Why are there only 15% to 20% Women in Indian Pharma?

MEDICINMANField Force Excellence
February 2017| www.medicinman.net
Indian Pharma’s First Digital Magazine Since 2011
TM
A
father and his son are in a car accident. The
father is killed and the son is seriously in-
jured.The son is taken to the hospital where
the surgeon says,“I cannot operate, because this boy
is my son.”This popular brain teaser dates back many
years, but remains relevant today; 40-75 percent of
people still can’t figure it out. Those who do solve it
usually take a few minutes to fathom that the boy’s
mother could be a surgeon. Even when we have the
best of intentions, when we hear“surgeon”or“boss,”
the image that pops into our minds is mostly male.
Gender-based stereotypes are ingrained in our per-
ception.
Women are shockingly under-represented in the
economy, where they earn 77 cents to a dollar
earned by a man for doing the same work1
. This
means that for the same hours of work, a woman is
paid 30 percent less, in some places and more than
40 percent less in others. In India, even with an en-
viable GDP growth of 7 percent, there is very little
representation of women in the workforce and a 27
percent pay gap.
As per the McKinsey report – The Power of Parity: No-
vember 2015, the Gender Parity Score (“GPS”) of In-
dia is a shocking 0.48 which is extremely low, some-
what similar to the GPS of UAE and Egypt.
CLOSING
THE
GENDER
GAP IN
INDIAN
PHARMA
GUEST EDITORIAL
Sharadha Iyer

“
Guest Editorial | Closing the Gender Gap in Indian Pharma
2 | MedicinMan February 2017
Wait, there is more. Worldwide only 5 percent of
women actually manage to reach the top manage-
ment, C-level positions even though at entry level
the percentage of men and women are almost at
par1
. In India, the statistics are worse at 2 percent.
In the Indian Pharmaceutical industry, women
comprise only 15 percent of the total workforce
and only 20 percent of the salesforce2
There are are several deeply ingrained biases that
account for the above statistics, such as the belief
that:
• women aren not the sole income providers in
the family, hence the pay gap is justified
• women drop out or take breaks at certain stag-
es in life when the demands of marriage and
raising kids makes work-life balance a chal-
lenge
• if a woman is successful and powerful she must
be arrogant (whereas the same attributes in
men are seen as a sign of confidence)
A very interesting Harvard case study shared by
Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, where men
and women were tested in job and appraisal in-
terviews, found that men credit success to innate
(internal) qualities/skills, and failure to external
factors (it was unfair, they did a poor job). Women
credit success to hard work, luck, the help of oth-
ers (external factors) and failure to their lack of skill
and ability (internal factors).
Despite these challenges and the inevitable glass
ceiling, we have pioneers like Kiran Mazumdar
Shaw (CMD, Biocon Ltd.), Vinita Gupta (CEO, Lu-
pin Ltd.) and Dr Swati Piramal (Vice Chairperson,
Piramal Industries Ltd.) from the Indian Pharma
industry who have shown true strength and hope
for women. In one interview Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
had stated “I faced a number of challenges whilst
I built Biocon. I couldn’t get banks to fund me; I
couldn’t recruit people to work for a woman boss.
Even in the business where I had to procure raw
materials, they didn’t want to deal with women.”

In the Indian Pharmaceutical
industry, women comprise only 15
percent of the total workforce and
only 20 percent of the salesforce

“
While all industries have to start working towards
closing the gender gap, the Indian Healthcare in-
dustry can create a benchmark by incorporating
the following initiatives to improve gender parity
and representation of women:
1. Create a perception-free grading system
during job interviews and appraisals
2. Give equal pay and increments, irrespective of
gender
3. Mandate a 40 percent minimum representa-
tion of women in all functions and grades
4. Adopt women-friendly HR policies such as
those initiated by Chanda Kocchar in ICICI bank
like work-from-home for mothers, extended
maternity leave, additional travel conveyance
for pregnant employees, creche facilities for
new mothers, etc.
5. In countries like Norway, Sweden and Finland
which are ranked first in the world in terms
of gender parity, paternity leave of 3 months
and combined parental leave of 1 year was
initiated, which improved the represenation
of women in the workforce and created better
work-life balance.
6. Create an environment where women can
lead: start new initiatives for mentoring wom-
en leaders for C-level positions.
Women also need to work on certain aspects to
bridge the perception gap1
:
1. Believe in yourself and be confident
2. Give it your all: don’t quit your job despite
challenges and don’t quit from the race.
3. Lead to win: step forward when there is more
responsibility or new a opportunity that comes
your way and aspire to leadership

Adopt women-friendly HR policies
such as those initiated by Chanda
Kocchar in ICICI bank like work-
from-home for mothers, extended
maternity leave, additional
travel conveyance for pregnant
employees, creche facilities for new
mothers, etc.

