...MERCK AND RIVER BLINDNESS 1. Think about the definition of stakeholders — any parties with a stake in the organization’s actions or performance. Who are the stakeholders in this situation? How many can you list? On what basis would you rank them in importance? People suffering from the disease or those who potentially may be infected – would directly benefit from the cure Merck employees at all levels – profitability and the economic health of the company affects current employees Merck shareholders – inability to profit from the drug might have a negative effect on shareholder’s value, but taking the stand on “doing the right thing” might have a favorable effect on company’s reputation and increase the value of the stock Various healthcare organizations – Merck is one of the leaders in the industry whose actions or inactions may affect the state of the industry as a whole One way to rank stakeholders in importance is by their level of benefit from the drug putting people suffering from the disease in the first place as they would benefit the most from the invent of the cure. Then, employees and shareholders would share the second place, provided that the company would most likely not be able to recover funds invested in the long and expensive process of developing the drug which in turn would affect company’s profitability. Finally, various healthcare organizations would rank third; the effect on them would depend on the level of their involvement in the process...
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...Conflict and Change Harvard Case Study Professor: Robert Lazer PhD Team: Zerrin Hejazi, Mark Klabonski, Elizabeth Lamb, Hari Thenneti Pandurangamoorthi, & Hareshkumar Surani The History of Merck U.S. sales office opened in and George Merck, Heinrich’s grandson, was appointed head of the U.S. branch Friedrich Jacob Merck opened Merck in Germany 1668 1827 Heinrich E Merck transformed the business and Merck began manufacturing 1887 Merck merged with Philadelphia pharmacy Sharp & Dohme 1891 The renamed company Merck & Co. opens for business 1953 2009 Merck merged with ScheringPlough Corporation and Organon BioSciences Pharmaceutical Industry • The average drug development time is over fifteen years with an average R&D expenditure of $800 million. • The FDA requires three phases of testing to assess safety and effectiveness. o Test results dictate what is displayed on the drug’s label and how the doctor will prescribe it. • Follow-up studies (Phase 5) can be performed to assess the drug after market release (Phase 4) and amend the drug label for improved sales. Pharmaceutical Success • 1981 to 2001, Merck experienced an upward trend on several industry metrics. • Their Return on Sales (ROS) for their Human Pharma line peaked at just over 40% in 2001 with an average of 24% . • The early 1990’s exhibited a downward trend just prior to Gilmartin assuming the role of CEO. Pharmaceutical Success ...
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...promotes an extensive variety of human and animal health products. Although Merck is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies of the world, they still come across problems today while striving to sustain a lead against its competition. Merck has achieved success with its lengthy history of breakthrough drugs and the development of three significant pharmaceutical products: antibiotics, vitamins, and hormones. Merck’s success relies heavily on its management and how they modify the business model in place to that of the ever-changing economy. Influence of Economic Trends The global pharmaceutical market is likely to undergo a wide variety of changes with new competition arising in India, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Indonesia. This new competition has a growing economy and has made a difference between the product cost and disposable income of consumers. According to NASDAQ (2011),“ Global pharmaceutical market sales are expected to grow at a 4-7% through the year 2013 largely being driven by the growing access to health care in emerging economic regions” (para. 2-5). Short-term growth within this area is stimulated by the United States market, as it continues to be the largest pharmaceutical market in the world. A focal point on research and development in special drugs and generic drugs will remain a strong means to meet 2011 goals of earning $315 billion dollar in sales within the United States. Strategies Merck & Co., Inc. has outlined its long-term strategic goals...
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...Merck’s Business Environment MNGT/521 University of Phoenix November 7, 2011 Kevin Wilhelmsen Merck’s Business Environment There are many factors a business, such as Merck, must have in order to be successful, for example strong financial statements, leading technology, and globalization. With the help of income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, a financial analysis can be applied in a wide variety of situations to give business managers the information they need to make critical decisions (Financial Analysis, 2010). They also provide information in regards to the financial health of a company. Pharmaceutical companies are using technology to conduct clinical trials, which has proven to be beneficial to research, development, and the introduction of new products. Globalization is also important for Merck when it comes to product distribution. Outsourcing was been adopted by Merck in order to produce equal quality vaccines and medications at a cheaper cost. Review of Finances Analyzing a company’s income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow is a prime way in determining their success. A comparison can be made between the competition in the industry and a leader can be established. An analysis can also show which company is spending more on research and development and in turn, producing better products. After review of the income statements, Merck’s worldwide sales were $12 billion...
