medicinman june 2015

MEDICINMANField Force excellence

TM

June 2015 | www.medicinman.net

Since 2011

The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. - Friedrich Nietzsche

For the past two decades, Indias IT industry has been an amazing job-engine that created thousands of well paying jobs for young engineers. It is unlikely to remain so, says Ravi Venkatesh former chairman of Microsoft India. (See here)

According to Ravi Venkatesh, the abundance of employment party is coming to an end, due to a combination of factors like slowing demand, rising competition and technological changes. Even Wipro and Infosys, once considered as IT bellwethers are not immune to this slowdown that calls for creative destruction as the only solution.

What lessons can Indian Pharma people learn from the IT sector? Will the good times last for Indian Pharma? Tapan Ray, former Director General, Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) asks, Is Pharma Euphoria in India Misplaced? (See here)

EDITORIAL

THE PARTY IS OVER FOR THE IT SECTOR;WHAT ABOUT INDIAN PHARMA?

Editorial

Connect with Anup Soans on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

Anup Soans is an Author, Facilitator and the Editor of MedicinMan.

Write in to him: [email protected]

Meet the editor

In his blog, contrasting the healthcare scenario in China with that of India, he concludes that unlike China, which is well placed to remove restriction on drug prices, Indias abysmal healthcare access and infrastructure necessitates price controls.

A combination of factors like increasing price controls, UCPMP and MCI guidelines are beginning to adversely impact conventional pharma promotions and thereby Indian Pharmas growth story. Like the IT sector Indian Pharma will also need to shed weight, which will impact those with mediocre and obsolete skills. The rise of digital and social media will adversely impact those with without these skills and provide opportunities to those with necessary skills.

Ravi Venkatesh, concludes, The rate of change in our world is astonishing; whatever skills we have, will largely be irrelevant in a decade. So, the ability to learn new things, develop new competencies and periodically reinvent ourselves is a crucial one. Sadly too many of us have no curiosity and no interest in reading nor learning. The future will not be kind to such people.

And the learning, unlearning and relearning, which have been neglected in the prevailing scenario of transactional selling, should begin at the top and trickle down to the front-lines that are responsible for effective customer engagement. -MM

1. Seven Sutras to Kick Start Your Product Management Career...............................................6

Small steps to make the big leap from field sales to product management.

Soham Wagh

2. Four Questions Every Learning & Development Professional Should Ask ................9

Adopting Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgnes ERRC framework (Eliminate, Reduce, Raise and Create) to create real value for learners.

Dr Rajshri Jobanputra

3. Brilliant Basics...................................................12 Revisiting the basics of sales success.

K. Hariram

4. Brand Building: Beneath the Iceberg .............14

The real power of a brand comes from the intangible values associated with it such as warmth, concern, and sentimentality.

Vivek Hattangadi

5. Delivery Boy to Company President ..............19

The Success Story of Rashesh Patel - President, Corona Remedies

Rashesh Patel

5. The Abilene Paradox ........................................21

The Inability to Manage Agreement

Vivek Hattangadi

(Click to navigate)

CONTENTSMedicinMan Volume 5 Issue 6 | June 2015

Editor and Publisher

Anup Soans

CEO

Chhaya Sankath

Chief Mentor

K. Hariram

Editorial Board

Salil Kallianpur; Prof. Vivek Hattangadi; Shashin Bodawala; Hanno Wolfram; Renie McClay

Executive Editor

Joshua Soans

Letters to the Editor: [email protected]