“
4. Ask for what you deserve: do ask for a raise, ask
for a promotion and ask for equal pay during
job interviews
5. Involve your life partner: have a 50-50 partner-
ship in divison of domestic responsibilities
6. You can balance work and family – just believe
in your abilities
Says Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook)“We cannot
change what we are not aware of, and once we are
aware, we cannot help but change.”
The reality is that if we do nothing, the gender
wage-gap and women under-representation will
still be rampant for the next hundred years; if
we start doing something we can bring positive
change from within and create a significant impact.
M
References
1. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
2. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/women-part-indian-phar-
ma-sales-workforce-shubhankar-mazumdar

The reality is that if we do nothing,
the gender wage-gap and women
under-representation will still be
rampantforthenexthundredyears;
if we start doing something we can
bring positive change from within
and create a significant impact.
Sharadha Iyer is a marketing
professional working as a
Senior Product manager in
Lupin.
She is a strong supporter of
gender parity at all levels in
corporate and elsewhere.
Email id: shardaiyer6@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/sharadha-
iyer-b6316718

CONTENTS
Our mission is the collective improvement of the
pharma sales and marketing ecosystem - leading
to better relationships with doctors and better out-
comes for patients.
MedicinMan Volume 7 Issue 2 | February 2017
Editor and Publisher
Anup Soans
Chief Mentor
K. Hariram
Editorial Board
Salil Kallianpur; Prof. Vivek Hattangadi; Shashin
Bodawala; Hanno Wolfram; Renie McClay
Letters to the Editor: anupsoans@medicinman.net
An imprint of MedicinMan Pvt. Ltd.
1. A Salesforce Retention Strategy for Indian
Pharma ...............................................................6
Aquantitativeandqualitativeapproachtomeasuring
and stemming the tide of attrition in pharma sales
K. Hariram
2. “I Am Waiting for the Day When Pharma
Hires a CEO from a Tech Company” .................10
Salil Kallianpur - Executive Vice President - Primary
Care at GSK shares his thoughts on Indian pharma
in 2017 and beyond with MedicinMan
Interview with Salil Kallianpur
3. 1st
World Pharma Brand Managers Day ....19
A report on the 1st
World Pharma Brand Managers
Day which began with a Pharma CEO Conclave
Prof. Suniel Deshpande and Vivek Hattangadi
4. Pharma L&D Beyond the Classroom ..........24
Real learning almost always takes place outside the
classroom, but internalizing that in L&D requires a
mindset change
Diksha Fouzdar
Connect with Anup on LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter
Anup Soans is an L&D Facilitator,
Author, Pharma Consultant.
Visit: anupsoans.com
Meet the Editor

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T
ime and again there has been a hue and
cry about the status of sales force attrition
in Indian Pharma organisations. Human
Resources is seized with the issue and is preoc-
cupied in churning out statistical data about the
reasons for the attrition, mostly based on exit
interviews and with some observations. Exit in-
terviews are invariably done over the phone by a
junior HR personnel or by the line manager, due
to geographical constraints.
When the reasons are presented to the CEO,
the Sales Head hardly accepts the reasons cited
by HR and puts the blame on ‘millennials’, HR,
the image of pharma in the society, etc. With no
definite understanding of the issues leading to
attrition, HR and the Sales Head start working on
the‘urgent’need of filling up vacancies. Thus the
‘important’ part of working for a long term sus-
tainable solution is put on the back shelf.

K. Hariram
A quantitative and qualitative approach
to measuring and stemming the tide of
attrition in pharma sales
A SALESFORCE
RETENTION
STRATEGY FOR
INDIAN PHARMA

As I was recently having a chat with the HR Head
of an Indian Pharma firm with regard to sales
force attrition, I recalled the Harvard Business
Review article titled, “How to Make Sense of
Sales Force Turnover” by Andris A. Zoltners, PK
Sinha, and Sally E. Lorimer that appeared in June
2013. The tracked data revealed the following:
1. 32 percent of departing salespeople left
primarily because of their relationship with
their first line manager
2. 27 percent of departing salespeople left pri-
marily because of inadequate pay
3. 21 percent of departing salespeople left
primarily because of the lack of promotion
opportunities.
4. The rest left for reasons other than the
above.
Do organisations have such clarity in their data?
How often do companies jump to some vague
conclusionandgetonwitha‘quickfix’approach?
Maybe, in each company’s case there is a need
to dig a bit deeper and try to understand who is
leaving for what reason.
Could they reveal more than what meets the
eye? The article further stated:
1. the ranking of the percentage of the peo-
ple who left for reason #1 (relationship with
manager) and reason #2 (pay)
2. the performance ranking of the percentage
of people who left for reason #3 (promotion
opportunities).
3. the fact that attrition or turnover statistics
makes more meaning when they are linked
to salespeople’s current performance and
future potential.
4. the fact that quantitative performance is
visible in most sales forces using data points
such as assigned territory sales growth and
target achievement. The qualitative aspect
in terms of the future potential can be as-
sessed by managers through the perfor-
mance management and timely and peri-
odic review
So, does the performance management system
include periodic performance reviews? Are the
findings used for performance improvement?
K. Hariram | A Sales Force Retention Strategy for Indian Pharma

