><b>HardKnocks For The GreenHorn</b></i> (107+ pages with colour illustrations; price: Rs 599) and <i><b>SuperVision For The SuperWiser Front-Line Manager </b></i>(158+ pages with colour illustrations; price: Rs 799) by <b>Anup Soans</b>. Published by <b>Asian Trading Corporation</b>, Bangalore.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">There are any number of books on salesmanship and sales management. Books on salesmanship have mostly been on selling in general professing to offer techniques to make one a super salesperson; or on personalised selling, for e.g. on how to sell insurance or industrial goods. Similarly there is no dearth of books on management theory and management techniques. But there clearly are lacunae with regard to personal selling and sales management in the pharmaceutical industry. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Selling in the pharma industry, especially in India is complex not only in view of its quasi-technical nature but also because of the nature of competition. Managing pharma sales professionals is a much more complex business because of contextual factors some of which include: the quasi-technical nature of the selling function, the fragmented nature of the market, high attrition rates not only because of the dynamic nature of the healthcare industry but because of the opening up of allied industries like health insurance and not least the unionisation of the sales forces. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The following facts put in perspective the complex nature of pharmaceutical selling and the magnitude of competition in India: there are an estimated 25000 companies vying for the custom of approximately 400000* doctors; the size of the market (MAT April 2010) is Rs 45385 Cr (US $ Bn 9.67, @ Rs 47) and the top ten companies account for 42.36% of the market. The Indian pharma industry ranked the fourth largest in the world by volume and thirteenth by value has been growing at a healthy 13.8%.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Against this backdrop writing a book or manual for training sales and marketing professionals in the industry is a tall order. It is perhaps because of this reason that books on sales and marketing in the industry are few and far between. Apart from the complexity of the industry ambience the next most important question is what syllabus or what specifications should a text book or manual for training ‘Medical Representatives’ conform to? </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">It would have been far simpler had there been a standardised course for “Medical Representatives” in India as it exists in Britain. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) conducts the “The Medical Representatives Examination” and has a standardised syllabus for it. The examination is conducted in two parts comprising three compulsory and three optional specialisation papers. Candidates should obtain a minimum of 60% marks in each of the six papers for a pass in the examination. Sales professionals working as “Generic Medicines Representatives” will also have to take the first part of the examination comprising the three compulsory papers. Other countries like Australia and Canada too conduct similar examinations. These examinations do not have official recognition and hence are not transferable across countries but a pass in the examination is necessary for working as ‘Medical Representatives’ in the respective countries. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Over the years, Indian companies have evolved training programmes and training manuals corresponding to them based on their individual organisational experience. However the paradoxical secrecy of organisations in protecting their training methods as much as they do their marketing strategies - their dissemination being as certain a constant as water in a sieve or attrition in the industry - made these manuals an inchoate <i>potpourri</i>.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The two books by by Anup Soans are welcome addition to our knowledge in the respective fields and in the lingo of marketing, are likely to satisfy a long-felt need. They are written not by an armchair theoretician but by someone who cut his teeth in the din and bustle of the market place and gradually ascended his way up to the top by dint of hard work and determination. Therefore they do not impart spill-over textbook wisdom but practical tips for the new entrant and the conscientious worker seeking to improve his knowledge of the domain and his expertise.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Soans has taken pains first to define the syllabus based on which he would write the books. For example <i><b>HardKnocks For The GreenHorn</b></i> is divided into two parts. He divided the first part into six chapters each of which deals with a specific area of knowledge or skill essential for the Professional Service Representative (PSR). These include an introduction to the industry and career prospects; roles and responsibilities; knowledge management; presentation skills; basics of marketing and life skills.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The second part deals with technical subjects such as anatomy, physiology and pharmacology. A PSR should have at least a basic grasp of these subjects to be able to converse with a doctor in medical lingo. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The eponymous title <i><b>SuperVision For The SuperWiser Front-Line Manager </b></i>is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to ‘<i>Essential Management Skills</i>’ beginning with prospects and progression in the industry, the tools necessary for the success of a frontline manager and the functional roles of a frontline manager. The second part deals with ‘<i>Leadership Skills</i>’ with such practical aspects as ‘<i>on the job coaching</i>’, which is dreaded by most frontline managers and the current management buzzword, ‘<i>Emotional Intelligence</i>’. The third part teaches the FLM ways in which she/he can improve performance. For in the end managers are expected to <i>continuously</i> perform.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Organisations generally do not realise that FLMs are the fulcrum on which the success of the genius at the top depends. They are like the load-bearing columns in a building without which it can not stand. Therefore it is essential for organisations to constantly reassure them that they are a part of the management structure and not that of the workforce they manage. This can only be achieved by providing FLMs with constant support and providing nourishment in the form of training and development. The book under review is likely to be an essential tool for achieving this end.</div>………………………………………………<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">*The figure is deduced from a Planning Commission report according to which, there is a requirement of at least 600000 doctors to achieve a 1:1000 doctor-population ratio. [<b><i>India needs 600,000 more doctors: Plan Panel </i></b>(2008). Rediff Business, April 07, 2008. Accessible from: <a href="http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/07panel.htm">http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/07panel.htm</a>]. </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-41924388310978636142010-04-23T18:11:00.012+05:302011-07-27T13:26:06.788+05:30BRANDING FOR VALUE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span style="color: blue;">When this blog was originally mooted it was intended to cover purely personal development topics. Later it was decided to extend it to other management topics. This article by U NARAYANADAS on branding in the pharmaceutical industry, the first in a series of four appeared in </span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: red;">Express Pharma Pulse</span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: blue;"> of</span></i></b><b><span style="color: blue;"> December 9, 2004</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>BRANDING FOR VALUE</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Brands have to be constantly nurtured and safeguarded against attrition by competitors, says U NARAYANADAS</i></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>'Branding is dead; Long live 