Every year UDCT awards its distinguished alumni in three areas of Entrepreneurship, Professional and Young Achiever.This year, Susan Josi received this award in the Entrepreneur category. Heres what she had to say about winning the award:While getting awards and accolades is always a pleasure, getting a distinguished award from your own Alma Mater is a very prestigious event in ones life. I still remember the day, 36 years ago,

when I took my admission at UDCT. It was one of those remorseful moments of not getting a medical seat and therefore like a disgruntled kid I walked into this great institute then. And so a few weeks ago when I got the delightful news on this award , my mind raced back to the 6 wonderful years I spent here, filled with some nostalgic memories of how I was part of a noisy dozen batch of girls and just three odd men in our pharmacy class of 15 !It truly means a lot to be honored by a university that has given me such a

solid foundation and has enabled me to accomplish so many things in my life. For that, I will be eternally grateful.Real contentment, enduring happiness, and fulfillment come from the gratification we get from two things: our work and our relationships. And in a way I am so grateful that I am abundantly blessed on both fronts.And that is surely what I often tell youngsters... Choose what you love and you wont have to work for a single day in your life!

Susan Josi , Managing Partner ,Sorento Healthcare , receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award-Entrepreneur, from the Director (Vice Chancellor) of ICT , Professor G.D.Yadav on 11th May 2015

6 | MedicinMan June 2015

Soham Wagh

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7 SUTRAS TO KICK START YOUR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT CAREERSmall steps to make the big leap from field sales to product management.

Product Managers have an enviable role in the Pharmaceutical Industry. They are the face of the brand(s) they manage. They develop the brand strategy and help drive the execution. They travel within and outside the country for conducting/attending import-ant meetings and are constantly visible to se-nior leadership of the organization. It is hardly surprising that many Pharmaceutical Sales Reps aspire to become Product Managers.

Here are Seven Sutras to help field sales people to realize their dream of becoming a Product Manager.

1. DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF GROWTH LEVERS, STRATEGY AND ACTIVI-TIES

Although the primary responsibility of a Sales Rep is execution of plans laid out by the Prod-uct Management Team, it is important to devel-op a larger perspective of what Growth Levers, Strategy and Activities are.

Simply speaking, any Pharmaceutical Brand can be grown by working on the following levers depending on the opportunity size, market share of the brand and organizational resources

1. Increasing diagnosis of the disease

2. Increasing treatment rate of the disease

3. Gaining share within the drug class

4. Gaining share within the molecule segment

5. Increasing duration of the therapy/ improv-

ing compliance

Strategy is simply the roadmap of How that

particular lever can be worked upon and Ac-

tivities are nothing but What is to be done to

accomplish the strategy.

2. LEARN YOUR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS

THOROUGHLY

If an organization plans to promote Sales Reps

from within into Product Management, one of

the first qualifying criteria would be to pos-

sess above-average knowledge of the therapy

area. There is no simpler way of becoming an

expert in the relevant therapy area apart from

diligently reading and understanding all the

promotional/scientific materials that are pro-

duced by the Product Management Team for

promoting to HCPs (Health Care Providers are

primarily Doctors).


3. SHARE STRUCTURED FEEDBACK WITH YOUR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TEAM

Sales Reps have the advantage of being the closest to the ground reality. Product Management Teams are always hungry for first hand information on how their strategies/ campaigns/ activities are perceived by the HCPs. What is the competition up to and other rele-vant developments/ happenings in the marketplace. Sales Reps who proactively share such feedback with the Product Management Team create extra visibility for themselves. If an opportunity arises in Product Management wherein internal talent is being evaluat-ed, proactive Sales Reps may have an edge over other Sales Reps.

4. LET YOUR ASPIRATIONS BE KNOWN TO THE PEOPLE WHO MATTER

Sales Reps get opportunities to interact with Market-ing, Business or HR Heads during Annual Functions, Quarterly Cycle Meetings and Training Programs. Sales Reps interested in making a career in Product Management should convey their aspirations to the decision makers at the opportune moment so that whenever there is an opportunity to promote interest-ed and capable Sales Reps will be on the radar.

5. IDENTIFY A MENTOR WHO CAN GUIDE YOU ON A REGULAR BASIS

An ideal mentor for Sales Reps aspiring to move into Product Management would be a Product Manager or a Marketing Manager who is willing to share what the job involves, what are day to day roles and responsibil-ities and what are the skills needed to be successful in Product Management.

