How Pharma companies could shift from complexity to simplicity to boost profits and morale?

In any business in general if you adopt lean management with helps to remove waste and make procedures simple as standard to follow the cost of operations decrease and profitability increases.

In pharma since competition is increasing day by day, generic medicines are in super flow the key to make big Dollar is Specialty. New molecule, bio similar products, Designer drugs all leads to premium product and high margins

The pressure to increase script volume and profits must compromise individual pharmacists' ability to undertake clinical roles, as often such compromises are necessary in order to cope with workload. Pharmacists can feel undervalued and become disillusioned with the realities of their lot.

Pharmacies continue to dispense more and more prescriptions, and it is impossible to see this situation change. Furthermore, the sector has witnessed the development and widespread introduction of prescription-generating schemes and, once the genie is out of the bottle, all contractors are compelled to join in, or potentially see their livelihoods suffer.

In an attempt to retain scripts, the collection of patients' prescriptions is actively encouraged. Such services often involve the ordering of scripts at patients' request. It could be argued that this can potentially allow for a semblance of control in dispensary workflow and therefore facilitate pharmacist involvement in meaningful patient care. However, the reality is that this service may transfer problems and patient complaints from surgeries to pharmacies. As a profession, we are doing more and more for patients' convenience, but is this resulting in more hassle and less job satisfaction?

Community pharmacists are generally caring individuals who are happy to go the extra mile to help vulnerable or needy patients. However, routine delivery of prescriptions is now offered irrespective of genuine need. Invariably if a service is offered free to the public, its perceived value diminishes. Delivery of prescriptions to patients more than capable of collecting them for themselves is eroding the public's perception of the value of their medicines and of pharmacy services.

As long as pharmacies continue to generate healthy profits, owners will continue with the current situation, with its continued emphasis on the supply function, above all else. This may even suit some pharmacists, as it allows them to remain within their 'comfort zone'. The new contract may ultimately allow community pharmacy practice to develop into a more rewarding clinical service, which routinely delivers greatly improved patient care, but this transitional stage, within which we find ourselves, is exacerbating these workload issues.

These views may seem deliberately contentious. However, I would hope that they stimulate some serious discussion into the future direction of community pharmacy practice. Things must change, and I would urge all of us to take the lead, or we will have no one but ourselves to blame if we find ourselves in an even worse situation.

The answer would be lean Management.

Lean management  is about “the complete and thorough elimination of wasteful practices.” Unfortunately many companies read this intent as simply “elimination of waste.

When coming to your question and applying it to pharma industry please refer to the following link.

http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2011/069/?show=all

I agree with the answer given by ACHMAD SURJANI   General Manager Operational 

According to Collinson, and Jay (),Increasing patient and physician demand, stronger regulation and the growing diversity of regulatory regimes changes in government funding , growing competition from Asia , declining R& D productivity and new technologies all combine to make Pharmaceutical industry in an increasing complexity and turbulent place to operate.

Coping with these changes will changing operating environment and to do so better their competitors and secure long term profitability.

Pharma is the fourth most complex industry  to operate and the highest performing sector compared to other sectors. External source of complexity are rated high impact sources more than other industries. However the poor performing companies in Pharma industry are internally focused ,  yet there are four complexity drivers Pharma companies need to focus to reduce harmful complexity.

1.  Strategic complexity ( internal).

2.  Innovation process in Pharma market complexity (external.

3.  Technology related complexity (external).

4.  Organizational complexity ( internal)

 So, what executives need to do is increase external focus and identify the key drivers of customer value for instances activities , process and projects that will have the biggest impact on long term customers satisfaction and demand. To do so, internal business process should be simplified by removing the steps that are not clearly and directly related to creation of customer value that should followed by simplification of the organizational structure to foster communication permit lower down hierarchy attacking the sources of complexity and engage them in problem solving. 

ACHMAD SURJANI   I agree with the good and detailed answer to Mr  

How Pharma companies could shift from complexity to simplicity to boost profits and morale?

I am not into the industry, but I quess... simplify the product line, reduce brands, improve branding and marketing, be effective with your HR strategy

1. You must provide enough over the product and the provision of supplies to meet the requirements and customer demand2. must persevere to create a low-cost product3. High-adoption for delivery in a timely, quality and product performance4. brand building based on technical leadership5. continuous development in products6. establishment of a strong network of distributors and dealers7. obtained by the marketing team on a large, ongoing contracts8. determine the impact of the value of products to customers9. Establish mechanisms of feedback for measuring customer needs and satisfaction

In addition to lean management that should help in boosting businesses and simplify complexity, I would consider asking the following:

1. What am I using making that make(s) my customers unwilling to visit my pharmacy?

2. Am I competing with other companies?if not, why?

3. Am I following up with the latest in medication and drugs compositions?

4. Am I updating my skills as required by international standards?

Finding the answers for those answers should help ...!

Thank You

The growing diversity of global procurement networks is pushing pharma companies to become much more agile and intelligent in their management of global supply chains. Integrating multiple materials and products inputs from around the world, and switching suppliers in response to changes in pricing and availability, lies at the heart of their cost competitiveness, and is becoming increasingly complex.

Break the separation between those dealing with product complexity and those dealing with process complexity. In many organizations, the groups focusing on the benefits of adding variety and connectedness are often different and separate from those exposed to internal processes. Increasing communications between both camps will ensure that people who are dealing with the process complexity can provide pushback as well as insight into designing services or products in ways that avoid adding excessive difficulty and costly inefficiency to processes and systems

Design processes and systems to cushion internal impacts of complexity. A number of companies are employing ways to dampen the process impact of adding variety or connectedness to their products. For example, DBS Bank, headquartered in Singapore and with over 200 locations throughout Asia, wanted to offer its customers gold bonds via ATMs, a product unique to a few Asian countries such as Taiwan. DBS could have allowed Taiwan to design its own gold bond feature and thus add another silo (a source of inefficiency), but a proliferation of unique products would soon increase the number of silos and hence the difficulty of processes. Instead, DBS decided to support this unique product as part of its ATM platform. All of the company’s ATMs use the same global platform, but each country can switch different products on or off

Offer customers ways to deal with increased complexity. Giving customers options allows them to find a way to use new products or services without increasing the difficulty on their end. For example: categorize options, sequence options from low to high, and/or develop a way to help customers navigate the increase in product or service offerings. In Australia, Woolworth’s App allows customers to navigate the enormous amount of SKUs they have in their supermarkets, allowing customers to search for items on their list and minimize the time spent wandering aisles. It also helps customers compare prices and spot deals via real-time price changes—something shoppers without the app cannot accomplish unless they spend excess hours in the store