| dc.description.abstract | The Kenyan pharmaceutical industry like any other industry has been faced with
challenges in the past decade which has led Multinational Pharmaceutical Corporations to
strategize for survival in the market. They have in the recent past shown keen interest in
the institutional markets in order to grow their market share. This study looked at
challenges of competition facing MPCs for institutional markets and response strategies
to these challenges. This study will benefit company executives and top management
teams of various MPCs in the Pharmaceutical industry as they are the drivers of the
companies' grand strategies for business growth. Other stakeholders in the industry like
investors, collaborating multinational donor Agencies and the public in general would
benefit as this research would provide detailed information for making informed
decisions. Key institutions like Department of Defence (DaD), Kenya Pots Authority
(KP A), Referral hospitals (KNH, MTRH) and universities health facilities could also be
of interest to foreign investors as they make good and reliable business partners in terms
of quantity of purchase and consistency in payment. Primary data was collected using
self-administered drop and pick questionnaires which were distributed to the managers in
each of the 25 MPCs. These managers were picked because of their knowledge of the
industry and were in a position to expound the strategic issues facing the companies. The
questionnaires were semi-structured having both open-ended and closed-ended questions.
The study used descriptive statistics for data analysis. These measures included
frequency, mean and percentage. Tables were used exclusively to present the
findings and to generate quantitative data which was finally integrated to form a
comprehensive report. The findings revealed that the bulk of business comes from
institutions 68.4%, while the rest comes from open market 3l.65 %, and the majority of
respondents agreed that buyers insisting on lower prices, parallel lillegal imports, cheaper
substitutes, undercutting of prices, competition using unorthodox methods, counterfeits
and threats from importers of generic products pose a great challenge in pharmaceutical
industry. They went further to clarify that counterfeits and illegal imports threat was more
in the open market than institutions. On the side of practice this study recommends that
pharmaceutical firms need to form strategic alliances with institutions in order to lock out
parallel/illegal importers and counterfeit products. The Pharmacy and Poisons Board
(PPB) should come up with legislations to curb parallel/illegal imports and counterfeits in
order to minimise unhealthy competition. The use of professionals (either outsourced or
in-house) in the negotiation process with formulary committees and preparation of tender
documents to deal with institutions is an option that the firms should look at. This is
because the institutions are getting more advanced, away from manual to e-tendering,
ordering and even payment which calls for further training or use of skilled personnel
who understand the complexities associated with such processes. Further, there are other
legal parameters that must be met by tendering firms that calls for the input of
professionals. The study recommends that multinationals are better placed to use local
distributors to undertake local logistics in relation to tenders. This is in relation to what
the distributors can undertake locally as compared to the multinationals. The legal
requirements (both local and international) restrict the participation and involvement of
the multinationals in certain activities. | en_US |