'Branding</i>' seems to be all that the copywriter could say to sum up the situation. It is perhaps unfair to accuse him of being '<i>cliché</i>' prone or suffering from an acute bout of <i>copywriter's block</i>. His more immediate concern was to find a caption that says it all in one phrase. The caption reflects the misery of FMCG marketers, facing intense competition of the liberalised millennium. The days when the big boys lorded it over, are - over, with consumers peeking at discount notices displayed in <i>FOODWORLD</i> counters rather than being <i>brand loyal</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Pharma marketers have seen it all. They are therefore wiser and smarter. The industry with more than 23,000 players and 75,000 brands totalling into a retail market of Rs 18000 crores in 2003, has paid Charles Darwin his most well deserved compliment - <i>by proving his theory</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>THE ENIGMA OF BRANDING</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The principles of FMCG marketing have often been applied to marketing pharma products although there is a distinct difference between the two. Marketing has begun in pharma with the application of the principles of FMCG marketing in the mid seventies. Was it mere selling before? The authorities seem to think so! Some pharma brands continue to grow to the envy of their competitors. Some are bought and sold and are high value assets like prime real estate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Yet there is no place for complacence. Brands have to be constantly nurtured and safeguarded against attrition by competitors. Call it <i>Customer Relationship Management</i> or <i>Customer Retention Management</i> if you will. A terse advertisement for pharma sales professionals in the nineties phrased it with telling effect: ''<i>Today the competition is intense; tomorrow it will be cut throat.</i>''</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The USP of the former big boys - read MNCs - was <i>quality</i>. Today, nobody can claim a monopoly over quality. The customer (in case of pharma, the proxy customer) refuses to accept <i>brand differentiation</i>. The market is a leveller. It probably is a tribute to the Indian scientific talent but they were able to replicate '<i>MNC quality at Indian prices</i>'. That is one of the reasons for crying foul over IPRs. They may have a point there considering that a new product takes 12 years to reach the shopkeeper's shelf from its conceptual embryo and consumes US $100 million.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But again they may not, considering the humanitarian dimension and not just ethics and commerce of the issue. Some MNCs, which sought to sell anti-HIV (AIDS) drugs @ US $10,000 for a course against their Indian competitors' prices of US $350 - 450, climbed down and withdrew their suit for violation of IPRs in the South African Supreme Court. How do pharma marketers manage such competition is an eternal question - to which even they would like to know the answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>NAMING NAMES</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There are many speculations as to how pharma brands are named. A part of a product's generic name is included in the name to give the prescribing physician an idea of the content. Sometimes the effects of the product are played upon.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;">There is an interesting sidelight to this: Some years ago when the anti-ulcer drug ranitidine and its combinations were introduced (see Table 1*)</span><span style="font-size: small;">, most companies used the first three letters 'Ran', as part of their brand name throwing up such bizarre words as <i>Random</i> and <i>Randon</i>. The full list is amusing with names like <i>Ranicom</i> (no dot there) and <i>Ranidom</i> (no Kingdom either) which reflects the inventiveness of pharma product managers. Others have used the last three letters of the original brand <i>Zantac</i> (the Indian variation of the name is <i>Zinetac</i>) coining names like <i>Rantac</i> and <i>Histac</i>.Finally somebody decided to steal everybody's thunder by using the generic fraction as well as the product's effect - of reducing acid. Lo and behold! The name <i>Rancid </i>was born. Needless to say what happened to the brand!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When a number of brands of the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin hit the market there was this <i>Hinglish</i> version: <i>Mahaquin</i> derived from the name of its class, Fluoro-quinolones.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The list in Table 1<span style="color: blue;">*</span> is only a sample (not exhaustive) of brands of one drug in one class for one disease. Drug Today lists 47 plain <i>ranitidine</i> and 45 <i>ranitidine</i> combinations (again not exhaustive). [<span style="color: blue;">*</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;"><i>EPP omitted the table in its publication - BRIHAS</i></span></span><span style="font-size: small;">]</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>CONFLICTS AND TURF WARS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Short, connotative (as mentioned earlier) and euphonic names help recall. Phonetic similarities result in conflicts and turf wars especially when a large number of brands have to conform to such restrictive conditions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There is little or no differentiation in the case of Indian pharma brands as they are only different names of the same generic component. The net 'out-take' of a brand - for the consumer - depends on practical experience and is often a subjective attribute.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Brands with the same bio-equivalence are accepted or rejected by different physicians depending on their first experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>TRAVAILS WITH TAGLINES</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The list of generic names is confusing enough. Thus, ranitidine (used as an example above), which belongs to a class of anti-peptic ulcer drugs called <i>H2 receptor antagonists</i>, has such siblings as <i>cimetidine, famotidine, roxatidinie, loxitidine, nizatidine</i>, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The other classes of drugs, which treat or mitigate peptic ulcer, are <i>antacids, mucoprotectives, local anaesthetics, proton-pump inhibitors </i>and<i> prostaglandin </i>analogues. Each class has a number of drugs and dozens of brands of each drug.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The objective of all the drugs is similar: healing stomach ulcers/relieving symptoms. How does one write taglines for each of these brands to make the prescribing physician remember them? The product managers earn their sobriquet - MC (Master of Clichés) - by coining cliché-ridden taglines: every second brand is '<i>First in India</i>'; every nutritional is '<i>Next best to nature</i>'; every product used for women's diseases is a '<i>Tribute to womanhood</i>'; every other product is '<i>Novel</i>'; a '<i>Revolutionary therapy</i>'; '<i>Trusted and tested</i>'; '<i>Recommended worldwide</i>'; an '<i>Innovative breakthrough</i>'; a '<i>Drug of choice</i>'; '<i>Most advanced'; 'USFDA Approved</i>'; manufactured in a '<i>State-of-the-art</i>' facility (not factory!) and is '<i>Very economical</i>' as the word cheap is taboo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>MAKING A RELUCTANT HORSE DRINK</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The year 2002-3 saw the introduction of about 3,400 new brands according to market audit reports. The latest edition of <i>Drug Today</i> consists of a 1000 pages. Imagine the physician having to write a prescription as soon as he diagnosed a patient and the task of the marketer to make the physician remember his brand name - to conquer that elusive 'mind share'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The prescribing physicians are not a captive audience that can be bamboozled with glamorous models and glitzy commercials. A large proportion of selling in pharma is personal, each prescribing physician being met by over 200 - 250 Medical Representatives every month. The physicians, their staff and patients often view Medical Representatives, as uninvited guests and intruders. Each Medical Representative gets 180 - 300 seconds (on an average) in an interview to promote 6 - 10 products (on an average). The success of a brand therefore depends as much on the creativity of the back room boys as on the ability of the Medical Representatives and their field controllers to win the confidence of physicians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Medical Representatives are all too familiar with physicians - whom they have been wooing to impress during a number visits for their 'prescription support', in their patois, glibly saying 'Yes, I have been regularly prescribing <i>your</i>… … …' naming a competitive brand.