6. ENROLL FOR PROFESSIONAL COURSES THAT DEMONSTRATE YOUR PASSION FOR LEARNING

Being a Sales Rep is tough and the job is extremely time intensive but it would be prudent to enroll for part-time courses that are aligned to Pharmaceutical Marketing. Nowadays MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses) have made it easy to for individuals to learn from the comfort of their home with zero/negligible fees. This can help a Sales Rep demonstrate their gen-uine desire to move into Product Management.

7. BE READY AND PREPARED TO MOVE ON

Sales Reps who are not able to move into Product Management in their current organizations despite their best efforts should be open to move to anoth-er organization that might offer them the role they desire even if the new organization might be smaller in size or lesser in reputation. -SW

Soham Wagh | 7 Sutras for Moving from Field Sales to Product Management

Soham Wagh is a Sr. Marketing Manager for Emerging Markets and Europe with a leading

Multinational Pharmaceutical company. Soham has over 13 years of experience in the

industry in Sales and Marketing.

Product Management Teams are always hungry for first hand information on how their strategies/ campaigns/ activities are perceived by the HCPs... Sales Reps who proactively share such feedback with the Product Management Team create extra visibility for themselves.

CAREER PROGRESSION RESOURCES

NOW AVAILABLE ON

(click on the books to purchase on flipkart)

SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager is a tool to help pharma professionals transition from super salesmen to great front-line managers and leaders. The book will equip front-line managers to Manage, Coach, Motivate and Lead their teams to deliver outstanding performance. An engaging read, filled with examples and illustrations, SuperVision for the SuperWiser Front-line Manager has been used by thousands of managers across the industry.

HardKnocks for the GreenHorn is a specially crafted training manual to enable Medical Representatives to gain the Knowledge, Skills and Attitude needed to succeed in the competitive arena of pharma field sales. Medical Representatives joining the field are often not aware about the key success factors of their job and as a result they get discouraged when things dont go as planned. HardKnocks for the GreenHorn is a powerful learning and motivational tool for field sales managers to build their sales teams.

GET YOUR PHARMA CAREER OFF TO A FLYING START!


There are very few management books that can deeply engage a non-management au-dience and which also unfolds the concepts as if they are some characters of a novel. One such book, authored by Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgne is Blue Ocean Strategy or BOS. What makes BOS a marvelous read is its business management ideas that are beautifully articulated with real life industry examples.

From among the many actionable tools provided in BOS, one that I think works in any situation, be it parenting or creating a business strategy, is the ERRC grid. ERRC stands for Eliminate, Reduce, Raise and Create. Basically these are 4 actions that can help create value innovation for your customers. Sim-ply put, if you want to really create something exceptional and valuable for your customer then it is important that you honestly and without any ambiguities answer these 4 important questions:

Question 1: What are some of the factors/ elements that are no longer of value to your customers? (Elim-inate them)

Questions 2: What are some of the factors/ ele-ments that have little attraction for your customers? (Reduce them)

Question 3: What are some of the factors/ elements that are highly attractive or significantly valuable to your customers? (Raise them)

Question 4: What are some of the factors / ele-ments that your customers have never experienced before / will be a new source of value for your non customer? (Create them)

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Adopting Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgnes ERRC framework (Eliminate, Reduce, Raise and Create) to create real value for learners.

4 QUESTIONS EVERY LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL SHOULD ASK

Dr Rajshri Jobanputra

Dr Rajshri Jobanputra is Senior Learning and Talent Transformation Consultant at KNOLSCAPE


In the language of BOS non-customers could be those who:

a) Are willing to jump ship or soon-to-be customers

b) refuse to consider/ disinterested in your offering, and

c) Are furthest from you the ones you have not yet explored

Being from the training industry I thought of putting these questions to use in order to understand the likely value innovation that the training fraternity can offer to its customers and non-customers. Here is what I arrived at after using the ERRC tool for the training industry to which I belong. My analysis is based on my own personal experience as a facilitator and of the many interesting narratives shared by my peers and mentors belonging to this profession of facilitation.