One must also be open enough to assess and
recognise the importance of other aspects,
some of which are listed below:
1. Quality hiring
2. Proper on-boarding process
3. On-going learning & development pro-
grams
4. Being well-connected with sales personnel
through technology (digital)
5. Well trained Front line Managers (FLMs)
6. Emphasis on“on the job coaching”by FLMs
7. Demand creation and fulfilment-based
sales culture
8. Encouraging organisational environment
9. Open and transparent culture
10. The leadership team‘walking the talk’
11. Adequate autonomy, appreciation, pay,
long-term incentives, etc.
12. Identifying potential future managerial can-
didates and grooming them for higher re-
sponsibilities.
FLMs are the first point of contact for the sales
team on a day to day basis. Therefore, they
should be trained to diagnose sales force attri-
tion problems and empowered to implement
solutions for reducing churn with the support of
HR and their own reporting managers.
Companies should resist the urge to reduce in-
vestment in their sales people for fear of wasting
money on people who are likely to leave anyway.
Time and again studies have proved that invest-
ment in a sales team’s development can com-
pletely transform the rate of attrition and im-
prove the retention.
Yes, it is nice to talk about REDUCING SALES
FORCE ATTRITION. But it is the need of the day
to talk about IMPROVING SALES FORCE RETEN-
TION. M
K. Hariram | A Sales Force Retention Strategy for Indian Pharma
K. Hariram is the
former MD (retd.) at
Galderma India.
He is Chief Mentor at
MedicinMan and a
regular contributor.
khariram25@yahoo.com

M: Give us an assessment of how pharma in-
dustry fared in 2016 - globally and in India?
SK: Let me start with the clichéd “2016 was a
challenging year for pharma”. But then which
year isn’t? In 2016, the industry was challenged
on its already frail credibility thanks to the Dara-
prim and Epipen issues amongst others. This
didn’t work well given that the race to the White
House was on. Politicians put on a rare show
of bipartisanship and declared these price ris-
es as ‘immoral’. They vowed in one voice to cap
these prices in the US, putting untold pressure
on pharma stocks. The good news however, is
that the market is growing in both US and EU.
Newer products especially in the biologics and
I-O space are being launched, which provides
tailwind support. In Japan there are opportuni-
ties for generic players as the size of the generic
market grew to 30% of the total market and is
only expected to increase as the Japanese gov-
ernment battles increasing health care costs to
serve an aging population.

Salil Kallianpur - Executive Vice President - Primary Care at GSK shares
his thoughts on Indian pharma in 2017 and beyond with MedicinMan.
Interview with Salil Kallianpur
“I AM WAITING FOR THE DAY
WHEN PHARMA HIRES A CEO
FROM A TECH COMPANY”

Back home, the NPPA swung the price cap net wid-
er than before, bringing a larger section of the in-
dustry under controlled prices. Diligent journalism
continued to expose industry malpractices forcing
calls for speedier execution of regulations and con-
verting UCPMP into law. With the Singh brothers
handed a heavy penalty in the Daiichi-Ranbaxy
deal case, M&As seem to have lost favour tempo-
rarily, although consolidation seems the way for-
ward if stricter regulations drive up the cost of do-
ing business in India.
M: What significant trends do you see for phar-
ma in 2017?
SK: The two biggest possible game-changers for
pharma in 2017 could be Brexit and Trump. While
Brexit still gives jitters to the European markets,
Trump could possibly mean the end of Obamacare.
What his stand will be on the issue of drug pricing
will have significant impact on the industry. How
shaky the industry is on the issue was demonstrat-
ed when pharma lost $25 billion in m-cap during a
15 min press conference at which Trump spoke on
the issue.
Pharma’s oft-made claim of ‘patient focus’ is better
played out by medical technology players emerg-
ing almost every day such as data aggregating
websites with easy-to-read information (iodine.
net ; flatiron.com) for patients and caregivers and
apps that lead to user friendly diagnostic tools and
disease information. Other technological advances
like the use of augmented reality provides a great
opportunity to engage all stakeholders in experi-
ential marketing which should be a shot in the arm
and a welcome diversion from our age-old and
tired marketing practices.
M: How well has digital been adapted by phar-
ma - globally and in India? Any examples that
you would like to highlight?
 Interview with Salil Kallianpur | “I Am Waiting for the Day When Pharma Hires a CEO from a Tech Company”
“
The two biggest possible game-
changers for pharma in 2017 could
be Brexit and Trump. While Brexit
still gives jitters to the European
markets, Trump could possibly
mean the end of Obamacare.