</span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-17510669766630909442010-04-18T15:11:00.010+05:302010-07-30T18:52:24.710+05:30AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT CAN SOMETIMES DELIVER A BOMB!<div style="color: blue; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><i>When this blog was originally mooted it was intended to cover purely personal development topics. But then it was decided to extend it to other management topics. And rather than waiting for topics in a particular order, to post whatever is at hand!</i></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div style="color: red; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><i>Product management is neither pure theory nor just practice. It is praxis! It is ‘practical application or exercise of a branch of learning’ - marketing. The scientist in the laboratory practices theory. The salesman in the field applies practical wisdom.</i></b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
<a name='more'></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b>THE 'IRIDIUM' BOMB!</b></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In the age of satellite communications when man can send a signal to the moon and receive its echo in a few seconds designing a global satellite phone is no ‘big deal’. At least that was what Motorola thought when it mooted the Iridium satellite phone project which eventually swallowed $ 7 billion. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">It all started innocently enough when in 1985, Motorola executive, Barry Bertinger’s wife, unable to use her cellular phone while on vacation in the Caribbean, convinced her husband of the need for a worldwide mobile wireless system.</div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Motorola then joined with some partners to develop the Iridium global satellite phone. The phone that was five years in the making would work ‘anytime, anywhere’. The company spent $ 5 billion for developing and $ 40 million for launching the phone that would offer seamless communication in the Amazonian Rain Forest, on the Alaskan Tundra, or on the Himalayas. The point is very few people visit these places. What people in general want is something that fits into their pocket (physically and figuratively) and communicates with others. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The company did indeed conduct market research before launching the product. Its marketing team reportedly researched the social behaviour of ‘people on the move’ by interviewing 25,000 people - who fit the company’s customer profile - in 54 cities in 34 countries. The project needed 500,000 customers to break-even and when it folded nine years after launch it had 50,000.</div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The Iridium phone was bulky, needed a lot of attachments to work and cannot be used in cars or buildings. It might make sense to make it in limited numbers and market the product to army units of various countries but as a mass communication tool, it was a ‘no go’. (An Indian television channel reported the Kargil war using Iridium phones.)</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The story of the Iridium fiasco does not end there. The 66 satellites that the company launched to provide it infrastructure support are still hovering in the sky. And Iridium’s marketing agent hard-sold the project to gullible Indian FIs who sank Rs 220 crore into it. </div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><i>GUNG HO</i> OPTIMISM IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR STRATEGY! </b></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Doesn’t the Indian pharmaceutical industry have similar stories to tell? This was the question quite often asked while referring to the 'IRIDIUM FIASCO'. Well, here is an 'almost' story!</div><br />
To succeed in life it is necessary to dream. It is necessary to dare to dream. People in sales should be practically optimistic but not gung-ho. </div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The sales manager of a company launching a typhoid vaccine hard-sold this idea to his management: India has a population of over 1000 million. Seventy percent of India’s population living in villages does not have access to safe drinking water and hence is prone to waterborne diseases like typhoid. A safe assumption of 70% of this subset gives us a figure 500 million doses as the market for typhoid vaccine. The company could easily target 10% MS in the first year and that would be 50 million doses.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Fortunately wisdom prevailed and the company did not order production based on the forecast. Three months after the launch it turned out that the company would have had ten years’ ‘off-take’ on its shelves had it ordered production based on the <i>optimistic</i> sales manager's <i>forecast</i>!</div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-69230666851065470892010-03-18T19:46:00.036+05:302010-11-06T18:22:10.997+05:30SELF ORGANISATION & TIME MANAGEMENT<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;"><i style="color: blue;">Time management is a part of self-orgnisation which involves prioritising activities according to their relative importance and </i><i style="color: blue;">doggedly following those priorities.</i> </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">The following grid is self-explanatory. We can slot all our activities into its four quadrants. The work of quite a few <i>activity-based</i> managers can be slotted into<i> </i>quadrant (1) as they tend to douse fires and somehow meet deadlines and achieve <i>metrics</i>. Nothing exceptionable in that as deadlines and metrics are important too. However the key to <i>time management</i> and <i>managing results</i> – not managing activity – lies in quadrant (2). If managers spend time in proper planning, envisaging opportunities and keeping communication channels open, they can certainly pre-empt emergencies. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 207pt;" valign="top" width="276"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">IMPORTANT & URGENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">(1)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">CRISES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">EXIGENT PROBLEMS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">PROJECT DEADLINES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">ACHIEVING METRICS<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> <td style="border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 207pt;" valign="top" width="276"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">IMPORTANT & NOT URGENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">(2)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">PLANNING<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">IDENTIFYING NEW OPPORTUNITIES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">PREVENTING EMERGENCIES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">COMMUNICATION WITH OTHERS<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 207pt;" valign="top" width="276"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">N0T IMPORTANT & URGENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">(3)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">ROUTINE MAILS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">INTERRUPTIONS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">REPORTS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">MEETINGS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">POPULAR ACTIVITIES<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> <td style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 207pt;" valign="top" width="276"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">N0T IMPORTANT & NOT URGENT<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">(4)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">SOME MAILS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">SOME PHONE CALLS<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">TIME WASTING ACTIVITIES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">PLEASANT ACTIVITIES<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: x-small;">OFFICE GOSSIP / SHOP TALK<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">But the real <i>death-traps</i> are quadrants (3) and (4). On a day when you are seriously contemplating a strategy to bag ‘that’ large hospital order, in walks a colleague with the news that the ‘boss’ was spotted at the Director’s residence the previous weekend. