Is Pharma’s business model like McDonald’s? Doing things over & over again without innovation? McDonald’s is famous for its Hamburger University, a training facility at the McDonald’s Corporation global headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. It instructs high-potential restaurant managers in restaurant management. More than 5,000 students attend Hamburger University each year and over 275,000 people have graduated with a degree in Hamburgerology. Sound familiar? Pharma’s training has been on similar lines – hire people continuously and put them through the grind of mugging up essentials of drugs for diseases that the particular company sells. While the McDonald’s model is ideal for its business of replication, it has outlived its utility in healthcare and drug companies are in danger of being reduced to mere suppliers of drugs to new digital platform businesses unless they learn to innovate.

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Are Managers Really Necessary?

In the organisational context, LEADERSHIP appears more glamorous than the word MANAGEMENT. When it comes to a team whether small or large, we need to realise that the first requirement is to be an effective manager and then a leader. Why so? First and foremost, Managers are responsible for making sure that things are done properly. And while leaders may bring us vision, inspiration and challenge, these things count for nothing without the efficient implementation brought about by good management. To be a great manager, you must have an extensive set of skills, both hard and soft – from planning and delegation to communication and motivation. The skill set is so wide, and hence, for your long-term success, it's wise to analyse your skills in all areas of management – and then to challenge yourself to improve in all of these areas. So, a fundamental question that is unasked, but lingers in the mind often is, Are managers really necessary?