With the advent of learning modes such as e-learning, video based learning, and gamified simulation modules, the paradigm of learning has gone beyond the confines of passive classroom learning.

Dr Rajshri Jobanputra | 4 Questions Every Learning & Development Professional Should Ask

ELIMINATE1. Boredom2. Lecturing3. Physical classroom presence 4. Passive learning

CREATE 1. Flexible learning time2. On the go learning environment3. Context / Industry relevant learning4. Instantaneous feedback mechanism

RAISE 1. Transferability of knowledge & skills2. Knowledge retention3. Interactivity / learner engagement4. Motivation for learning

REDUCE 1. Cost: travel and training2. Long hours of classroom based learning3. Theoretical inputs4. Dependency on training instructor

During this process of analysis, I realized that a similar analysis would have prompted and motivat-ed many young and experienced minds whom we have now come to say have revolutionized the way individual and group level learning happens in an organization. With the advent of learning modes such as e-learning, video based learning, and gam-ified simulation modules, the paradigm of learning has gone beyond the confines of passive classroom learning. These new online and virtual modes of


Dr Rajshri Jobanputra | 4 Questions Every Learning & Development Professional Should Ask

The increasingly digitally wired workforce along with the easy availability of commercial and technological platforms has today made it easy and affordable to invest in online training be it onboarding or even succession planning.

learning have opened the floodgates of anytime anywhere learning - just the kind of requirement our ERRC model reveals. With many simulation based learning modules integrating context specific con-cepts, game elements like leaderboards and scores, instantaneous feedback mechanism among other things, all add up to creating a value for the learner long missing in classroom based didactic training sessions.

The timing of introducing such personalized and ICT propelled trainings couldnt have been better. For, over the last couple of years, organization workforce has become populated with the first generation of workers who grew up with computers and www. Also known as the Millennials or digital natives, Gen Ys involvement and existence in the virtual is so significant that it has even impacted how they conduct and think about their life. Small wonder why companies keen to attract, engage and retain the Gen Y workforce have begun paying serious attention to different digital learning avenues. The increasingly digitally wired workforce along with the easy availability of commercial and technological platforms has today made it easy and affordable to invest in online training be it onboarding or even succession planning. As such, the prevailing work-force profile, the organizations renewed interest in making learning and performance integral to their success strategy, and the burgeoning variety of online learning tools and platforms all together contribute in fortifying human capital within the organization.

So now the big question: were you to analyze your organizations or Gen Ys learning needs using the ERRC tool, what would it reveal? Go ahead try it out! -RJ


How often have we heard this from the CEO or the Sales Head of a pharma company?

Let us do these numbers now or this month or this year. Do it at any cost. Next year we will see next year or let us cross the bridge when it comes.

Given the push approach to sales in many pharma com-panies, surviving the short term with a few quick bonus offers, borrowing from next month/quarter/year or pushing new products to show inflated sales is an often repeated trick.

Yes, you become the EK DIN KA SULTAN. However, these oft repeated tricks (tactics) do very little to secure consis-tency and predictability in sales growth.

How do we come out of this? Revisit the sales funda-mentals.

1. The selling process has to be established with proper systems/processes.

2. More importantly, it has to be embraced by one and all, more so at the top.

3. Sales has to be through PULL strategy and not through PUSH strategy.

4. Today there are business solution providers who are willing to work along with the organisations towards building a supply chain process that adopts PULL strategy

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BRILLIANT BASICS Revisiting the basics of sales success

K. Hariram

K. Hariram is the former MD (retd.) at Galderma India.

He is Chief Mentor at MedicinMan and a regular contributor. [email protected]


5. With the expected implementation of UCPMP, marketing and pull strategy approach, embracing change keeps the misery at bay.

