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Merck Excellence?

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Anonymous

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This is a serious question I pose and I expect that it will attract a lot of spite,whether well-deserved or not. Is there any one positive thing that Merck could argue they do better than anyone else in the world does today? Certainly there have been several historical eras during which Merck was acclaimed to be doing something better than everyone else. Logically, being the best at something would seem to be a key ingredient to attracting top talent.
 


















Nothing? Logistics? Tax? Legal? Regulatory? Manufacturing? Clinical trials? Anything here? Pretty sad if nobody can come up with anything. Nothing? I also confess that I cannot think of anything that pops into my head from my limited exposure to the rest of the company.
 




Anonymous said:
Nothing? Logistics? Tax? Legal? Regulatory? Manufacturing? Clinical trials? Anything here? Pretty sad if nobody can come up with anything. Nothing? I also confess that I cannot think of anything that pops into my head from my limited exposure to the rest of the company.
Click to expand...

defense litigation and musical chairs.
 




Forcing people out, especially the tenured reps, with PIP and thus save the company a severance package. I am sure there will be a book written on it as Merck has perfected the technique.
 












hayley williams said:
defense litigation and musical chairs.
Click to expand...

.... paying fines promptly, paying other creditors slowly
.... leveraging our Corporate soul (the Merck Identity) to retain revenue sharing with J&J
.... eliminating/discouraging junior talent that might compete with mediocre management
.... minimizing US corporate tax burden
.... pretending to be compliant

.... ?other?
 




Anonymous said:
This is a serious question I pose and I expect that it will attract a lot of spite,whether well-deserved or not. Is there any one positive thing that Merck could argue they do better than anyone else in the world does today? Certainly there have been several historical eras during which Merck was acclaimed to be doing something better than everyone else. Logically, being the best at something would seem to be a key ingredient to attracting top talent.
Click to expand...

"Merck Excellence?" You have got to be shitting me.
 








Anonymous said:
Nothing? Logistics? Tax? Legal? Regulatory? Manufacturing? Clinical trials? Anything here? Pretty sad if nobody can come up with anything. Nothing? I also confess that I cannot think of anything that pops into my head from my limited exposure to the rest of the company.
Click to expand...

Merck is excellent at paying lobbyists. Mother Merck is willing to give money to everybody except the reps.


Merck spent $3.6 million lobbying government in 1Q
(AP) – 2 days ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Drugmaker Merck & Co. spent $3.56 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter, on rebates for federal prescription drug spending, free trade agreements and various tax-related issues, according to a quarterly disclosure report.

The expenditure was up 10 percent from $3.22 million in the year-earlier quarter, and a near tripling of the amount spent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The Whitehouse Station, N.J., company lobbied on a number of issues for which there was no specific bill pending. Those included importing prescription drugs from countries where they are cheaper, renewing and expanding the tax credit for research and development, deferral of taxation for income earned overseas and free trade agreements with Korea, Columbia and Panama.

Merck lobbied on price and rebate issues including prescription drugs purchased under the Medicare Part D program and on legislation affecting an independent payment advisory board — created under the 2010 federal health care overhaul — meant to hold down growth in Medicare spending.

The company lobbied on access to over-the-counter medications; its Schering-Plough unit sells Claritin nonprescription allergy medicine. And Merck, which has had manufacturing problems that have limited production of some of its vaccines for the past few years, also lobbied on drug shortage issues.

Merck lobbied Congress and the White House, according to a disclosure report filed April 20 with the House clerk's office.

Among those registered to lobby on the company's behalf in the first quarter was Ambrose Ryan, former clerk for the House Committee on Energy & Commerce.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 




It sounds like Merck might be world-class at legal maneuvering. So if I were a young lawyer that wanted to learn the art of legal manipulation at a multinational, Merck might be an excellent place for me to get a job. I'm not sure that this strategy has long-term legs but it might be where Merck is headed if it is not excellent (or changing its less-than-excellent status) at what it ought to be doing with the stockholders' capital investment.
 




We may not like Merck and how we, the reps, are treated. The PP is very naive to share an article about what Merck has spent in lobbying as further example of its evilness. Lobbying is very normal. The Big Three lobby and that was partially how they sold their cases to be rescued. The AMA has lobbyists. Various ethnic groups have lobbyists. Many foreign governments and industry groups have lobbyists. It is democracy. On a local level we have lobbyists trying to convince the legislators to pass a law requiring vaccination. You can say Merck benefits from the law as we are the only manufacturer of it. You can also say now people have access to this product at a reduced cost due to the new legislation.

Grow up. No need to do a keyword search on Merck and label everything done by Merck as evil.

You may be too young to know, if we did not lobby the congress to pass the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986, most vaccines may be gone from the market. Or you'll be signing tons of waivers and paying a high price to vaccinate your children. The cause then? Excessive lawsuits. We lobbied for the law not because we were evil but due to all the ambulance chasers filing claims more than annual sales of some of the vaccines. Would you want to be in a business that the potential claim was higher than what you were making a profit?
 




"The Whitehouse Station, N.J., company lobbied on a number of issues for which there was no specific bill pending. Those included importing prescription drugs from countries where they are cheaper, renewing and expanding the tax credit for research and development, deferral of taxation for income earned overseas and free trade agreements with Korea, Columbia and Panama."