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...It starts with an idea s t a g e s o f innovation Best Practices in Brand Extension: Effective Application of Brand Recognition BRAND EQUITY CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE COMPONENTS: EXPERTISE, EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENTS AND PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES Brand extensions are an effective and popular method of gaining a competitive advantage when entering a new product area. Consumers are faced with an increasingly complex and confusing marketplace. The ability of a brand to act as a mental shortcut for consumers, thereby simplifying the decision-making process, makes it one of, it not the, most important asset for a company. The ability of a brand to influence consumer behavior, and its subsequent value to companies, will increase as consumers face a growing amount of information in the marketplace. By placing a well-known brand on a new product, a company can imbue that product with all the positive associations of that brand, thereby giving it a competitive advantage. With some estimates of the failure rate for new products at 90%, the added value of being associated with a trusted brand can be critical to a new product’s survival. Given the increasing value of established brands and the difficulty in launching new products, the popularity of brand extensions is understandable. However, the brand extension process must be carefully planned in order to insure the value of the brand is successfully transferred to the extension without jeopardizing the brand’s equity. To do so, a company...
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...REI – Working Together for a Better World Best Company for 25 Years REI is a cooperative – and a spirit of cooperation is infused in everything that they do. Leaders and employees cooperate with each other to insure that work is done well, people have a good time, and the labor conditions for employees at REI and at suppliers meet high standards. Employees cooperate with customers to listen to what they want and provide them with great products and great service. Everyone at REI cooperates with the environment, making numerous contributions outside of work time – in the form of community service work, educational programs and financial support – to help insure that the planet continues to exist in a healthy way into the next century. And all of this cooperation has brought REI significant positive recognition as one of only 5 companies to have been selected as one of the 00 Best Companies to Work for in America in both editions of the book of that name, and in every edition of the list published annually in Fortune magazine. REI is a model of the power and positive contribution that the spirit and practice of cooperation can bring to an enterprise. Living the Mission REI is a group of people striving to live up to the fullest meaning of the words used to describe the company. REI’s core purpose is to “… inspire, educate and outfit for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship.” As a cooperative, everyone in the company and customers, producers and suppliers, are...
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...MERCK MBA Healthcare Management Capstone (HCM650-1403B-01) Phase 1 Individual Project Student: Brenda Wilfred Instructor: Professor Ruth Lindegarde Colorado Technical University Online August 24, 2014 Repost Professor Timothy Tapp; Applied Managerial Healthcare Finance, Professor Kristaizell Darby: Management the Healthcare Organization (HCM612-1401B-01), Professor Jenson Hagen: ECON616-1402A-0 Applied Managerial Economics, and Professor Kristy Taylor: Systems in Healthcare (HCM632-1403A-01) Abstract Pharmaceutical comes from Greek word “Pharmakeia” with the modern translation as “Pharmacia”. Many people owe their lives to many lifesaving medicines, without which they might not have seen another day in their life. Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for discovering new drugs, marketing them and getting them licensed for their use as medications. All drugs so produced have to go through a strict process of patenting and testing and are subjected to all sorts of safety checks and a variety of laws and regulations. These pharmaceutical companies not only play a very important role in the medicine industry but also play a significant role in the revenue industry and the development of a nation. Here are top 10 pharmaceutical companies in world. The global economic crisis is impacting every area of business and forcing corporations to reevaluate how they conduct operations. In an effort to operate in the leanest most efficient manner, some corporations...
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...Abercrombie & Fitch Executive Brief of External Environment From 2011 Annual Report Company Profile: Specialty in clothing retailer; operate store and direct to consumer operations; under Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie kids, Gilly Hicks, and Hollister brands; 1045 store in North America, Europe, and Asia. $3.5B net sales; 85,000 associates; HQ: New Albany, OH. PESTLDG Analysis Political/ legal Donation to lobbying of $120,000, issue health care reform. Abercrombie & Fitch does not give a many contributions to lobbying. This could be because they will like something change in the Obama Health care law. Abercrombie & Fitch is no estranger to legal problem. In 2002 has two pulled a t-shirt that said “ Wong Brothers Laundry Service – Two Wongs Can Make It White” An Asian American student at Stanford University organized a successful boycott. In 2009, they settle a Discrimination lawsuit in 2009 for $40 million dollars to thousand of minority plaintiffs claimed that African American, Asian, and Hispanic workers were steered to the backroom instead to the sales floor. In 2008, an assistant manager filed a lawsuit against Hollister chain because she was asked to wear short skirt to keep with acceptable work attitude. This can damage the company image. Abercrombie & Fitch No Stranger to Look related lawsuit. In 2008, Muslim teenager was told during an interview that her head scarf would violate Abercrombie & Fitch’s strict but secretive “ Look...