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">As is human, both of you spend a lot of time speculating whether (a) he has gone there to placate him to grab the post of a Senior Vice President that was opening up shortly, (b) he was pushing the case/s of his favourites in the annual appraisals that were under way or - <i>better still</i> - (c) he has gone there to <i>squeal</i> and <i>bitch</i> about <i>his</i> colleagues. The exchange of ‘perspectives’, which feeds on itself to keep the ‘meeting’ going, goes on for forty minutes before you realise it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">With an exclamation of surprise at the passage of time, your colleague unwillingly tears himself away for he has a report to file. His quadrant (1) is looming large while both of you were in (4) till now! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">When you were about to return to your original contemplation after a little lag for the mind takes time to refocus, another colleague calls with a few more tidbits about boss’ weekend activities and as both of you have but ‘one mind’, have an animated exchange of ‘perspectives’ for an extended period of time. Of course the two of you are now in quadrant (4). Finally the colleague ends the phone call reluctantly. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">In the mean time your line was ‘busy’, your secretary was hard put to explain it to callers and your boss was wondering whether you were planning a </span><span class="hw" style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">coup d'état</span></i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;"> to usurp his chair. You might even have missed an important customer or two who wanted to discuss business, which they would now take elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">In both the cases it was the other colleague who terminated the conversation for you do not have it in you to hurt other peoples’ feelings. And the greater danger is in deluding yourself that you were ‘communicating’ with others around the office!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">We all know quadrant (1) is unpredictable and quadrants (3) and (4) are unavoidable. Therefore can we begin by planning quadrant (2), by allotting some time of our working day everyday to activities listed in it? As it consists of the most salient activities for our success should we not allot at least 40% of our time to it - and brook no interruptions during the allotted time. This roughly translates to two hours and forty eight minutes in an eight hour working day minus one hour for coffee and lunch breaks. It would be ideal for managers to <i>indulge</i> in activities listed in quadrant (4) once in a week and allot not more than an hour for activities listed in quadrant (3). Be that as it may the focus should be on quadrant (2) for sustained and long term success. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">The following case study is an illustration of ‘SELF ORGANIZATION AND TIME MANAGEMENT’ or the lack of it and is all too familiar for people in line management.</span></div><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. ABHAY KUMAR, </span></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">AREA BUSINESS MANAGER, Ά-Β PHARMACEUTICALS LIMITED, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:place u1:st="on"><st1:city u1:st="on">BANGALORE</st1:city></st1:place></st1:place></st1:city>.</span></b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mr. Abhay Kumar is the Area Business Manager of ά-β Pharmaceuticals Limited at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Bangalore</st1:city></st1:place>.</span></i><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> </span></b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Abhay (as he is fondly called by everyone) used to top the charts as a Sales Officer (SO)</span></i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4546488599223954568#_edn1" linkindex="18" name="_ednref1" title=""></a><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">* and has been promoted Area Business Manager (ABM)* six months ago.</span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">By the time Abhay arrived at the consulting chambers of Dr. Surendra Kumar in Jayanagar he was already twenty-five minutes late for the appointment. He was to join his <i>Sales Officer</i> for a joint call on the doctor. As per the company’s marketing strategy the doctor was to be met by the ABM as a <i>core</i> call. Now the SO too missed the call. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">As the two were coming out of the building after vain attempts to cajole the doctor’s secretary to arrange for an interview, Abhay got an SMS from his Zonal Manager’s office reminding him about the list of doctors to be prepared for the new product introduction. The company was about to launch a new product that was expected to bring in sizeable revenues. There was a circular a week ago from Head Office informing ABMs about the grand launch in the first week of the following month. The circular instructed ABMs to compile and submit a list of doctors for the launch but in his rush of work, Abhay stacked it along with a lot of other mails to be read <i>when he was free</i>. Abhay decided that he would call his team members during a break in the day and instruct them to submit the list <i>immediately</i>. He decided he would have to be particularly stern with that <i>lazy fellow</i> at Mangalore who was always late in submitting returns and needs frequent chiding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">With these thoughts in mind Abhay guided his SO to the fast food joint across the road for a coffee. As they were sipping coffee Abhay’s Regional Manager called. Abhay knew that his RM was calling him about the secondary sales statement <i>which was due a week ago</i>. He was yet to compile it. The RM is <i>old fashioned</i> and insists that ABMs should discuss secondary sales trends and doctor call coverage with SOs during their joint field work. All this means paper work. Abhay has not had time to even open the envelopes in which his team members <i>couriered</i> their <i>daily call reports</i> in <i>bunches</i> during the last month. And then there is the ABMs’ meeting coming in a week which means some more paper work. <i>Who has time for bloody paper work! <o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">Abhay did not want to answer the call but could not ignore it in front of his SO. He finally answered the call with a lot of hesitation but his RM wanted to know what happened to the major institutional order that Abhay informed him was in the offing. Oh! Abhay planned to see some important calls but it appears now he would have to rush to the Medical & Health Directorate to <i>follow up</i> for the order. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">That’s it. He would excuse himself from field work; visit the Directorate to <i>follow up</i> for the order and return home to finish at least a part of the paper work. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">Abahy sighed and told the </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">SO</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;"> that he had to leave; their RM instructed him to call HO with some urgent information; he (the SO) should meet all the top calls planned for the day and report. And there should be no excuses for not meeting the month’s budget.