Many countries do not respect patent laws. Note the problem Sankyo or Takeda is having with its recently acquired Indian subsidiary. Major manufacturing deficiency and incidents of cooking the book. Of course there is a self interest to keep us employed a little bit longer by making sure our revenue is not going to tank. If they promote you to the CEO position you would want to lobby against it too. R&D is risky. You know we are having difficulty in this area. Asking for tax credit in expenditure is normal business. Any new business in your neighborhood came in recently due to the attraction of a tax break? Did you tell them to move elsewhere and screw your own city? Free trade with Korea, Columbia and Panama - we want to tap into more markets as the US market is getting saturated. Why not?

"The company lobbied on access to over-the-counter medications; its Schering-Plough unit sells Claritin nonprescription allergy medicine. And Merck, which has had manufacturing problems that have limited production of some of its vaccines for the past few years, also lobbied on drug shortage issues."

Do you know our J&J joint venture sells Pepcid AC too? GM is lobbying the Congress to make other countries open their markets more. Can you be more specific why lobbying on drug shortage issues is bad? Vaccine business is not like pressing a pill. People like the benefits of our vaccines but always complain about the cost. You do realize people has an entitlement mentality and think medicine should be free. The sick and fat Americans want the best in the world (we deserve the best because I am an American and I am fat) and free if possible. Would you like to be in the business to provide that overweight SOB that never exercise free stuff so your family may starve?
 




Anonymous said:
It sounds like Merck might be world-class at legal maneuvering. So if I were a young lawyer that wanted to learn the art of legal manipulation at a multinational, Merck might be an excellent place for me to get a job. I'm not sure that this strategy has long-term legs but it might be where Merck is headed if it is not excellent (or changing its less-than-excellent status) at what it ought to be doing with the stockholders' capital investment.
Click to expand...

Actually you should learn how to pull a "GE" and work for General Electric. I believe it was widely reported a few months ago they practically paid nothing in taxes with a very good accounting department. Its CEO is an adviser to the current US president too. Or work for GM and learn how to make the taxpayers fund your failure. Merck has yet to reach such a low point.
 




Anonymous said:
We may not like Merck and how we, the reps, are treated. The PP is very naive to share an article about what Merck has spent in lobbying as further example of its evilness. Lobbying is very normal. The Big Three lobby and that was partially how they sold their cases to be rescued. The AMA has lobbyists. Various ethnic groups have lobbyists. Many foreign governments and industry groups have lobbyists. It is democracy. On a local level we have lobbyists trying to convince the legislators to pass a law requiring vaccination. You can say Merck benefits from the law as we are the only manufacturer of it. You can also say now people have access to this product at a reduced cost due to the new legislation.

Grow up. No need to do a keyword search on Merck and label everything done by Merck as evil.

You may be too young to know, if we did not lobby the congress to pass the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986, most vaccines may be gone from the market. Or you'll be signing tons of waivers and paying a high price to vaccinate your children. The cause then? Excessive lawsuits. We lobbied for the law not because we were evil but due to all the ambulance chasers filing claims more than annual sales of some of the vaccines. Would you want to be in a business that the potential claim was higher than what you were making a profit?
Click to expand...

My point is Merck treats it's reps like prison camp children, making them jump through hoops to get promotions and merit increases while they can spend millions of dollars to "hopefully" bribe influential people to go their way without a second thought. I could care less if you don't like the article you bobble head koolaid gulper. I'm surprised you took the time to read the quote because you probably spend most of your time with your head buried up your manager's back end or backstabbing one of your coworkers.
 




Anonymous said:
My point is Merck treats it's reps like prison camp children, making them jump through hoops to get promotions and merit increases while they can spend millions of dollars to "hopefully" bribe influential people to go their way without a second thought. I could care less if you don't like the article you bobble head koolaid gulper. I'm surprised you took the time to read the quote because you probably spend most of your time with your head buried up your manager's back end or backstabbing one of your coworkers.
Click to expand...

Don't like my manager. He is a Little Napoleon and a Little Nazi. Don't care for Merck these days either. But I realize every industry has to lobby. It is a necessary evil. Never drink the koolaid. Got into a lot of troubles because I don't follow rules and play games very well.
 




Ended when we started hiring cheerleaders who were using Merck as a part time gig to be full time moms! Then we started losing real leaders cause the cheerleaders liked getting banged by men with responsibility and fancy titles! Merck fired all the real leaders for fishing in the company pond when they stocked them with nice fish! Now we have a bunch of testosterone deficient MBA's who get it off looking at an XL spreadsheet or crunching numbers and real field leaders are nonexistant! Jerry Keller saw the handwriting on the wall when the great young leaders Merck had developed were cast aside or given pink slips because of pink slips (with matching panties)! Look at those leading our competitors today and you'll see those that might have lead Merck forward! Then look at what we've put in front of Wall Street in the past ten years..and they wonder why our stock languishes still! Keller and Emmons and Brennen and Warner would not have made the mistakes that have flourished within our organization within the last ten years! All the great research that Peter Kim can muster will not make up for marketing disasters!
 




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