SK: Not much at the moment. There is too much
entrenchment in the traditional style of opera-
tions. We see human capital being built up within
organizations but it is too focused on execution at
the moment. There is limited play of digital natives
within executive teams where decision making
lies. That’s probably why we rarely see brand man-
agers or business heads evolving their plans to
wrap around the massive opportunities that digital
creates. There is no ‘new-orbit’ thinking at the mo-
ment and therefore we see pdfs of visual aids on
iPads, aspirations to create mobile apps (with little
understanding of what end that will achieve) and
2-hour long CMEs distributed over web streaming
platforms, once or twice a year. This belies under-
standing of either the medium or the consumer
of such content. This is the typical “monologue” or
“push”mode that pharma is so comfortable with.
Digital technology allows innumerable options to
engage with doctors and patients. As you would
know, customers engage most effectively with or-
ganizations or products that solve a pain point or
what we call as an ‘unmet need’. One of the larger
ones in healthcare for quite some time is ‘informa-
tion asymmetry’ or the lack of availability of infor-
mation that can be easily understood for patients
or care-givers. This prevents them from under-
standing their choices and making informed deci-
sions. Websites like iodine.com attempt to bridge
that gap.
Some other pain points are when patients want to
consult another doctor to take a second opinion.
This is very different from ‘doctor shopping’. Again,
there are websites that allow such discussions. To-
day finding the right doctors, setting up appoint-
ments, using mobile/digital prescribing and having
medicines home-delivered through online orders
reduces costs (makes it easier, sometimes cheap-
er) for health care transactions. All this is possible
through the use of digital technology.
“
Thereislimitedplayofdigitalnatives
within executive teams where
decisionmakinglies.That’sprobably
why we rarely see brand managers
or business heads evolving their
plans to wrap around the massive
opportunities that digital creates.

Pharma may not play in all those spaces. Yet, in its
core area, pharma is making major changes to its
operating model to wrap it around the possibilities
that digital tech creates. Globally, there is a move
to use big data to glean sharper and more relevant
insights into patient and doctor thinking and be-
havior. There is also a realization that the industry
must move away from monologues or ‘pushing’
information to engaging in a conversation or cre-
ating a ‘pull’ for information. This engagement of
course will be required across all the possible chan-
nels (omni-channel) and must occur almost in re-
al-time. No customer will wait if he/she receives an
auto-response saying: “Thank you for your email,
you will receive a response from us in 7 working
days”. Those days are long gone!
Considering the constrained environment that the
industry operates in, it is little wonder that pharma
is taking so long to institutionalize these changes.
However, stellar examples in digital engagement
can be found in companies such as Pfizer, BI, AZ,
J&J, GSK and some more. These convince me that
the industry is surely headed in the right direction.
In the future, I think we will see more tie-ups and
collaborations to create better and user-friendly
products. That will make health care democratized
(of the patient, for the patient and by the patient)
in the true sense.
One could argue that reverse mentoring can help
move understanding up the chain, but like most
things that try to defy gravity, such initiatives rarely
gain altitude. I am waiting for the day when phar-
ma hires a CEO from a tech company. Someone
who is told,“We are in the healthcare (not pharma)
space and we need your help to do better in the
new age economy.”That will be the day.
“
Globally, there is a move to use big
data to glean sharper and more
relevant insights into patient and
doctor thinking and behavior. There
is also a realization that the industry
must move away from monologues
or‘pushing’informationtoengaging
in a conversation or creating a “pull’
for information.

There are quite a few examples that are isolated
(brilliant iPad campaigns or SM engagement etc.)
but I want to focus on a couple of them. One of
them is the “Don’t turn your back on it” campaign
by AbbVie. This is for lower back pain and it is phe-
nomenal in its omni-channel presence and the way
it is being executed. I do not know the result of it,
but I am sure it is good. Another such campaign in
India is the“Knowledge Genie”project that Abbott
rolled out in India a few years ago.
There are definitely many more such examples, but
the reason I picked out these two campaigns are
because of their distinct uses and I think there are
lessons here for us. The AbbVie campaign is a glo-
cal one – designed and created by the Global team
but executed by individual markets. This shows a
great alignment of the ‘go-digital’ spirit through
the entire breadth of the organization. This is a
brand-oriented campaign.
The Abbott India campaign is different in the sense
that this is a doctor engagement campaign and not
a product/brand-oriented one. Both are long-term
engagements that require a tremendous amount
of capabilities and alignment within the organiza-
tion and are worthy of mention.
M: What important steps should Indian Pharma
be taking in 2017 to remain competitive glob-
ally?
SK: With global ambitions, I think India Pharma
has done quite a few things to stay competitive.
After the flurry of 483s raised in 2014-15, most of
the concerns raised have been answered and large
companies have done well to stay globally com-
petitive. A bit of polishing is still required in the
odd case which I am confident will be taken care
of. In the global arena, Indian manufacturing of
low cost, high quality generics is quite a formida-
ble value proposition and this is quite sustainable.
How it responds to global pandemics will deter-
mine cementing its“pharmacy to the world”claim.
“
To stay competitive, India pharma
must make a concerted effort
to adopt good practices in both
manufacturing and marketing
while evolving its commercial model
to meet emerging trends.