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div id="edn1"><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4546488599223954568#_ednref1" linkindex="19" name="_edn1" title=""></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;">* The Indian pharmaceutical industry has various designations to describe field sales people. In this example ‘<i>Sales Officer</i>’ and ‘<i>Area Business Manager</i>’ are used to describe ‘medical sales person’ or <i>medical</i> <i>detail-man</i> and ‘frontline manager’ respectively.</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div></div></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-39381671386780682752010-01-30T10:42:00.014+05:302010-11-06T18:57:26.125+05:30HOW TO WRITE A RÉSUMÉ THAT COMPELS ATTENTION!<div align="justify" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div align="justify" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><div style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Curriculum Vitae or ‘CV’ is a marketing tool, just like a TV commercial. Just as you watch innumerable number of commercials on the telly, employers receive thousands of CVs everyday. You do not remember all the commercials. If you were asked to name the most you remember, you would come up with hardly a handful. This is because your subconscious mind screens and rejects many of them. </i></span></div><div style="color: blue;"></div><a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The principle behind commercial advertising is known as AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. The objective of writing your CV is more or less the same. Your CV should arrest the employer’s attention; arouse his/her interest in you; make him/her desire to employ you and - most importantly - induce action: employ you, or at least short-list you for an interview. How then should you go about writing a CV?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>RESEARCH EMPLOYER / JOB</b>: You will have most information about the job in the advertisement but it would do no harm to find out more about the job and the company through the internet, networking etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>INDIVIDUALISE</b>: The first principle one should learn is that one CV does not suit all jobs. Your CV is a vital document that summarises your qualifications, skills, and experience and matches them with the requirements of specific jobs. Therefore take time to re-write it every time you apply for a job - it is your career and deserves the extra effort. Even if there are no changes to be made, a review is worth the effort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>EMPLOYERS DO NOT READ CVs - THEY SCAN THEM:</b> Therefore make it brief and to the point.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Your CV should not normally exceed two A4 size pages.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Please ensure that your CV is neatly ‘word-processed’ with proper margins.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Please spell-check your CV to avoid grammatical/typographical errors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>OBJECTIVE</b>: Mentioning a career objective is optional. Quite often people seek career changes for better remuneration, better job status or for any of a variety of other reasons. It may not be always possible to justifiably align these reasons with a career objective. Therefore use this option only if you have a specific objective and without vague generalisations. For example,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">· “To lead as marketing head a Rs 5000 million company by 2010” is more specific than “To utilise my skills and experience to achieve top positions in the pharma marketing arena. ”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>SUMMARY</b>: A brief summary of your career may be given at the beginning of your CV. In summarising your career, please avoid generalisations: For example,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">· If you are aiming for a high position in sales and marketing, “As GM-Marketing, achieved Rs 100 million in the first year of launching ………(product/company)” or “the company’s market share improved from 0.7% to 2% in three years” is more specific than “Excellent track record in launching new products/companies. ”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">· If you are aiming for a high position in sales, “As National Sales Manager, achieved a quantum leap in sales to Rs 150 million from Rs 100 million in three years ” is more specific than “achieved exponential growth in sales.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">· If you are aiming for a top position in marketing, “ As Marketing Manager, launched (1), (2) and (3) block-buster brands which achieved ‘x’, ‘y’ and ‘z’ market shares respectively in their categories” is more specific than “expert in launching block-buster brands.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· If you are aiming for a sales management/training and development management position, “Developed (2/3/4…) of my team members to become top performers and get promoted as frontline/second line/third line managers; one of them became National Sales Manager” is more specific than “adept at developing people to assume higher responsibilities.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>KEY FUNCTIONAL AREAS (KFA)</b>: You don’t have to give a detailed description of all your responsibilities. Just give a brief description of your job to enable the prospective employer to understand your current job level.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This is because the same designation connotes different job functions and levels in different organisations. For example ‘Regional Manager’ is a frontline function in some companies but a second line function in others. Similarly, ‘Area Manager’ is a frontline function in the pharmaceutical industry but a higher (second line/third line) function in the FMCG industry.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The following example illustrates a typical description of KFA in sales management:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Achieving sales and collection targets and budgets for the state/zone with a team of six frontline managers and forty medical representatives. (Sales management function)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Training and development for better performance, overseeing strategy implementation and identifying leadership potential for future. (Human resource development function)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Identifying new markets and new business avenues for possible future expansion. (Business development function)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· For those at fairly senior level, meeting key (trend setter) customers would be one of the objectives of fieldwork in addition to gathering marketing intelligence and overseeing implementation of strategies. (Marketing management function - senior sales managers have a role in marketing management)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The following example illustrates a typical description of KFA in product/marketing management:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Achieving targeted market share, unit and volume sales for the allotted portfolio of products.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Budgeting promotional strategies, designing promotional strategies and ‘selling’ product targets and strategies to field personnel.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Training and development of field personnel on the technical and promotional aspects of products and strategies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Identifying new products/segments and tracking market trends in technological and other developments to maintain the company’s ‘lead’ in the industry in specific product markets/segments.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· Working in the field with the specific objectives of gathering information about implementation of strategies and gathering firsthand market intelligence.