6. Create additional value added services that DISTINCTLY DIFFERENTIATES your representation at in-clinic level.

7. Instead of merely competing create an attitude of creating value monopolies.

8. Let the sales management be tuned towards on the job coaching

9. Train & update sales people on selling skills

10. Embrace technology, digital media etc. to facil-itate the sales people towards improved produc-tivity.

In these challenging and exciting times, when you move away from these basics and fundamentals, short term you gain but in the long term you get into trouble. So basics and fundamentals are the bedrock foundation of sustainability and predict-ability.

Hence they are brilliant basics and hard-core fun-damentals.

Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Suc-cess is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals. -KH

K. Hariram | Brilliant Basics

In these challenging and exciting times, when you move away from these basics and fundamentals, short term you gain but in the long term you get into trouble.


What is a brand? Ask this question to a medical representative, a first-line manager or an aam aadmi, the answers could be many.

One may say it is a logo, another signage. A third may say its positioning or the fourth its communi-cation.

Well, they may not be entirely off the track, but are just nibbling the tip of the iceberg.

What then is a brand?

That perhaps is a very difficult question to answer. If you do a Google search, you may probably have more than 50 definitions of a brand!

To me, a brand is the sum total of how a customer (the doctor) perceives a product. Branding and brand building is about shaping and directing that perception.

What then is brand building? It is enhancing a brands equity directly through advertising cam-paigns and ethical promotions. It is championing the brand through various activities carried by the field staff.

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Vivek Hattangadi

BRAND BUILDING: BENEATH THE ICEBERG

The real power of a brand comes from the intangible values associated with it such as warmth, concern, and sentimentality.

Prof. Vivek Hattangadi is a Consultant in Pharma Brand Management and Sales

Training at The Enablers. He is also visit-ing faculty at CIPM Calcutta (Vidyasagar

University) for their MBA course in Pharma-ceutical Management.

[email protected]

Vivek Hattangadi | Brand Building: Beneath the Iceberg


Building a great brand often involves patient-centric activities. Branding means much more than giving a brand name and signaling to the outside world that such a product or a service has been stamped with the mark and imprint of an organization.1

Brand building is an on-going process to create a cohe-sive personality for a brand.2

Says David Ogilvy: Brands, like people, have personal-ities, and they can make or break them in the market place.3

Before you know what essentially brand personality is, you should first be aware what the personality of a human being signifies.

New Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines personality as the qualities of a persons character that make them interesting, attractive and different from others.4 These are the visible aspects of ones character as seen by others. They include your actions, your atti-tudes, and your behaviors. Your personality can either make a good impression or make a poor impression on others. Personality is an embodiment of a collection of qualities. You take an inventory of the visible traits of a person. Your gut feelings then determine the person-ality. Example, you can brand someone as an affable person, a grumpy person, an arrogant person, a pseudo-intellectual and so on. This is how you describe someones personality.

If you have to brand yourself, what kind of personality would you chose? Your personality will help you to build your personal brand. It is your personality that elicits a gut reaction from people. Your personality per-meates through everything you do. Your personality is what sets you apart from everyone else.

It is your personality that makes you different.

So also, a brand is the doctors gut feeling about your product. The kind of personality you create for your brand either sets it apart from competitors or makes it a commodity.

A brand personality can be defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a given brand. Thus it includes such characteristics as gender, age, and socioeconomic class, as well as such classic human personality traits as warmth, concern, and sentimental-ity.5 A brand manager will have to develop a person-ality which she would like to project for her brand. The perception of the doctors of that consistently projected personality eventually becomes a brand.

... a brand is the doctors gut feeling about your product. The kind of personality you create for your brand either sets it apart from competitors or makes it a commodity.



But this is much easier said than done. Brand building is not as simple as we think and involves many process-es.

How will you develop a brand personality? Take any brand of yours and imagine it is a famous person. What are the traits of this brand which you would like to apply continuously in your verbal and visual communi-cation?

