Phase 1- OBS Pharma

Hey all,
here is my phase 1, would love your thoughts and comments!

Company Overview & History

Organon Bio Sciences (OBS) is a leading pharmaceutical company in the Pakistani healthcare industry. OBS has a solid reputation in producing quality medicines for   fields such as: gynaecology, psychiatry, anaesthesiology, and other therapeutic areas. The company focuses on improving quality of life for their consumers by providing high quality products at affordable prices.

The company was born in 2006 when the multinational Akzo Nobel expanded its business into Pakistan by selecting OBS as their strategic partner. OBS reached another milestone in 2008 by expanding and acquiring American pharmaceutical giant Merck Sharpe & Dhome (MSD). In an attempt to expand internationally, OBS successfully made its mark into Sri Lanka by acquiring some MSD products. OBS has continued to grow through other acquisitions with multinational giants such as Schering Plough and Johnson & Johnson, as well as some large local companies. In less than a decade OBS gone from number 58 (out of approximately 700 registered companies) to one of the top 10 pharmaceutical giants in Pakistan.

CEO’s Journey

Junaid was born in a middle class family in Lahore and was the third youngest of four brothers. His father was a biology professor in university and his mother was a stay at home wife. Junaid received his education in a public military school and after finishing college he thought he would pursue a career in the air force like his oldest brother (Amjad). Destiny had other plans for Junaid as he was certified as unfit to fly by the air force due to his medical test being below the requirements for a fighter pilot. His mother saw this as a sign from God and thought he should become a doctor. Junaid reluctantly applied for a degree in biology and left for Canada shortly to join his other older brother (Soliman) who was pursuing a degree in accounting. After his first semester Junaid transferred to business school.

Life in Canada was tough. Apart from Soliman there was no familial support and his parents did not have enough funds to pay for his degree or other living expenses. Although Junaid wanted to study marketing his brother convinced him accounting would allow him to always maintain a solid job to pay the bills. From day one Junaid juggled work and school. After graduation Junaid landed a job at a small accounting firm but it was not enough to pay the bills. It is during this time in his life Junaid realized he wanted to be his own boss.

When Junaid landed a solid job as a financial controller at a large Canadian hospital he finally earned enough money to pay the bills, but it was not enough for him. He had heard stories from peers about Saudi Arabia and its booming economy.  He finally landed a job in Riyadh in the early 90s and made his next career move. It should be noted Junaid was extremely family oriented. During his time in Canada his parents and youngest brother (Tito) had all moved to Canada along with other members from his extended family. Moving to Riyadh meant leaving the joint family system he was accustomed to. However, his ambitions gave him the motivation to make his big move, he also knew he would be able to provide more for his family if he succeeded.

Junaid began working for the royal family in Riyadh who owned a variety of businesses that ranged from fast food to fashion, as well as pharmaceuticals all under the name of Mawarid Trading Company. Two years after joining the company he was promoted to CFO of Muwarid’s pharmaceutical sector. A year later he was offered a job as a managing director at a pharmaceutical company in Pakistan. After successfully managing Organon in Pakistan he received an opportunity to do a management buyout of the same company he was working for. This is how OBS was born.

Main Characters

Anita: Anita is Junaid’s wife and currently works at OBS as the senior director. When Anita’s only son Samir (and child) left for university she was in disarray as she was a homemaker and her life revolved around her son. After he left, Junaid welcomed her to OBS with open arms despite her lack of business education and experience. Her role at OBS has always been quite controversial within the company for the top employees due to her lack of business education. Anita and Junaid had met in university while he was studying accounting and she was pursuing a bachelors in psychology. Anita started her career at OBS as head of Human Resources due to her natural managerial skills. Her charisma allowed her to be accepted amongst a majority of employees. Anita also feel she has a right to OBS as her father (an influential Pakistani lawyer) has always helped Junaid with legal issues regarding the company (this includes all major acquisitions made). It should be noted that Anita had also set up a Research & Development Lab within the company.

Tito: After witnessing the success of his older brother, Tito (Junaid’s youngest brother) also wanted to join the business. Junaid blindly agreed to let his youngest brother join OBS and made him the head of internal audit. Tito moved his family all the way from Toronto to get a peace of the prize. Tito had excellent credentials (he graduated from University of Toronto’s business school on full scholarship as class valedictorian). Despite his achievements he lacked managerial skills and acted more like a CEO than an employee. Junaid decided he had to let go of Tito for the sake of OBS. This move definitely weakened family ties. After Junaid fired Tito he decided to move back with his wife and younger sons to Toronto but made his oldest son stay behind and pursue a medical degree in Pakistan.

Omar: Omar is Tito’s oldest son. He lives with Anita and Junaid in their home (against Anita’s will) in Pakistan while pursuing his medical degree. Despite the dispute between Junaid and Tito, Junaid feels a strong responsibility towards Omar and ‘replaced’ his son while he is studying abroad. Omar is present in many of Junaid’s business meetings. Omar has also had the ability to create solid relationships with top Pakistani doctors through Junaid. This has allowed him to have a strong understanding of Junaid’s business.

Samir: Samir is the son of Junaid and Anita. Junaid is the same age as Omar and is pursuing a degree in finance in Canada. He feels that his father is more of a mentor to Omar than him. He feels his father is guilt ridden by the dispute between him and his uncle. And in an attempt to save a relationship with his uncle he is blindly grooming his cousin more than his own son to take over this business. Samir is grateful his mother is at OBS and has some say but feels frustration with his father’s lack of attention towards him in regards to the business. Although Anita wants Samir to finish his masters before coming back to Pakistan he feels he is in a race against time with his cousin and needs to come back to Pakistan quickly to remind his father who the rightful successor to the company should be.