Indian pharma has made significant progress on
biosimilars as well. This could be an additional
feather in its cap.
To stay competitive, Indian pharma must make a
concerted effort to adopt good practices in both
manufacturing and marketing while evolving its
commercial model to meet emerging trends. Glob-
ally, as governments worked to bring efficiency
into healthcare expenditure, centrally procuring
medicines either directly, or through private con-
tractors working on their behalf, helped them to
negotiate prices ruthlessly. This necessitates a key
account management model and developing su-
perior negotiating skills. Something India pharma
should very seriously consider developing.
M: What are the significant challenges faced by
MNC Pharma in India and how are they facing
them?
SK: MNC executives in India have often compared
themselves to boxers entering the ring with one
hand and one leg tied and a blindfold on their eyes,
to take on a heavyweight champion. While this is
definitely an exaggeration, it attempts to under-
score the feeling of competing in a market which is
not perceived to be a level playing field. While they
are entitled to their emotional outbursts, a more ra-
tionale look reveals a slightly different reason to be
upset, if at all with their parent companies.
Product – Are MNC portfolios truly aligned for the
Indian patient? Or are they more aligned with their
parent organizations?
Price–WhileMNCexecutivescomplainabouthaving
to price their products premium, they seldom com-
plain about a lack of passion in their promotional
campaigns,toexplainthatpremiumpricetopatients.
“
What if all the pharma companies
form a learning consortium and
build a standard GMP, GLP or a
compliance training module and
issue certificate to its employees.
These certificates will have validity
across all pharma organizations and
will save time/ cost of imparting
such trainings to lateral hires.

And if patients, at the end of the day, consider
every white pill the same, then should they be
blamed? Of course, there is the odd value creating
campaign which creates the odd blockbuster, but
then this is more an exception than a norm.
Promotion – Complain about Indian company-driv-
en “CRM” here as much as you will, but the fact is
that it is only the rare MNC promotional program
that really leaves a mark with HCPs and patients.
Place – The complex distribution system in India
does mean that a lot of value stays locked in. The
system stays complex because of the unionized
nature of the people who control it. Despite their
global clout and expertise in negotiating large
purchase and supply companies in the developed
world, MNCs do precious little to bring in that ex-
pertise into India. Until the pharma lobby in India
has different faces representing MNCs and domes-
tic companies, one can expect precious little to
change.
Overall, in more cases than in fewer, MNCs treat In-
dia as a market and rarely place a premium on its
development and progress. Older executives I have
interacted with, speak wistfully about the 70s, 80s
and even the 90s when they had “more freedom”
to align portfolios and prices for the Indian patient.
The question to answer then would be, is aligning
with parent organizations – and the reduced lever-
age that offers - a far larger challenge than what
MNCs are willing to admit?
M: How are career prospects shaping up in In-
dian Pharma, what particular skills will be in
demand?
SK:There is no better time to join the industry than
now. It is not just recession-proof but an industry
growing consistently in double digits over sever-
al years now. Of course, the ride isn’t smooth and
requires the right skills and temperament. Like the
saying goes,“this ain’t for the faint of heart”.
“
The question to answer then
would be, is aligning with parent
organizations – and the reduced
leverage that offers - a far larger
challenge than what MNCs are
willing to admit?

The usual skill sets of empathy, leadership, analyti-
cal skills etc. are pre-requisites and I will not bother
to elaborate. These have often been done to death
by mentors, coaches, motivating bosses and peers.
Interestingly, while reading and writing cannot
be classified as skills, I notice an acute shortage of
interest in these two basic traits that define a pro-
fessional. Written and spoken skills are paramount
to creating interest in and building a strong and
professional image – both within and outside the
company.
We work with highly educated customers and an
inability to hold your own in a conversation with
them does not encourage relationships of mutual
respect to develop. While one need not necessarily
wax eloquent on philosophy, sculpture or astrono-
my, it is important to be decently aware of current
affairs, the latest goings-on in the medical field and
other areas of mutual interest such as politics and
probably cinema. It builds a persona of being well-
read and intelligent, which commands respect not
just from customers but also from team-mates and
senior colleagues. Being well aware coupled with
an above average ability to articulate effectively
often separates the men from the boys. Buy books,
enroll into MOOCs that interest you, watch infor-
mational programs and take interest in diverse
things to broaden your horizon. Invest time in
yourself. You are your greatest asset.
M: Your thoughts on delay in enacting UCPMP
and the challenge of ethics in healthcare.
SK: As as a believer in free markets, I am dis-
turbed when I hear of government interference
in the sector or additional regulations getting
added to an already over-regulated market.
“
Interestingly, while reading and
writing cannot be classified as skills,
I notice an acute shortage of interest
in these two basic traits that define
a professional. Written and spoken
skills are paramount to creating
interest in and building a strong and
professional image – both within
and outside the company.

However, in this case, I believe the government has
been fair in allowing a very reasonable lag time for
the industry to self-regulate. As more and more
instances of marketing ‘malpractices’ emerge, it
seems like self-regulation is not taken seriously.The
consequence of this could well be a draconian law
that the government puts in place and the industry
will have no one to blame but its‘self-regulation’.
It is not clear on how seriously pharma chieftains
take the matter of ethics in healthcare. At a re-
cent CEO conclave on the subject organized by
the Academy of Pharmaceutical Leadership, many
senior industry executives espoused the need for
ethics in everything we do. They recognized that
ethical marketing has slipped from executive fo-
cus in recent times and vowed to bring it back as a
top most priority. This was especially encouraging
since there were executives from both domestic
and international companies present. M
“
At a recent CEO conclave on the
subjectorganizedbytheAcademyof
Pharmaceutical Leadership, many
senior industry executives espoused
the need for ethics in everything we
do...Thiswasespeciallyencouraging
since there were executives from
both domestic and international
companies present.
Salil Kallianpur works at
the Classic & Established
Products Centre of Excellence
in GlaxoSmithKline. He writes
for MedicinMan in a personal
capacity.Thesearehispersonal
views and do not represent the views of his
employers.