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">· For those at fairly senior level, meeting key (trend setter) customers would be one of the objectives of fieldwork in addition to gathering marketing intelligence and overseeing implementation of strategies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>ACHIEVEMENTS</b>: Make a bulleted/numbered list of the major achievements of your career with those pertaining to the last assignment first and listing them chronologically backwards. Again, mention only specific, quantifiable achievements, not vague generalisations.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">You may use examples mentioned in the explanation for career summary above, but you can be more exhaustive. This does not mean that you may mention the detailing prizes you won as a medical representative when applying for the position of a National Sales Manger. Use discretion and list achievements apt for the position you are applying for.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Remember you have to sell yourself within the two-page limit just as you were used to three-minute detailing in the doctor’s chamber early in your career.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>LISTING SKILLS</b>: This is a tricky area. Every one in the marketing/sales function has good communication skills! But good verbal communication skills are an advantage as one moves up the ladder; good written communication skills are an added advantage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Man management/HR skills are desirable. The ability to train and develop people to grow in their careers is a plus.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">At times it may be necessary to get rid of people who are incapable of being developed but this should not be assumed to be a positive skill. This is an admission of failure to develop people.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">However, there is always a gap between the theory and practice of HR. So if you have such achievements, instead of writing ‘expert in getting rid of dead-wood’ in your CV, save it for a mention at an appropriate time in the personal interview.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">On the other hand you may mention, ‘rigorous discipline and team work in faithful implementation of strategies, paid rich dividends in my career.’</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>CAREER AT A GLANCE</b>: Use a table for the employer to have a glimpse of your career beginning with your current job chronologically backwards till entry level.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>GAPS IN CAREER</b>: If there are any gaps in your career (right from your last educational qualification), be sure to have a reasonable explanation for them - you are sure to be quizzed about the gaps at the time of your personal interview.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">At the same time do not try to fuzz them in your CV. Your interviewer is sure to spot any such attempt.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>PERSONAL DETAILS</b>: In this section just list your name, educational and professional qualifications, any training programmes attended, only if they pertain to your career, address and telephone numbers where you can be reached.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">You may list your language proficiency and IT literacy, which is increasingly becoming essential both in sales and especially in marketing functions.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Do not list all your achievements in college, debating societies et al. A black belt in Karate may not be an essential qualification for a sales manager unless the company decides to physically discipline errant customers!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Similarly, your prospective employer may not be interested in details of your family members unless you are the daughter or son-in-law of the minister for petroleum and chemicals. So save your CV of such details.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>REFERENCES</b>: It is not necessary to provide references for all jobs. You may provide them if specifically asked for. In any case most employers nowadays check your antecedents with your present / former employers. (<i>Please be prepared for this!</i>)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>WILLINGNESS TO RELOCATE / EXPECTED SALARY</b>: You may mention these in the cover letter if the employer specifically calls for such information. Otherwise, best leave the ‘expected salary’ bit for an appropriate time in the personal interview.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>COVER LETTER</b>: Please always enclose your CV along with a brief, polite cover letter to the prospective employer. In this you will be able to briefly summarise your career, indicate ‘how keen you are to join the organisation’ and look forward to ‘a meeting for a personal discussion’ which ‘would benefit both the prospective employer and you’.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>DO NOT BE TOO CLEVER BY HALF</b></i>: If you are employed, do not try to assess your ‘market value’, by applying blindly to box number advertisements. Your CV might land on your own employer’s desk. </span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-45327366165909935342009-07-27T20:15:00.020+05:302010-11-06T18:59:33.355+05:30ALNASCHAR AND PYGMALION<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">It is axiomatic to say that ‘developing a positive outlook is the first step in the</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">process</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">of </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">self development</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">’.</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;"> However it must be clearly understood that positive <i>outlook</i> without positive <i>action</i> (or <i>effort</i>) amounts to daydreaming and the two must be clearly distinguished. <a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">The difference is as between </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Alnaschar</span></span></i></span><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> <span lang="EN-GB">and <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Pygmalion</span></i>. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Alnaschar</span></span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> in the ‘<i>Arabian Nights</i>’ daydreamt of the wealth he would make by selling his glassware. In the story </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Alnaschar</span></span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> was lying at a high perch and daydreaming, with the basket containing glassware at his feet. He would sell his glassware to make profit; invest the money to buy more glassware and sell it to make more profit. This process would go on and on till he became rich enough to seek to the Sultan’s daughter as a wife. In his dream </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Alnaschar</span></span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> had a tiff with his wife and gave her a kick. Only in reality he kicked the basket containing glassware which fell from the high perch and the glassware tinkled into pieces. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Pygmalion</span></span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> was the protagonist in <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Ovid</span></i>’s <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Metamorphoses</span></i>. He was a sculptor who carved the statue of a woman in ivory and fell in love with it. The goddess <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Aphrodite</span></i> (some say that it was her that <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Pygmalion</span></i> carved) brought the statue to life and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Pygmalion<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> married the woman.