Case Study

The Indian Pharmaceutical sector is set to grow at 12.3% CAGR by 2015. Indian

pharmaceutical market is valued at about US $8 billion and is expected to reach to US $12

billion by 2010. Indian pharmaceutical market is 2% of world’s pharmaceutical market. In the

last two years, 3900 new generic products have been launched because of which its market value

has been increased to about US $355 million. The current pharmaceutical scenario involves lot

of patent lifts which brings about a lot of investment in R&D and basically shapes the way

industry functions. Companies are coming up with new innovations to keep up with business as

huge companies are undergoing mergers and acquisitions in the current past. Companies are

coming up with patented generics trends and some companies are investing more on patented

specifics. Thus, the pharmaceutical industry in India and as well as globally is a very dynamic

industry to study with its unique challenges and difficulties.

There is a huge scope for opportunities in terms of market but there is a downside too

which is the fact that the period of the exclusive patents of some top brands is near expiry. Hence

there is an immense pressure on the R&D vertical to invent a new molecule. During this time, it

also becomes important to train the employees well in order to sustain growth. The training and

development program needs to such as to equip the Sales-force to drive sales and sustain and

expand the customer base.

Abc is a pharmaceutical company based in the UK.

Revenue: $32,804 million(2009)

 Operating income: $11,534 million (2009)

Net Income : $7,544 million (2009)

Total Assets: US$46.8 billion (2009)

Total Equity: US$ 15.9 billion(2009)

Employees: 65,000(global)

Research and Development

Amount spent on Research per day is $14 million.

12,000 people employed for R&D across 7countries

Culture & behaviours

ABC wants to be an organisation that is recognised both for the skills, experience and

quality of our people and for the integrity with which we conduct business. This means that they

will continue to:

 Foster a spirit of creativity and collaboration in all functions.

 Promote a culture of responsibility and accountability.

 Strengthen the effectiveness of leaders and performance management.

  Build employee engagement and provide the support and development

opportunities that employees need to reach their full potential.

The Core Values continue to underpin and support achievement of all their strategic

priorities.

 Integrity & high ethical standards

 Respect for the individual and diversity

 Openness, honesty, trust and support for each other

 Leadership by example at all levels

The company employs a large sales force for the distribution of the medicines to

customers who include doctor as well as retailers. These medical representatives have a similar

role as that of a salesman in an FMCG setup. The company has termed this post as TBM

The Role of a TBM: Territory Business Manager:

They form the bottom most of the pyramid. The main function of a TBM is to sell the

product to the customers (Doctors and Retailers/Chemists/Pharmacies). They are expected to

make a minimum of 13 calls in a day (10 doctors and 3 retailers).As a part of the research for this

project, it was observed that since doctors are usually very busy, a TBM is practically given 5-10

minutes of air time to pitch for the product. Hence, effective communication becomes really

essential.

Also, product knowledge becomes highly important when facing a doctor as the doctor

may ask very technical questions to test whether the product will suit his/her patients or not. Due

to strict governmental policy of non-marketing, a strict code of conduct needs to be maintained

which is introduced to the new entrant during the induction. There is a training manager assigned

per region to take care of the discipline/code of conduct (with the HR) and also the training in the

technical aspect. In Abc it was found that there are group discussions and mini-workshops held

regularly in order to maintain the standard required for the post of a TBM. Also any variance

from the strict ‘pharma’ code is not accepted.

The usual day for a TBM consists of travelling, waiting for the doctors, promoting the

company’s brands. They are required to make at least 9 sales call to doctors and 6 to retailers.

They also have to ensure that stocks are available with the retailers and are being provided by the

authorized stockists. But most of their time is spent on travelling and waiting for the doctors.

The attrition rate in the field force is very high and is around 30-40% in the industry.

Majority of the representatives lie in the age of 25-35. Hence the task of recruitment is also

exhaustive.

X is a tbm based in Mumbai. He had joined the company a few years back and is a fairly

old employee of the company who is thorough with the practices of the company. He has been a

top performer throughout his career at ABC. Recently it was reported that he had been

misreporting in order to get bonus. The doctor he said he was visiting regularly denied being

visited by him even once. The line manager didn’t have a clue about it and was actually thinking

of promoting this person. Now, he is furious as even his ratings may drop even more if the

person is fired.

When confronted, the defaulter TBM apoligised and swore not to repeat it again. But he

also happened to mention that his present salary is not sufficient for he and his family and that

most of his Auto bills can’t be reimbursed as he doesn’t get the bills for Auto and Mumbai being
a city of uncertain weather changes and time constraints due to hectic schedule of the doctors, a

major part of his money is spent on travelling.

In another case, a new entrant had fallen sick and hadn’t been coming to office. The HR

manager had a good rapport with him and is sure that he has a genuine reason. He had not been

coming for the past 2-3 months. He is very poor and has a family to support.

The HR manager had to make a call as to whom to fire and why.

These two persons were fired. The former one because of breach of the code of conduct

and misreporting which could also malign the company’s image and the second person was

dismissed due to attendance though the company had been paying him for the 2-3 months when

he wasn’t regular. This was also to give a chance to someone else that is ready for that post.

So, after much consideration, it was felt that this was right thing to do as it would set an

example for the other employees too.

*Some information is not based on true facts and may be exaggerated –the performance

rating and compensation of the TBM