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Who do you really miss that has left Merck?

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Integrity,
Innovation,
Ethics,
Pride,
True concern for the patient, e.g. George Merck, not the fake-'em-out concern we see on prime time TV.
Research pipeline,

Nobody misses me, but I left because those above left before me.
 








Anonymous said:
Integrity,
Innovation,
Ethics,
Pride,
True concern for the patient, e.g. George Merck, not the fake-'em-out concern we see on prime time TV.
Research pipeline,

Nobody misses me, but I left because those above left before me.
Click to expand...


You're not alone friend. I and a number of others left for
many of the same reasons.
 








Jerry Keller! A bright and shining light as a sales VP, when you went to a meeting where Jerry spoke you always came home feeling great about your job and wanting to go back out and sell better. When you get home from meetings now you want to see a psychologist instead. Merck is now beating the reps to death with all levels of management and what folks don't realize is that soon Merck will not be able to hire and retain class people anymore, they'll go somewhere else. The job's too hard getting the shit beat out of you every day by customers that don't respect Merck or the industry to have management beating you as well. After Vioxx Merck should be happy as hell to have anyone with tenure staying with us and should act accordingly. Remember because of the way it is handled most managers do not know of the numbers of doctors in any territory with a Vioxx lawsuits or the angst caused by them. Merck management does not get it!!
 




Anonymous said:
Jerry Keller! A bright and shining light as a sales VP, when you went to a meeting where Jerry spoke you always came home feeling great about your job and wanting to go back out and sell better. When you get home from meetings now you want to see a psychologist instead. Merck is now beating the reps to death with all levels of management and what folks don't realize is that soon Merck will not be able to hire and retain class people anymore, they'll go somewhere else. The job's too hard getting the shit beat out of you every day by customers that don't respect Merck or the industry to have management beating you as well. After Vioxx Merck should be happy as hell to have anyone with tenure staying with us and should act accordingly. Remember because of the way it is handled most managers do not know of the numbers of doctors in any territory with a Vioxx lawsuits or the angst caused by them. Merck management does not get it!!
Click to expand...

When Merck let Keller go it was an ominous sign for the sales force and accurately portended the negative future we have experienced. The lack of confidence and angst shared by Merck senior management continues to flow down to the reps where it is manifested and felt as a threatening and hostile corporate environment. That kind of motivation ultimately fails as Merck continues to demonstrate.
 




Anonymous said:
But we are diverse and proud of it. Cannot perform but we are diverse!!!
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You're so naive. Vioxx was not a diversity issue. QCS is a great idea that is poorly executed and contradicted by metrics. Yes, Tyrone is less than effective, but so are other non-diverse Merck V.P.s and execs. Merck's diversity numbers are still far below the national percentages, with the exception of Caucasian women. Yes, Caucasian women are considered a part of diversity in corporate America. And no I am not a diversity hire!
 




















Respect --ed to get it from customers and internally -- we ruined our relationship with the customers by over hiring and over selling -- and we dont get it from the inside -- because we have check off sheets and managers who ust roll it out and do not speak up
 




Anonymous said:
You're so naive. Vioxx was not a diversity issue. QCS is a great idea that is poorly executed and contradicted by metrics. Yes, Tyrone is less than effective, but so are other non-diverse Merck V.P.s and execs. Merck's diversity numbers are still far below the national percentages, with the exception of Caucasian women. Yes, Caucasian women are considered a part of diversity in corporate America. And no I am not a diversity hire!
Click to expand...

The diversity agenda is a prime symptom of the disease. In and of itself it sounds noble and harmless in theory, but in practice it morphs into a cancer on any organization. No, I am not talking about hiring qualified candidates who happen to be people of color, but the inevitable mandating of QUOTAS etc.. This goes along with micro-management of the sales force, lying about research findings, arbitrary and capricious terminations for anyone who steps out of line, etc.. All are indicators that they don't trust you anymore, and are very concerned that you might cause some public embarrassment to the company that, God forbid, will end up in the WSJ and cause the stock to drop. The company agenda is driven solely by self preservation, public relations, and managing the stock price. Ethics, and morality become quaint concepts for sloganeering by the marketing and HR departments. This is the recipe for destroying a company.

"In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice there is."
 












Start with Roy Vagelos, and the company goes downhill from there. While a forced retirement, he was still healthy, a sginificant force in the company and the industry, and in hindsight, probably the rudder on the ship. Why was he not kept on as Chairman of the Board until the mandatory retirement age for Board members?

What is the primary reason that talented people have left Merck? Simple, the Merck of today is not the Merck that was named the most admired corporation in America for 7 years in a row in the late 80's and early 90's. It was innovative, and had a rich pipeline of commercially attractive products. People enjoyed working for Merck, and were richly rewarded for their contributions as their stock holdings and options increased in value. Salary and bonus is not enough - you can get that anywhere.

The last major product introduction was Vioxx in 1998. Since that no longer exists, go back to Singulair in 1996, or 10 years ago. No company can grow with such a lackluster performance on new product launches, especially one that has a string of current and impending patent expiries. The math is simple to all but Ray Gilmartin (the person we miss the least).

What I most miss is the "old Merck", and I don't believe that we will ever see it again.
 




Vioxx was 1999, but gone from the market nonetheless.

What about ZETIA and VYTORIN? We sell over a billion.

Look beyond USHH - ROTATEQ, GARDASIL, ZOSTAVAX...will be in the billion.

It ain't all bad.
 




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