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The story inspired <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">George Bernard Shaw</span> to write his famous play <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Pygmalion</span></i>, which was made into a theatre play and a film twice in 1938 and 1964. In Shaw’s play, Henry Higgins a professor of phonetics wages a bet that he could train a <i>cockney</i> flower girl to pass for a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">duchess</span>. The professor succeeds in training the flower girl to acquire the accent and etiquette of <i>upper class</i> society.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The second film was the famous <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">My Fair Lady</span></i>, in which Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn portrayed Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle, the cockney flower girl respectively. In it Eliza successfully posed as a mysterious lady of patently noble rank at an embassy ball - despite the presence of a Hungarian expert in phonetics, who was also trained by Higgins. Wasn’t this theme replicated in dozens of Indian movies in various languages?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">Shaw’s play has quite a few lessons for success seekers. The professor had enormous confidence in himself and his ability. Eliza was confident that with positive action (effort) she could metamorphose herself into an </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">upper class</span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> lady. Her original intention in seeking to develop herself was only to obtain a job in a flower shop. Both succeeded because of their positive outlook. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">Remember the original Latin play was </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black;">Metamorphoses</span></i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">In psychology the <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Pygmalion effect</span></i> (a.k.a. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;">Rosenthal-Jacobson effect or <i>teacher-expectancy effect</i></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: small;">) </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: black; font-size: small;">refers to situations in which some students perform better than others simply because their teachers expect them do so. It is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. (Rosenthal, Robert & Jacobson, Lenore. <i>Pygmalion in the classroom</i><i>.</i> Expanded edition. 1992. <st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state>: <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Irvington</st1:place></st1:city>).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The <i>gurus</i> of self-development are right when they say that positive outlook increases the chances of success manifold when it is coupled with positive <i>action</i> (or <i>effort</i>). The following real life story illustrates this principle.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Many readers queried about the identity of the sales manager whose real-life experience was narrated in the previous article. He dislikes identifying himself; but his name means Vishnu. So let us call him Vishnu! This story too like the previous one is from Vishnu’s early days as a <i>sales manager</i>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vishnu was based at <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mysore</st1:place></st1:city>. He was to manage a sales team in south-west Karnataka - between <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mysore</st1:place></st1:city> in the south, Mangalore in the west, Ranibennur in the north and Tumkur in the east. Shortly after his posting Vishnu had to induct Sri, a probationer at Tumkur. Regretfully he had to sack the previous sales person for malfeasance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sri was almost fresh from college, having worked in another company for less than six months. He was highly enthusiastic and a bundle of indefatigable energy. Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Sri did not speak a word of Kannada or Hindi with which one would have been intelligible in some parts of his territory.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Tumkur had a strong, well-knit trade association that was able to make or mar the marketing fortunes of many companies and was dictating to the industry. The association laid down a rule that its member retailers would stock only the first three ‘brands’ that were introduced in any generic category. The issue was so stark and so unique that it was a topic of discussion for the entire industry but none could do anything about it. Even the MRTP act could not be invoked as the association coached its members to ward off queries by claiming there was no demand for products except those allowed by it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A few months before Sri joined, his company launched two new products that were not only expected to be large revenue earners but would also augment the company’s image as a research-based organisation. As all this happened in the late eighties much before the product patent regime, some companies had already introduced products in the two categories and according to the rules of the trade association Sri’s new products were barred entry.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sri’s company knew the ground realities because of which, in fact it gave Sri’s predecessor only nominal targets for the two products. Sri was frustrated. For although his superiors would understand the situation, he would have had to helplessly listen to his colleagues’ success stories when they met for their regular six-weekly briefing sessions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sri discussed the problem with Vishnu. Both of them met the office bearers of the trade association to seek their help in resolving the issue. This did not help but the duo found that one of the office bearers was the dominant voice in the association. Vishnu advised Sri to court him although they did not expect any immediate gains. This went on for some months during which Vishnu counselled Sri not to be disheartened but to persist with his efforts irrespective of the results. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then there appeared a brief window of opportunity. The office bearer whom Sri courted indicated that because of a rift in their executive committee the ‘three-brand-rule’ would be suspended and he should try to cash in on it. Thus forewarned Sri immediately swung into action and worked like a mad man. He called on all potential customers every day and some more than once in a day for the next one week which amounted to 25 – 30 calls a day, three times the normal work output. Although Tumkur was a small town this was something only a person totally committed to his task could or would do. Sri informed his customers about the availability of his products and sought their support. The customers appreciated his sincerity and <i>Herculean</i> efforts (<i>for once the expression is neither an exaggeration nor a mere figure of speech!</i>). They were happy to support him instantly as they too were aware of the traders’ overbearing monopoly but could not help succumbing to it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In time the executive committee resolved its differences and the suspension of the ‘three-brand-rule’ barely lasted a week but the demand created by Sri for his brands was so intense that the retailers were not able to revert to their earlier stance. Eventually they decided that Sri’s brands would get a one-off exception even after the ‘three-brand-rule’ was resumed. They had also decided that any new brands Sri introduced would automatically qualify for the exemption.</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The story could well be an example of leadership or followership but it certainly is an example of the <i>Pygmalion</i> effect. The student lived up to his teacher’s expectations!</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We are sure you would like to trace Sri’s path to success. Well, Sri followed his leader when he was transferred to another state, to a larger area where too he replicated his tremendous success in Tumkur. He was promoted but not being content, moved on to another organisation for a larger position and then on! He took up an overseas assignment and had a stint in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Russia</st1:country-region></st1:place>. (We’ll find out if he would like to share his experiences in a country that had sounded the death knell to a religion called <i>communism</i>.<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">) </span><span class="Apple-style-span">He is back in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> for a high level assignment in international marketing. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span> </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4546488599223954568.post-21829303699647670322009-02-13T13:08:00.004+05:302010-11-06T19:00:06.990+05:30DEVELOPING A POSITIVE OUTLOOK<div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">The first step in the <i>self development</i> process is to inculcate a positive outlook towards life. The success one yearns to achieve in life varies from individual to individual.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