One of the best examples of how a brand person-ality has been developed is that of Cetaphil, a skin cleaner from Galderma. If you ask a dermatologist the brand personality of Cetaphil, he is most likely to say: Cetaphil is like a caring and gentle nurse for my patients skin

This emanates from the consistent and enduring com-munication of Cetaphil which says6:

Cetaphil The Gentle Skin Cleanser

Cleanses Gently; Moisturizes Intensely; Protects Daily

This brings us to brand equity.

Brand Equity is a set of assets (or even liabilities) linked to a brands name and symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the value provided by a brand.5

The major assets groups include:5

Brand name awareness

Brand loyalty

Perceived quality

Brand associations

Brand identity is fundamental to recognition. It is central to a brands strategic vision. Brand identity is the driver of one of the four principles of brand equity: associations which are the heart and soul of a brand.5 Brand identity symbolizes the brands differentiation from competition. The visible elements of a brand (such as colors, design, logotype, name, symbol and more of such) identify and distinguish the brand in the doctors mind. You as the brand manager have to de-cide how you want the doctors to perceive the identity of your brand and build a brand association.

Brand association is anything which is deep seated in the doctors mind about the brand. Brand should be associated with something positive so that the doctors relate your brand to being positive. Brand associations are the attributes of brand which come into a doctors mind when the brand is talked about. Brand associa-tion is driven by brand identity and brand personality. Brand association is also greatly influenced by many

Brand associations are the attributes of brand which come into a doctors mind when the brand is talked about. Brand association is driven by brand identity and brand personality.



touchpoints like contact with companys medical representatives, the promotional material you prepare, word of mouth publicity, price and quality of the prod-uct and even the displays.

Prescribers decide what a brand is. We may have a particular idea of what we would like your brand to be, however, it is only the brand which makes prescribers arrive at the same gut feeling. Brand managers alone can help influence this reaction

Communication plays a key role in building a success-ful brand. Brand positioning is essentially prescribers perceptions the objective to build a clearly defined position in minds of prescribers through our communi-cation. All elements of the promotional mix need to be used to develop and sustain prescribers perceptions. The initial challenge is to build awareness, then to de-velop the brand personality and reinforce the percep-tion so as to generate prescriptions.

What is brand building in our pharma industry?

Pharma brand building is prescription generation and determines the health of the company. For a pharma company, good health means a strong prescription base for the brands of the company. It is in fact more important than volume sales. This has three factors viz.

1. Strong physical response7

2. Strong perceptual response7

3. Strong character of response7

Physical response is the number of actual prescriptions for a brand. Prescriptions can come either through pull demand versus push tactics. Pull prescriptions come through scientific communication, creating prescrip-tions demand through science and the benefits of product. Push prescriptions demand on the other hand comes through samples, gifts and customer relations management.

Perceptual response is the gap between the brands communication and the prescribers perception of the brand. Does the prescriber perceive the brand the way it has been communicated by the brand manager? Is there a gap between perception and the intended communication?

Suppose are positioning your brand Omepraz (omepra-zole) in acid-peptic disorders. Are you getting prescrip-tions of Omepraz in acid-peptic disorders? Or are you getting prescriptions in NSAID-induced gastritis? If the latter is true then the perceptual response of Omepraz is weak.

Prescribers decide what a brand is. We may have a particular idea of what we would like your brand to be, however, it is only the brand which makes prescribers arrive at the same gut feeling. Brand managers alone can help influence this reaction



The character of response means whether or not we are getting prescriptions from doctors for whom it was intended. Omepraz is targeted towards gastroenterol-ogists. If 80% of the prescriptions of Omepraz are from the gastroenterologists, then the character of response of Omepraz is strong. On the other hand, if 80% of the prescriptions of Omepraz are from orthopedic sur-geons, then the character of response is weak.

