Mgt_561_Week06

Individual Assignment Ron Gruber MGT/521 October 21, 2011 Professor: Eddie Aprile Business Analysis Part III What strategic moves have Merck & Co. made or will they make in line with the changing markets' In this presentation I will discuss how the economic trends are influencing Merck & Co. I will also discuss the strategies and tactics that Merck & Co. has used, is using, or will use to adapt to changing markets. Determining the role that Human Resource Management will play to achieve the company goals will also be approached. By the end of this presentation and with the help of my two previous analysis reports, I should have enough information collected to make an educated decision on whether or not to invest with Merck & Co. How are current economic trends influencing the business' During difficult economic times, effective management is often at a premium (Robbins & Judge, p. 15, 2011). Merck & Co. is not an exception to this rule. Economic trends have a huge impact on all companies, not only here in the U.S. According to Merck & Co.’ Chairman, President and CEO Richard T. Clark (personal communication, April 28, 2009) “Major shifts in the economic and political landscape have coincided with significant changes in our industry. At the same time, we continue to dramatically transform this company to build a new Merck for a new era.” Because of recent economic trends many big pharmaceutical companies had to lay off thousands of people due to recession. Strategies the company has used or could use for adapting to changing markets Merck & Co. has used many strategies to maintain growth and revenue in order to adapt in these times of changing markets. One of these strategies was to merge with Schering-Plough. Merck & Co. is also focused on positioning the company for long-term success. Merck continually makes strides to change the way the company approaches research and development. Because the economy is bad globally, Merck & Co. is experiencing loss due to the fact that people don’t have the insurance or make as many doctor visits because the money just isn’t there for the consumers. “With this in mind, Merck & Co. is pressured to continue to provide significant value and innovation to all customers” (Richard T. Clark, personal communication, April 28, 2009). Tactics the company has implemented or could implement to achieve strategic goals One of the tactics used by Merck & Co. and other big pharmaceutical companies is to lay off people in anticipation of a recession. Merck & Co. is also planning to move more aggressively into biotechnology drugs, which are made in living cells. These represent some of the industry's biggest sellers and, for regulatory and scientific reasons, are not subject to the same rapid onslaught of generic competition as pills made from chemicals (Pollack, 2008). Another one of Merck & Co.’s tactics in 2008 was to merge with Schering-Plough. This merger expanded the global reach of the company. Merck & Co. also has a strong and viable research team; this is a good business tactic that will help achieve their ultimate goal of being the top pharmaceutical company in the world. Human Resources Role Human resource management is the process of determining human resource needs and then recruiting, selecting, developing, motivating, evaluating, compensating and scheduling employees to achieve organizational goals (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, p. 284 chapter 11, 2010). The chart below shows how the human resource manager works within the legal environment to achieve the goals of the company. [pic] At Merck & Co. the role of human resource manager is no different than what is described above. It is the Human Resource Manager’s job to insure that the employees at Merck & Co. are the best people there for the company, to insure that quality work and high ethical values are instilled into each one. At Merck & Co. the fundamental responsibility is discovering, developing and delivering innovative medicines and vaccines that can make a difference in people’s lives and create a healthier future (Merck & Co., Inc., 2008). To achieve these goals it is important to have highly trained individuals in the key positions. It is also the responsibility of the Human Resource Manager to keep morale up, encouraging the employees to do their very best job for the company. A few ways that morale can be kept up is with soft benefits, these benefits would include but are not limited to daycare, on site gymnasium, on site cafeterias, and in some cases company cars. Conclusion Here In conclusion, after researching Merck & Co. thoroughly, I have found that they are staying on the cutting edge and expanding product lines. I do have reservations however, with the problems that arrived from Vioxx being taken off of the shelves. That in itself caused a huge financial issue with the company, however their merger with Schering-Plough was a positive turn around for the company and opened new global markets. Merck has shown a remarkable come back from the loss of Vioxx and in all fairness they did take full responsibility for the issue. Merck seems to have high ethical standards and also seems to keep their stakeholders at the top of the list of important people. Merck seems to do a lot of philanthropic work like, for example, for pregnant mothers, children’s vaccines, lower cost medications, care of the elderly and work in third world countries just to name a few things (Business Analysis I, 2011). As for investing in this company personally, pharmaceuticals and food sources are always a good place to invest your money. People are always going to need medicines and with today’s technology, there is always a new product coming down the pipeline. I am not in love with some of Merck & Co.’s products but I do appreciate the responsibility that they do take in trying to insure safety and value. All in all they have not done anything worse than the other pharmaceutical companies out there. In the end, I would recommend investing with Merck & Co. References Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.. (Richard T. Clark, personal communication, April 28, 2009). (Richard T. Clark, personal communication, April 28, 2009). Pollack, A. (2008, October 23). Merck Plans to Cut 12% of Work Force as Its Sales and Profit Fall. New York Times, p. 03. Nickels, W. G., McHugh, J. M., & McHugh, S. M. (2010). Understanding Business (9th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.. Merck & Co., Inc. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/docs/cr2008.pdf Gruber, R., Business Analysis Part I, 2011