CII’s Do’s & Don’ts For China Hoppers
Domestic companies seeking to stake a claim in China need to hire locals systematically and train them intensively. Relying solely on a handful of Western expatriates or less-expensive and less-experienced locals will expose a foreign company to the high risk, that its few key experts could be lured away.
A briefing document prepared by the Confederation of Indian Industry as part of the ongoing Indo-China visit, says domestic companies will also need to engage their corporate and local leaderships in an ongoing dialogue looking at long-term gains. Previously, without such alignments, many corporates entered China overly enthusiastic about the near-term potential of that market. Once disappointed, many companies have since become too conservative about investing in the Chinese market.
In contrast, by understanding local realities, Indian companies can view China more accurately — as a burgeoning opportunity that will take a few years to fructify fully.
To accomplish both these goals — improving the portfolio of drugs and developing marketing and other capabilities — domestic companies must build critical mass in human resources, by supporting their Chinese operations with world-class regulatory specialists and marketers.
Future contenders, says the chamber document, will need to staff up now to gain scientific and marketing expertise in all the therapeutic areas critical to China, including those that may not even be recognised there yet.
For example, although cholesterol and obesity are not yet prevalent among the Chinese, as the economy changes, diet and health trends will also change, and so will be treatment needs.
Focus should be laid on meeting the heads of Chinese operations on assessing and sharpening local capabilities in sales, marketing and distribution of ethical and
over-the- counter products, says the document, adding when it comes to consumer marketing, superpowers in consumer products may currently exceed pharmaceutical companies in scale and skill.
But the domestic pharmaceutical companies need not cede this space automatically. Certain drug players, for instance may claim that they themselves possess superior skills that can enhance their advantage greatly, points out the document.
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