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...You Decide: Merck’s Acquisition of Medco Stacey D. Lawson FIN 561: Mergers & Acquisitions Keller Graduate School of Management Professor Gene Smith Fall 2015 Executive Summary Merck & Co., Inc. is one of the largest pharmaceutical firms in the world. The company is known for its discovery, development, production, and marketing of products and services that are geared towards the maintenance and restoration of health. The company’s business focuses on two areas: human and animal health products and Services and Specialty Chemical products. Medco Containment Services, Inc. is one of the largest pharmacy benefits manager (PBM). The company was mainly responsible for the management of drug benefits for more than 65 million Americans whose prescriptions were filled at retail drug stores or the company’s mail order business. Merck’s acquisition of Medco was one of the largest health care industry mergers, as well as one the largest U.S. corporate unions in the early 1990’s (Olmos, 1993). In addition the merger provided Merck with access to Medco’s technology and information. With the merger they acquired more than 1,000 pharmacists who decided or advised physicians on how prescriptions should be filled (Tanouye, 1993). This merger allowed Merck to increase its pharmaceutical sales through the use of patient information from Medco’s database. The merger was expected to solidify Merck’s presence in the pharmaceutical...
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...Case Study: Merck and the Vioxx Recall Kelvin Gabel Benedictine University Case Study: Merck and the Vioxx Recall According to Lawrence and Weber (2014), former Merck CEO George W. Merck implied a corporate vision of social responsibility for Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck) when he stated in 1950 that medicine was for the people and that loyalty to that concept would lead to greater profits. On the surface, it appears Merck has historically lived its declared mission of putting people first. This is demonstrated by the company forfeiting patent and profits from the antibiotic streptomycin and the drug Mectizan (Lawrence, 2014). Merck was well rewarded for its people first philosophy. Though it was ranked fifth in asset and market value, it ranked first in profits. Additionally the company had a stellar reputation of being perceived as the most ethical and socially responsible of the major drug companies (Lawrence, 2014). Today Merck Pharmaceutical’s mission statement is “to discover, develop and provide innovative products and services that save and improve lives around the world (Merck, 2015).” Reading Merck’s current mission statement lacks both the compassion of placing people first and the implied social responsibility of Mr. Merck’s statement in 1950. To be contextually correct historically in forming a view of Merck and the Vioxx recall issue, I sought to find a corporate mission statement from the period of the recall which was in 2006. According to Culp...
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...Problem Solution: InterClean, Inc. InterClean, Inc., a leader in the industrial cleaning and sanitation industry. They are planning to launch a marketing blitz announcing the launch of their new solutions focus. The sales force excels at demonstrating and selling products, however, CEO David Spencer envisions high performance teams that not only sell its high quality products, but also educate and train clients in the customer’s organizations. In preparation for the launch, leadership must evaluate the skills and talents within the organization and determine the needs to realize the new strategy. Extensive research, training and development will need to occur quickly in order meet the targeted 90-180 day goal of launching the marketing blitz. Situation Analysis Issue and Opportunity Identification The current organizational structure does not support the new strategy. The current sales staff lacks the skill set to excel in the future company focus. “High-performing firms display a greater commitment to training and skill development than their lower-performing counterparts. This practice, a core HRM activity, is related to other ideas about the need for continuous improvement and development over time. Thus, firms must take care to select people with the ability and willingness to learn and develop, and they must establish reward practices that encourage employees to participate in training activities.” (Dreher & Dougherty, 2001, ch.1, p.13-14). Organizational behavior...
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...In his prologue to Daphnis and Chloe, Longus refers to his four books as “a0na/qhma me\n7!Eroti kai\ Nu/mfaij kai\ Pani/” (Pr 2.3-4). Coming before any of the action of the novel, the reader asks, and for good reason, why these three gods or sets of gods? Then in the final book, Daphnis gives “a0naqh/mata…tw~| Dionu/sw|…tw~| Pani\...tai~j Nu/mfaij” (4.26.6-8). Here Dionysus has filled the place of Eros, or, as I shall argue, Dionysus represents the same universal force as Eros in the earlier books. These divinities, Eros/Dionysus, Pan, and the Nymphs, directly influence the lives of the titular protagonists. Their influence serves different purposes depending on what the situation calls for, but, overall, the influences could be labeled as such: Eros/Dionysus controls their lives, the Nymphs nurture the youths, and Pan enflames their passion. In many Greek novels, Eros functions as a stock figure, “not much more than a convenient method of setting [the] plot in motion” (Turner 119). Critics have heavily studied the role of Eros in this novel, and many find that the text of Daphnis and Chloe can be seen as an introductory text for syncretic monotheistic religions, specifically that of Orphic Dionysus. This argument holds valid, yet, I think, over reads the text, and Chalk admits as an introductory text, it is merely “allusive” and not clearly instructive (36). Philetas certainly describes the “cosmic Eros” found in Hesiod’s Theognis in his interaction with Eros in his garden...