As the poet said:<br />
<br />
<i>Some for the glories of This World; and some<br />
Sigh for the Prophet’s Paradise to come;<br />
</i><br />
And the poet mused that there was no point in sighing for a ‘<i>prophet’s paradise</i>’. Therefore he advised, <i>“Whatever you wish to do, do it now!”</i> (Of course the <i>noble</i> poet meant doing some useful work!)<br />
<br />
<i>Ah, take the cash and let the promise go,<br />
Nor heed the music of a distant Drum!<br />
</i><br />
In order to illustrate the concept of outlook to life, a small parable is often quoted:<br />
<br />
<b>The three stone cutters<br />
</b><br />
In the parable, a philosopher - a practical philosopher, who travelled, observed, and analyzed events, not an armchair philosopher - was wandering in his quest to understand the meaning and purpose of life.<br />
<br />
He came across three stone cutters working at a stone quarry. The work of the stone cutters was to break large boulders using heavy sledge hammers into smaller and smaller pieces till they could be manipulated into masonry. This, they did, in an unvarying routine throughout their working day and day after day throughout their working life. The philosopher asked all three of them the same question: <i>“What are you doing?”<br />
</i><br />
The first stone cutter answered the question with some asperity: <i>“Can’t you see; I am breaking stones.”<br />
</i><br />
The second answered with humility: <i>“Sir, I make a living by cutting these stones.”</i><br />
<br />
The third answered with obvious relish: <i>“I make stones that may someday be used in the construction of a beautiful monument!”<br />
</i><br />
The three stone cutters were doing the same work, for the same number of hours everyday and paid the same amount of money. But each looked at his work differently:<br />
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<i>The first one cursed his work, his life, his existence and may be even the world around him.</i> </div><div align="justify"><br />
<i>The second one was neutral; he was neither jubilant nor unhappy about his work and life - in his view he merely existed.<br />
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<i>For the third no work was menial; he was able to see nobility in the work he did.<br />
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The parable has a number of lessons. <i>But firstly it should not be misunderstood</i>. It was not to lull human beings into accepting whatever life offered and be happy with it. <i>If it was, the world would have been full of happy stone cutters.</i> There would have been no quest for knowledge and no progress. The ancient <i>Rishis</i> would not have gazed into <i>Sunya </i>(nothingness) to come up with the mathematical symbol ‘0’; there would have been no advancement in the science of mathematics; there would have been no <i>chakra</i> (wheel) by extension. <i>Newton</i> would have eaten his apple; and the world would have remained flat in human perception.<br />
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The first lesson may be drawn from the first stone cutter. If he cursed his work, who or what forced him to continue doing it? He could have or should have sought to do something that he liked. Then he would have liked his work, his life, his existence and the world around him. The lesson may be summed up as: <i>‘learn to love your work or seek to do the work you love!’</i><br />
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The second lesson is for the majority; the mediocre that makes up the majority for whom life is mere <i>existing</i> not <i>living</i>. A little harsh perhaps but true - because the majority of people are stoic; they are neither happy nor unhappy; they just accept whatever comes their way instead of <i>striving to improve their lot and the lot of people around them</i>.<br />
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The third lesson is, not to be unhappy with what one does not have; nor to wallow in self pity or seethe with fury against the ‘cruel world’ but to seek whatever glory one can in the work one does. There would be no point in a stone worker cursing himself - or the world - for not being a scientist and win a <i>Nobel</i> Prize. But could he not work to produce a beautiful sculpture or a grand edifice? The moral is a slight inversion of the first: <i>learn to love your work or strive to elevate it to a higher plane!<br />
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<b>A changed attitude to life works wonders.<br />
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We have agreed at the outset, that we do not pack these pages with text book wisdom! <i>Therefore</i>, it is necessary to narrate a <i>real life experience</i>: This is the story that a <i>sales manager</i> experienced in the early days of his career. He was posted to a new a area and asked to lead a team that was performing below par. It was a young team but beset with a lot of problems. One specific brief that was given to him was to get rid of a <i>probationer</i> who was <i>no good</i>. The view was that the <i>probationer</i> was argumentative and negative minded. The <i>sales manager</i> however felt that he should not do any <i>axing</i> without thoroughly analysing the issue. He found that the probationer had strengths and weaknesses.<br />
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On the positive side he was aggressive and bold, strengths highly desirable in sales professionals. On the negative side he was indeed argumentative and negative minded which was probably attributable to his family background. His father was a trade union leader and subscribed to a <i>particular</i> political philosophy, a trait which the boy <i>subconsciously</i> imbibed. Secondly in his work habits he was not ‘<i>up with the lark</i>’ as against the sales profession’s maxim expressed in the saying: '<i>an early bird catches the prey</i>'. This was found to be because of a constitutional problem which could be easily corrected. There were some problems in the territory too. In the past, there were frequent changes of sales personnel in the territory; demand for the company’s products was dropping; there was attrition of distributors and no one was coming forward to take the line. All these factors added to the probationer’s negative attitude.<br />
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The <i>sales manager</i> patiently counselled the <i>probationer</i> listing first his strengths and what he could achieve in life - <i>not just in his job or career</i> - if only he had confidence in himself and corrected a few habits which he explained was not difficult at all. The professional help the <i>sales manager</i> rendered to the probationer is immaterial to this story but because he did not give up and constantly worked to change his <i>protégé</i>’s attitude he was able to bring about a <i>remarkable transformation</i>. In about a year the <i>probationer</i> was not only confirmed in service but was topping performance charts in the entire division. More importantly he shed his <i>trade union</i> proclivity and was beseeching his <i>mentor</i> to help him move up the career ladder! </div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2