P
rof. Chitta Mitra, the doyen of the Indian phar-
maceutical industry breathed his last on the
morning of 3rd
January 2012. It was a great loss
to the Indian pharma industry. As a tribute to this
legend, 3rd
January of every year will be commemo-
rated as World Pharma Brand Managers Day with the
aim celebrating ethics and Good Marketing Practices
(GMaP) in Pharma India.
A series of events have been planned by the Acade-
my of Pharmaceutical Leadership and the first was the
Pharma CEO Conclave that was held at Mumbai on 6th
January 2017. CEOs of multinationals, Indian transna-
tionals and emerging companies participated in this
Conclave.
The illustrious son of the illustrious father - Dr. Sanjoy
Mitra was the Chairman of the event. He gave a vivid
description of some of his learning moments with his
late father. He shared Prof. Chitta Mitra’s passion for
market research – often giving more time to this than
his family! He shared how this great man took upon
himself the responsibility of bringing a paradigm shift
in the mindsets of the Indian pharma marketers - from
sales orientation to prescription generation.

1ST
WORLD PHARMA
BRAND MANAGERS DAY
Prof. Suniel Deshpande and Vivek
Hattangadi
A report on the 1st
World Pharma Brand
Managers Day which began with a Pharma
CEO Conclave.

The Chief Guest of the event was Dr. Arun Gadre,
author of the book Dissenting Diagnosis. This book
carries some deeply distrssing and infuriating
truths about the medical practice in India.
“Who is responsible for the degeneration of the
healthcare system in India Dr. Arun Gadre asked
the audience – doctors or the pharma industry?”
He made a very strong statement, almost indicting
the medical practitioners for the current unhealthy
practices. “The medical practitioners alone have to
be blamed. Corrupt practices cannot happen with-
out the consent of the medical practitioners – so
why blame the pharma industry?” He went on to
add that, “The trust between doctors and patients
is punctured and completely lost. As doctors, we
have always known about this ‘rot’, but for a num-
ber of reasons (many of them selfish), we as a com-
munity (of doctors) have hardly opposed it. On the
other hand, we have actively allowed this disap-
pointing erosion of ethics in medical practice.”
The CEOs in the audience, however, were of the
opinion that blame was to be equally shared. The
pharma industry cannot absolve itself on this issue.
And the CEOs are right! That is the only way to take
the GMaP Movement forward.
Sanjiv Navangul expressed that “Every brand has
an emotional component - with a brand promise.
If this promise is broken, a brand is no longer a
brand! We (in pharma marketing) are all working
for someone who is not even involved in the de-
cision making process for whom the treatment is
being designed – the patient. So if a brand has to
be built it has to have a patient centric strategy.
 Prof. Suniel Deshpande and Vivek Hattangadi | 1st
World Pharma Brand Managers Day
Dr. Arun Gadre (right) speaks

We need to fight battles ethically. And this is one
way to get away from transactional marketing.”
Sunil Attavar made an impactful statement when
he said: “It starts with our promotion. Pharma
promotion has to be based on science and not
just emotions. A quality control mechanism has
to evolve for ethical and evidence-based medi-
co-marketing promotion.”
Sundeep Bambolkar added: “There is very little
difference between ambition and greed. We have
taken a loan from society to build up the pharma
industry and this loan can be repaid only if we look
at patients first in our promotion. Transactional
marketing can no more continue.”
Vivek Padgaonkar opined that: “OPPI, IDMA and
IPA are still unorganized. The pharma trade associ-
ations make the industry bow before them - with
scant respect to the judgments and strictures of
the Competition Commission of India (CCI). He
said that OPPI has taken a very strong stand that
UCPMP should be mandatory”. A good augury for
GMaP!
S.P. Maitra mentioned that every CEO should re-
solve that“I will not do anything unethical, yet I will
be the brand leader.”That is the spirit!
Ashok Bhattacharya asserted that: “We still have
the slavish mentality – a legacy from the British-
ers who once ruled us. We still like to be ruled and
led but not lead. This should change. Let the CEOs
who have gathered here lead the change towards
GMaP.”