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...Caso Merck & Co: Evaluación de una oportunidad de licencias de medicamentos El caso está ambientada en el año 2000. Merck & Co. es una compañía global, impulsada por la investigación farmacéutica, investiga, desarrolla, fabrica y comercializa una amplia gama de productos para personas, así como productos de salud animal. Opera directamente a través de empresas conjuntas establecidas y prestas servicios de gestión de productos farmacéuticos (PBM). Durante los últimos 5 años, la compañía ha lanzado 15 nuevos productos de éxito, las drogas más populares han generado la cantidad de $5.7 mil millones en ventas en todo el mundo. Entre 1998 y 1999, un aumento del 20% en las ventas se observó. Merck posee las patentes de los medicamentos más populares, sin embargo, expirará en 2002. Una vez que las patentes han caducado, las ventas disminuirán por los medicamentos genéricos sustitutos y baratos en el mercado. La compañía tiene como objetivo mantener un buen camino en el desarrollo de fármacos, por constante renovación de su cartera, lo que impide la pérdida de ventas de medicamentos que van fuera del tiempo de la patente. Los nuevos fármacos son bien desarrollados por la investigación interna (la mayoría) mediante la colaboración con empresas de biotecnología. El producto: Davanrik Davarnik fue desarrollado por los productos farmacéuticos LAB, un producto farmacéutico pequeño y relativamente joven especializada con compuestos para el tratamiento de trastornos neurológicos. Originalmente...
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...Story Tiffany & Co. is created by Charles Lewis Tiffany and John B. Young (then known as Tiffany & Young, a stationery and fancy goods emporium at 259 Broadway in New York). All items were marked with a non-negotiable selling price, which was a first at that time. The first day’s sales total $4.98. 1837: Introduction of the Tiffany Blue Box The well-known shade of blue was chosen to symbolize the company’s renowned reputation for quality and craftsmanship. The colour is well known globally and widely used on Tiffany & Co. boxes, catalogues, shopping bags, brochures and in their advertising mediums. Today, it has become Tiffany & Co’s trademark colour. No box can be taken out of a Tiffany & Co. store except with an article which has been sold by them. This adds to the exclusivity of the brand. The tradition of the famed Tiffany Blue Box has endured over the years as its contents are unsurpassable in quality and design. 1845: The First Blue Book The first ever Tiffany catalogue is published. This tradition still continues at present day. 1851: The Heritage of Tiffany Silver Tiffany becomes the first American company to use the 925/1000 sterling standards which is later adopted as the United States Sterling Standard. Tiffany’s silver designs also start capturing attention worldwide. 1853: Tiffany & Co. is “Officially” Named Charles Tiffany assumes control of the company and renames it. 1867: Tiffany & Co. at the Paris Exposition Universelle Tiffany & Co becomes the first...
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...THE MAIN STRATEGIC PROBLEMS PROBLEM: ‘Tiffany’ was very focused on their brand name. In most of the cases it is very good for a company and for Tiffany it would be right decision as well but the management preferred to do it starting from the bottom point. In my opinion, it was wrong decision. The company put very high prices on jewelries which do not have very high value according to the materials, and furthermore the company did not have the name what would attract people to buy its products. The company had chosen fundamental strategy to keep their name up and make it more famous. The second strategic fault, in my view, was the licensing the Tiffany brand to an Italian fashion-eyewear manufacturer – it means they have no control over the products which are produced by other company, so most probably the quality also will not be the same. It can be the reason for sales to fall down. Solution 1: I think they should have licensed the name for other sphere of production – this point would assure people that the products they used to buy from Tiffany are still made by the same way, and quality is going to be saved as usual. Solution 2: I would enhance the range of the products, and at the same time to have a control over of their quality. I think, in this case the sales would go up with the income. Recommendation: In my opinion the second solution would be better for this case. According to the Tiffany’s history: in most of the times the company was making decision exactly...
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