Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Limited Pharmaceuticals vs Glaxosmithkline

Effects of Quality Management on Domestic and Global Competition In Pakistan, Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline are pharmaceutical companies that market popular products and carry very similar medications. Companies like these have the mission and responsibility of providing medicines and vaccinations to better people’s live in different countries and communities. One of the largest and leading pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan is the Sanofi-Aventis Pakistan Limited. The chains put most of their focus on therapeutic areas such as: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, central nervous systems function, metabolic disorders, internal medicine, and vaccinations (Sanofi, 2010). GlaxoSmithKline is also known for developing some of the nation’s leading global medicines in the fields of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The strategic management methods this manufacturer has chosen to use has made them a leader in the industry, among its competitors with respect to changing markets and growth trends. In 2007, the number one rated pharmaceutical company was GlaxoSmithKline, which has fount its continued success in making very wise business decisions like delivering almost 1 billion vaccines to developing countries in 2009 (GlaxoSmithKline, 2010). Diseases such as cardiovascular issues, thrombosis, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other major illnesses have been crucial public health issues for Pakistan because they have been proven to be a main contributor to the total global mortality rates. It is for this reason that companies like Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline have concentrated so much of their research efforts on those specific issues and areas. The result has resulted in a world-renowned reputation of expertise for both in the industry. The following paper will explain why the medications that are produced by the companies above are competitive in both domestic and global markets, and it will compare and contrast the quality management for these two organizations. Sanofi-Aventi’s is a multi-national organization and is currently the third-largest pharmaceutical group both France and Europe. It is an all-inclusive business as it conducts research, development, manufacturing, marketing the featured pharmaceuticals, and the company was formed in 2004 when the initial company, Sanofi-Synthelabo, bought out Aventis. Aventis had originally rejected the bids, and this turned into a three-month war until Sanofi-Synthelabo finally offered the acceptable bid of $54. 5 billion (Sanofi, 2010). After the bidding war was over, the Chairman of Sanofi-Aventis, Jean-Francois Dehecq, and the CEO, Gerard Le Fur, started the process of emphasizing the importance of customer service and their commitment to excellent service for the people who relied on their medications. Over the last several years, pricing and other various competitive methods and strategies of companies like these have been changing with technological developments, economic changes, federal legislation, and state drug substitution laws (Federal, 2010). With these impending changes, the overall market has undergone structural transformations as well that include the growth of the market for generic drugs, and company consolidations. The nature of this kind of competition is naturally subject to constant globally institutional and structural changes. GlaxoSmithKline has had a very notable history in the pharmaceutical industry as well since the early eighteenth century, and they are headquartered in the U. K. This company conducts business in the U. S. and boasts an estimated seven percent of the world’s total pharmaceutical market. Both company’s visions and plans were to become new, progressive companies were with great enthusiasm and vigor, as they had a clear vision of the desire to motivate the employees in almost 100 countries. Luckily, they already demonstrated an extensive portfolio of cutting-edge medications, reliable service to their patients and an overall commitment to the quality of life, so these factors enabled the company to continue to achieve their performance goals and meet the responsibilities they had to their communities. Coupled with evolving information technology and regular industry changes, there was and continues to be an increasing benefit and need for companies to choose and then charge differing prices to people in corresponding economic brackets. The competitive implications of these differential pricing tactics have offered companies like Sanofi-Aventi and GlaxoSmithKline the opportunities to spread their business over larger areas, more hospitals, and to involve themselves in other segments of demand by making themselves more flexible in the industry. These kinds of practices have probably changed the way they have partially because specific types of buyers as well as manufacturers have adopted and implement cost-controlling measures that are similar to those that have been used by traditional hospitals (Federal, 2010). The Sanofi-Aventis Industrial Affairs organization has been proven to be totally committed to providing the highest quality of service to its customers and patients, taking into consideration all of the current protocols of the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) the company takes from its plants that are based at Karachi & Wah Cantt (Sanofi, 2010). As with almost any other organization, quality and the amount of productivity are very important and regularly monitored, and there is a great emphasis placed on maintaining Health and Safety codes in order to keep the employees safe on the job. During 2005, the Industrial Affairs department of Sanofi-Aventis continued to focus on committing their time and energy to providing the highest quality of customer service, while meeting their own production goals. GlaxoSmithKline has been experiencing their own specific challenges due to regulatory issues, patent expiration issues, and increased pressures that are coming from different healthcare providers that have created an environment of tension, lower growth rates, and higher risk for the company. They are addressing these challenges with three priorities: grow and expand on a diversified global business foundation, delivering quality products of high value, and finally simplifying the general operating model. The Pakistani pharmaceutical market has been and remains to be weighed down with financial and producing difficulties. Government regulations and control over fixed prices has made many of the drugs offered unaffordable to consumers, and this has resulted in people searching for what they need on the black market at increased prices, or the drugs have just disappeared completely. In this kind of high-tension environment, both global manufacturers and local foreign-owned companies have proven that they are not able to make the profits needed for capital investment. Currently, there are no formal public drug reimbursement programs, although patent laws became more regulated in December 2000 (Sanofi, 2010). In the year 2002, Pakistan’s regulation laws became even weaker than they had been. In reaction to this, the formation and recruitments of drug inspection teams were brought in to investigate the manufacturing and sales of fraudulent drugs, but unfortunately have not had satisfactory results so far, largely due to a lack of necessary resources and various bureaucratic complications. Though both Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline have been suffering from the declines of sales and the resulting losses in profitability for the past few years, the companies continue to make every effort to not only regain their positions in the industry, but to exceed expectations. The ways in which quality management can have major affects on the current position of both of these companies in both a domestic and the global market are to keep their focus on their core competitive edge and to work to further improve its internal controls within each company. The sales forces for any pharmaceutical company are considered to be the back-bone of the industry, and both companies will most likely begin to thrive when they create and develop a successful sales force to improve their future prospects as the economy improves