To conclude, to build a strong pharma brand, it should have a powerful physical response through pull strate-gy. The perception of the prescriber should match the intended communication of the brand manager. Be-sides, the character of response has to be very strong. This will result into a strong brand.

And finally - Brands are a storehouse of trust.8 -VH

Bibliography

1. Kapferer Jean-Noel. Strategic Brand Management:

Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term.

Kogan Page Ltd. London (1997)

2. Geller, L. Why Does My Dog Win at Social Media? In

http://www.joyofdirectmarketing.com

3. Ogilvy David. Ogilvy on Advertising. Random House,

New York (1985)

4. Hornby AS (Ed). New Oxford Advanced Learners

Dictionary. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2007)

5. Aaker, D. Building Strong Brands. The Free Press

London, (1996)

6. Cetaphil website - http://www.cetaphil.com.au

7. Based on presentations by Late Prof. Chitta Mitra

8. Quote from - Niali Fitzgerald Former CEO of

Unilever.

What the Pharma CEO Wants from the Brand

ManagerA Book by Prof. Vivek Hattangadi

Available on Flipkart(click to purchase)

Authors note: some brand names in this write-up are imaginary and if such brand names exist, it is coincidental


I cant change the direction of the wind, but I can always adjust my sails to reach my destination -- Jimmy Dean

As president of Corona Remedies, one of the fastest growing pharma companies, Rashesh Patel leads a team of young and dedicated professionals. But, the journey to success has not been rosy.

During his tenure, Corona Remedies was awarded the pres-tigious Emerging Company of the Year 2014 award at the AIOCD AWACS Marketing Excellence Awards function.

When asked about his success, he modestly says, I took care of Time and Time took care of Me. - Editor

--

19th April, 1983, Mumbai.

It was a routine lazy morning for thousands of 18 years old. After an overnight revision and last-minute frantic preparation they were getting ready for their final exam-ination.

But it was very different for me. Living at the Ashok Samrat Society, Walkeshwar, one of the swankiest areas of Mumbai, I stepped out of my home with a heavy heart and suppressed tears.

Before heading to college to appear for my final year exam, I had to go to the crematorium to perform the last rites of my father who had passed away the previous night from a heart attack.

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Rashesh Patel

DELIVERY BOY TO COMPANY PRESIDENT

The Success Story of Rashesh Patel - President, Corona Remedies

Rashesh Patel | Delivery Boy to Company President


Not willing to be defeated by the hands of Time, I went straight to the examination hall after the rituals and went on to achieve 2nd rank in the University.

When the going gets tough, it really gets tough! As if the emotional volcano that erupted on our family was not enough, a financial catastrophe struck - we lost the rights to our ancestral house and the partnership in my fathers business.

Meanwhile, I had to relinquish the admission I had secured in one of the most sought after institutes of India, the IIT. This put an end to what could have been a smooth sailing in professional career. Proba-bly, there was nothing more to lose. The journey from Rashesh to Mr. Rashesh Patel had just begun.

I took up a job as a delivery boy at Sevantilal Kanti-lal, a pharmaceutical distributor. With a clear focus, I pursued and completed my MBA from Indian Mer-chant Chambers, Mumbai through a weekend study program.

Bit by bit, slowly and gradually, I started climbing the ladder. From a delivery boy in a distribution firm, I was now working as a Medical Representative in one of the prominent pharmaceutical company of India.

At 26, I shifted to Ahmedabad and by then I had ensured a happy life for my elder sister by getting her married and was taking care of my mother. I too got married.

June, 2015, Ahmedabad

Through sheer dedication towards work, from a deliv-ery boy, I became the President.

I firmly believe that this industry gives an equal chance to all who really want to become successful. I truly and genuinely owe my success to the industry.

Decisions that you make in life; some will go in your favor always. But whats important is, never shy away from taking decisions and do not be upset if they are not going in your favor. Move on, better times are bound to come. -RP

Through sheer dedication towards work, from a delivery boy, I became the President.

