Consultancy Project for Novartis Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example

Related Literature 11 Saudization and the Private Sector 12 Saudization and Novartis Pharma Services 13 Saudi Work Values & Unemployment in the Private Sector 14 Addressing the Challenges of Saudization in Private Companies 16 Pharmacy Education & Practice in Saudi Arabia 17 Pharmacists Working as Medical Representatives 19 Medical Representatives at Novartis Pharma Services 21 Human Resource Management (HRM) in Saudi Arabia 23 HRM and Saudization 24 HRM Strategies on Recruiting Employees 25 Recruitment Strategies of Companies in Saudi Arabia 29 Al-Jomaih Bottling Plants 30 General Electric (GE) Energy Manufacturing Technology Center 30 The Saudi British Bank (SABB) 32 Chapter 3 – Project Proposal 33 Client Background and Issue 33 Project Types 34 Project Outline 34 Methodology and Timeframe 36 Risks 37 Key Contacts 37 Chapter 4 – Analysis & Evaluation of Issues 38 Research Design and Method 38 Pilot Survey 39 Limitations of the study 40 Participants in the study 41 Group 1: Saudi Pharmacists in the Government Sector 41 Group 2: Saudi Pharmacists in the Private Sector 43 Group 3: Saudi Pharmacy Students 43 Survey Results and Discussion 43 Research Findings: Saudi Pharmacists in the Government Sector 43 Research Findings: Saudi Pharmacists in the Private Sector 50 Research Findings: Saudi Pharmacy Students 56 Chapter 5 – Findings and Conclusion 61 “Medical Representatives are Being Paid Less” 61 “Government Work is a Good Training Ground for Pharmacits” 62 “Medical Representative Work is a Tough and Stressful Job 62 “Medical Representative is a Low Status Work” 63 “The Job is Easier in the Government” 64 Positive Response from the Stakeholders in the Survey 64 Saudi Pharmacists in the Government Sector 64 Saudi Pharmacists in the Private Sector.

For this consultancy project, the company’s product manager, Dr. Adel Alohali outlined the challenges that were faced by the company in the midst of Saudization program by the government. In response to its need to attract more Saudi pharmacists, Novartis provides its medical representatives with generous salaries, bonuses, and other incentives that are comparable to the benefits given for government jobs where most of Saudi pharmacists work. For instance, the company provides new cars, which medical representatives can own after four years and also get a new one after that.

However, as Dr. Alohali explained, the company’s Human Resource team is still finding out ways to effectively recruit Saudi pharmacists to work in the company. Currently, Novartis Pharma Services employ a total of 89 pharmacists; 86 of them from foreign countries and only 3 are Saudi nationals. If possible, the company plans to eventually replace its workforce with more Saudi pharmacists in the next few years to drive in more sales for the company. Moreover, some benefits of Saudization of medical representative jobs at Novartis were also discussed during the consultation.

The company saw the need to employ Saudi nationals because, as part of their experience and culture, purchasing department in government hospitals and Saudi doctors prefer to deal with Saudi pharmacists than foreign workers. Novartis believes that by employing Saudi pharmacists, they will be able to increase their competitive advantage against other pharmaceutical firms.