Madhav Kulkarni also made a very valuable state-
ment. He said that: “The most important issue for
the pharma industry should be the end user – the
patient. And if the patient is overlooked the pres-
ent healthcare system will degenerate further. If
a medical representative makes a false call he is
punished but when a managing director gives
a cheque to him to hand over to the doctor the
medical representatives asks himself: “Why is my
managing director not being punished for doing
something wrong?’.”
Prashant Pathak was very vocal in saying that:“The
culture of any industry is set by business leaders
and CEOs and not by the tail-enders. It is ironical
that while pharma captains deserve to take credit
for the growth of the industry, they shy away from
taking the credit for unhealthy practices like trans-
actional marketing. Many promoters set unrealistic
goals and if that goal is not achieved they adopt
shortcuts for short-term gains, overlooking long
term gains.”
That this Conclave was a grand success was ac-
knowledged by Vikas Dandekar of Economic Times
when he wrote: “Was a truly impressive event.
Speakers in the room had a strong resolve to root
out unethical practices. In particular, Dr. Gadre left
a deep impact by standing firm on his principles.
He may be a rare exception but it always starts with
a tipping point. Hope the numbers go up multiple
times. Suggest we have a day-long program next
year.”

The signs are very encouraging. CEOs are very
keen to re-establish ethics and Good Marketing
Practices in pharmaceutical marketing. Deepak
Naik concluded: “The Swacch Bharat Mission has
commenced - but India cannot become another
Singapore overnight. Similarly, the GMaP mission
has commenced but do not expect ethical pharma
marketing tomorrow!”
Two important and healthy issues have now
emerged from this CEO Conclave: (a) CEOs are keen
to implement GMaP and (b) they also feel that if the
patients are kept at the center of marketing activi-
ties transactional marketing can be weeded out. M
“
Two important and healthy issues
have now emerged from this CEO
Conclave: (a) CEOs are keen to
implement GMaP and (b) they also
feel that if the patients are kept at
the center of marketing activities
transactional marketing can be
weeded out.
Vivek Hattangadi is a
Consultant in Pharma
Brand Management and
Sales Training at The En-
ablers. He is also visiting
faculty at CIPM Calcutta
(Vidyasagar University)
for their MBA course in
Pharmaceutical Management.
vivekhattangadi@theenablers.org

M
y previous article talked about the tradi-
tional pharma learning and development
landscape and how it can deliver real value
to employees. Continuing the same line of thought,
today I will discuss 5 basic interventions which can be
applied by leaders, L&D professionals and individuals
to simplify and embrace learning outside of the class
room.
In terms of the L&D spend per employee, the pharma
industry is above the market average and more than
half of it goes in creating classroom trainings, which
form the base of the pyramid (coverage of all employ-
ees under mandatory trainings). Typically, an employ-
ee has to be trained on 30-40 work area related Stan-
dard Operating Procedures (SOPs) along with generic
and cross functional SOPs on an average. This number
increases to 60-70 SOPs per employee if the linkage to
relevant SOPs is done based on well-researched matrix
and work area understanding.
The employees either train themselves through self
study or attend classroom training followed by an
evaluation. With volumes of SOPs to be covered and
regulated work environment requiring continuous

PHARMA L&D BEYOND
THE CLASSROOM
Diksha Fouzdar
Real learning almost always takes place outside
the classroom but internalizing fact requires a
mindset change

monitoring and supervision, where employees
do not have large attention span and time to give,
do the above methods ensure effective transfer of
learning? No, the employees take these trainings
more under compulsion to remain complaint rath-
er than to learn.
Thus, it becomes all the more important to revolu-
tionize the way learning is imparted at the base of
the pyramid comprising of compliance and proce-
dural trainings.
1. Cultivate the right learning behaviors
Any habit is built when it is supported with the
right behavior. So how does one build the learning
habit? The first step is to encourage two sets of be-
havior at work, observation and curiousness to ask
questions. As one grows professionally, the ability
to observe the work of others and your own, ab-
sorbing and seeking clarification on the go and ap-
plying the learnt behavior/concept within the work
environment accelerates the learning curve more
than the trainings do.The act of observing removes
us from the doer role and many a times helps us in
seeing a different perspective and throws up an in-
sight. A 4-hour program or skimming through 20
SOPs in a day, will never ensure transfer of learning
the way observation does.
 Diksha Fouzdar | Pharma L&D Beyond the Classroom
“
As one grows professionally, the
ability to observe the work of others
andyourown,absorbingandseeking
clarification on the go and applying
the learnt behavior/concept within
the work environment accelerates
the learning curve more than the
trainings do.

As a second step, managers/ leaders should
demonstrate –
1. behaviors expected out of compliance trainings
and
2. work/process knowledge explained in procedur-
al trainings
– when in shop floor, labs, in field visits or new
product launches.
Lastly, always encourage, appreciate and make an
effort to address a work-related queries of subordi-
nates, peers or seniors instead of penalizing, mock-
ing or avoiding them.
2. Changing the perception towards your work
I think this is the most challenging part, but not
impossible to do. Do not think of your work as a
mechanical set of activities but think of it as an op-
portunity to discover something new, value your
work and find a challenge. For example, here are
some ways to reframe your thinking about training
events:
• Your team is not attending a SOP refresher
training – they are visualizing their production
process end to end, reviewing the machines’
modus operandi etc to identify process improve-
ment points
• Your team is not attending a sales closure
meeting - they’re gathering and brainstorming
ideas to generate revenue for the next quarter/
year and finding a solution to their on-the-field
issues
• Your R&D team is not attending just another
QBD training workshop – they’re experiencing
an opportunity to practice new skills to capture
quality in process
3. Integrate the learning into their daily work
Asmanagers,focusonbuildingon-the-joblearning
foryourteam.Itisveryessentialthatlearninghappens
inrealtimeandyoulearnasyouperformyourtasks.
“
As managers, focus on building on
the job learning for your team. It is
very essential that learning happens
in real time and you learn as you
perform your tasks. The more you
experiment, the more you learn in
the process.