I firmly believe that this industry gives an equal chance to all who really want to become successful. I truly and genuinely owe my success to the industry.


On my birthday a couple of years back, I wanted to take my family out for dinner. I asked my wife where we can go. Knowing that I like Gujarati food, she immediately said: Lets go to Agashiye -The Terrace Restaurant.

My son and daughter both nodded in agreement. We all voted on Agashiye -The Terrace Restaurant

On return my son said: I wish Pappa had taken us to Mainland China he loves Chinese food. Or at least to Shere-E-Punjab for the wonderful tandoori chicken added my daughter. Yes, I too would have loved to go to Mainland China, I said.

My wife looked surprised: But didnt we all unanimously agree to go to Agashiye she asked. I said sheepishly I didnt want you to feel bad. And both my children nod-ded in agreement. Here were four people who of their own volition would not have gone to Agashiye - The Terrace Restaurant, but collectively agreed to go there.

This also happens in the corporate world. This is the Abilene Paradox. Prof. Jerry Harvey calls it: The Inability to Manage Agreement.1

Abilene Paradox occurs when a group of people collec-tively decide on a course of action that is contrary to the preferences of many of the individuals in the group.

Prof. Harvey states in his paper The Abilene Paradox1: Organizations frequently take actions in contradiction to what they really want to do and therefore defeat the very purpose they are trying to achieve. This is the inability to manage agreement.

He adds: The inability to manage agreement, not the in-ability to manage conflict, is the essential symptom that defines organizations caught in the web of the Abilene Paradox.

In the corporate world, when the top boss throws an idea, the group immediately agrees. This is because everyone in the group thinks he would look stupid if he disagrees. Standing out as a lone voice is very embar-rassing. This leads the group to decide on yes when no would have been the personal (and the correct) response of the majority.

I love this one from Ayn Rand: If we have an endless number of individual minds who are weak, meek, submissive and impotent who renounce their cre-

ative supremacy for the sake of the whole and accept humbly the wholes verdict we dont get a collective super-brain. We get only the weak, meek, submissive and impotent collective mind.

The Abilene Paradox plagues Pharma India too, severely.

Decisions are taken which do not conform to the real un-derstanding of problems. This is because people do not want to take stress and anxiety by differing with the boss, even if their own viewpoint is logical and superior.

Often, a senior manager with excellence in communi-cation skills may cause this to happen. The oration is so convincing and his personality driving, voices of dissent get silenced. He may present his case so forcefully, that rather than be conspicuously different people decide to just go along with it. They are avoiding the anxiety of voicing a different viewpoint. This can lead to dangerous situations. Managers will continue to say `Yes when they want to say `No for the fear of being isolated or labeled as a rebel.

This paradox can be preempted by true and authentic leadership. It requires a leader with a different caliber and courage to lead such a group into a different direc-tion, where non-conformity is not acceptable. Such a leader will confront the group and even the person who throws the original idea, with what they have already agreed upon. This true leader will make people forget the previously agreed upon facts. Bringing these up causes people to reconsider, and could render the change in direction needed for a turnaround.

A young manager, who truly wants to make a mark, should have the courage to stand up and speak what he senses as correct. In fact by doing this, he is respecting himself and is telling the world that he is a significant person.

Robert Frost wrote:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The path less traveled is one the one which requires courage to say No when it is required to say No.

Most of the great cultural shifts ones that have built great organizations that sustain long-term growth, pros-perity and contribution to the world started with the choice of one person.2 - Prof. Vivek Hattangadi

References:1. Harvey, JB. The Abilene Paradox: The Management of Agreement. Organizational Dynamics, Summer 1988, pp. 1743. 1988 by the American Management Association, New York.2. Covey, Stephen. (2004) The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. New York: Simon& Schuster.

THE ABILENE PARADOX THE INABILITY TO MANAGE AGREEMENT

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medicinman june 2015

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