The more you experiment, the more you learn in
the process. Process simulations and test simula-
tions help in linking learning to work applications.
Learning cannot happen outside of work and it
will happen only when it finds application else it
remains as a part of information stored.
4. Let the employees talk and connect to create
learning interactions
It is basic human nature to learn from others, while
we interact over a period of time, we pick infor-
mation, behaviors consciously and unconsciously.
Adopting this approach will make us look at every
task, activity, event or interaction with someone
in our jobs as an experience for peer-learning. In-
teraction helps us ideate and encourages social
learning. So there should be avenues where mem-
bers within teams talk about their work (success
and failures) and cross functional teams are given
opportunities to interact with each other to break
silos. Let the employees learn from each other.
5. Go visual and simplify learning
The best learning happens when you simplify the
concept and it can be easily accessed/referred or
explained.Onewaytodoitismakingflowdiagrams
of procedures and having them displayed through
charts and story boards. Make notes of new con-
cepts learnt and paste it on your work board for a
week. Read it, share it and talk about it. M
Diksha Fouzdar is sea-
soned HR professional
with keen interest in
Organization Design
and Development. She
has a rich experience
of working in the phar-
maceutical sector and likes to write about
her observations and experiences, studying
the intricacies of organization and people
behavior and how they get impacted with
change in global practices, technology and
new workplace trends.



THE FUTURE OF
PHARMA SALES
& MARKETING
PARTNER WITH US.
anupsoans@gmail.com
 
JUNE
2017
A MedicinMan annual event
FFE + CEO ROUNDTABLE
AND BRANDSTORM 2017

FFE + CEO ROUNDTABLE
AND BRANDSTORM 2017JUNE
Field Force Excellence conference + CEO Roundtable is
targeted at senior industry professionals in all functions.
The CEO Roundtable is the highlight of the event and fea-
tures some of pharma’s most well-known leaders.
Past topics include:
• Practical Issues in Sales Force Effectiveness (SFE) imple-
mentation
• Role Clarity from Front-line Manager to National Sales
Manager
• Role of Technology as a Field Force Multiplier
• Social Learning for the Field Force
• Data Analytics: Actionable Insights for Segmented Mar-
keting
• Role of Marketing, Medical, HR and L&D in Building the
Rx Capabilities of the Field Force
• Navigating UCPMP, MCI Guidelines and other regulato-
ry issues
• Reinvention of Doctor-Field Force interaction through
Digital and Social
Past Speakers include:
• Sanjiv Navangul – Managing Director, Janssen India
• K. Shivkumar – Managing Director, Eisai
• Sujay Shetty – Partner, PwC India
• CT Renganathan – Managing Director, RPG LifeScienc-
es
• YS Prabhakar – CEO, Sutures India
• Ali Sleiman – General Manager India, Merck Serono
• Darshan Patel – Partner, PwC
• Vikas Dandekar – Editor Pharma, ET
• Shakti Chakraborty – Group President, Lupin
• Ganesh Nayak – (fmr) CEO and Executive Director,
Zydus Cadila
• Bhaskar Iyer – Divn VP, India Commercial Operations,
Abbott
• Narayan Gad – CEO, Panacea Biotec
• Girdhar Balwani – Managing Director, Invida
• K. Hariram - Managing Director (retd.) Galderma India
BrandStorm is targeted at Brand Managers. The event
features thought leaders in pharma brand management
addressing the hottest topics of the day.
Past topics include:
• UCPMP & MCI Guidelines – Implication for Pharma
Marketing
• Brand Building: Case Studies from the Indian Pharma
Market
• Unleashing the Power of Digital Marketing – Case
Studies
• From Brand Management to Therapy Shaping
• Marketing to Hospitals
• Case Study: Zifi-AZ
• Field Force – Doctor Interaction through use of Digi-
tal and Social Media
• How to Optimize Healthcare Communication Cre-
ative Agency Services
Past Speakers include:
• PV Sankar Dass – CEO & Director, CURATIO
• Darshan Patel – Partner, Pricewaterhouse Coopers
• Daleep Manhas – General Manager & Associate Vice
President at McCann Health
• Praful Akali – Founder-Director, Medulla Communi-
cations
• Pankaj Dikholkar – General Manager, Abbott
• Salil Kallianpur – Executive Vice President - Primary
Care, GSK
• Deep Bhandari – Director-Marketing & Sales Excel-
lence, UCB
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• Shashank Shanbag – Business Unit Director, MS
• Nandish Kumar – DGM and Head – Marketing, FD
To partner at the event contact:
anupsoans@gmail.com | +91-968-680-2244
FFE+CEO RT BRANDSTORM

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