Lowering the cost of medicines
May 22, 2006 | 12:00am
If it weren’t for a nifty Mercedes-Benz that a client was driving then, former tire company sales representative Amado Tadena wouldn’t have ended up where he is today – as president and managing director of GlaxoSmithKline Philippines, of which he has been a part for the last 25 years.
Now, what has a Benz got to do with the man’s career path, you might ask. Actually, nothing at all, but see, the Benz represented something that Tadena was aspiring for at that time. As a young and upcoming management staff member of a multinational company, Tadena was looking for more marketing experience, apart from the fact that he was badly bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.
"I wanted to save enough money then so that, within five years, I could set up another company [his first business endeavor didn’t go as planned]. Never in my dreams did I imagine I’d end up becoming a CEO," says Tadena. The young dreamer’s background didn’t even point to his being head of a multinational company. The eldest son of the late Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur mayor and World War II veteran Filomeno Tadena, Lito (as his friends fondly call him) almost followed in his father’s footsteps when he took up foreign service as preparation for a law degree. But when his father was assassinated, he decided that politics was too dirty for his taste and pursued an MBA course. It was while "doing his time" in the MBA program that he was recruited as a management trainee by Procter & Gamble, where he started honing his management skills for a couple of years before trying out his luck at putting up a company with a friend. The company was supposed to put them on the way to becoming millionaires before they reached 30. Alas, the activated carbon plant company, which was a tie-up with a Japanese company and which would have been the first ever of its kind in the country, went pffft even before it took off.
The tire company that hired him offered good benefits but "the pace was so slow that you’d often see very bright and contented 50-year-old salesmen," states Tadena. He was young and he was restless. Fueled by his desire to move up, be one of the country’s youngest millionaires, and drive around a brand-new Benz, he immediately applied for a job at a pharmaceutical company and got in – hey, no sweat. After all, he had a good track record and a solid educational background. "It was a very rewarding job. I was earning a lot of money and in three months’ time, I was made regular, and became eligible to buy a car," smiles Tadena at the memory.
But before he could even scout for the latest models, an oil crisis hit the country. Prices of commodities and yes, cars, went up. "I ended up buying a Beetle," laughs Tadena. "I didn’t want to spend all that money just for a Benz." If there’s one thing that Tadena has a lot of, it’s prudence.
In five years’ time, Tadena said he had forgotten about his plans of putting up his own business as he had his hands full going up, up and up the corporate ladder. After a year as a medical representative, he was promoted to district manager, and after a year, became national sales training manager. "My boss who trained me as a rep all of a sudden was reporting to me," says Tadena, who adds that the experience gave his confidence a great boost.
Then, the head-hunting began. Knowing his potential, companies approached him and offered him posts. One such company was GlaxoSmithKline, which was then looking for a marketing director. But he was only in his late 20s and the company wasn’t too keen on taking on seemingly "inexperienced" people.
Three years later, however, the same company came knocking at his door again, asking him if he was still interested. "I said ‘Sure, but I’m more expensive now,’" says Tadena with a smile. To cut the story short, he was hired as head of marketing of GSK. He has never looked back since then.
What he loves best about GSK, says Tadena, is it allows its people to experiment and explore their own ideas. "It gives people enough elbow room to do what they think is best for the company. It’s almost like having my own company and because of this, you learn to love it as your own," he explains. While there had been offers up until about a couple of years ago, Tadena never thought of leaving GSK, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
He certainly appreciates how GSK has welcomed his ideas on providing value health to the public. GSK’s health program, in a nutshell, enables patients to buy medicines at more affordable prices. In doing so, it became the first global pharmaceutical company to heed the government’s call for lower-priced but quality medicines for Filipinos.
The program was implemented in 2004 and began with products such as antibiotics, which are 34 percent cheaper than other brands. The following years saw GSK selling quality medicines for hyperacidity, flu, asthma, infections, tuberculosis, gout, nausea, cough and fever at five to 34 percent off the original prices. In a similar manner, Tadena is actively advocating the implementation of GSK Foundation’s Pinoy Health Pass, a healthcare insurance coverage scheme for about six million indigent Filipinos. This is in partnership with PhilHealth, local government units and other private donors. With the subsidized healthcare plan, even a balut vendor can have a health pass, says Tadena.
Another treatment GSK is issuing soon is the anti-cervical cancer vaccine. Cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus and, at the moment, only one other company is developing a vaccine. On the local front, GSK is very much involved in the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program, which aims to eradicate elephantiasis in partnership with the Department of Health and other private donors. GSK hopes the disease will be totally eliminated by 2010. Like disease busters, the GSK team goes to rural and coastal areas to give away free medicines for this disease caused by mosquito bites.
Given all his responsibilities, Tadena says he isn’t stressed out at all because he’s not afraid to lose his job. "You just have to keep doing your best. If your best is not good enough, you should be ready to face the consequences and relax," he says. Workaholism is not his cup of tea, either. "I work when I need to work and finish it, then I forget about it," says Tadena, who is after speeding up things and cutting red tape.
With this kind of work ethic, he could have more time dreaming and planning how and where to lead his beloved company. It’s no surprise that he was recently awarded the prestigious Leadership Award at the GSK Leadership Conference 2006 held in Orlando, Florida. Of the 11,000 GSK employees, only 1,100 – or the top one percent – employees are invited to attend. And of this number, only 25 were cited and Tadena was the first and only Filipino to have received the prize.
A good leader, he says, has to be authentic, trustworthy and competent. "It’s very easy to inspire when they know you are sincere and that they believe that you know what you’re doing" Of course, he has to show some results as well. His greatest challenge, of course, is how to get the full potential out of every employee.
These days, Tadena, with the support of his wife and three daughters, is juggling his time between his GSK job and his own businesses. Yes, he finally got back to that activated carbon plant and also takes care of an IT courseware company and a distribution outfit. On the side, he dabbles in photography, golf, gardening and just chilling out.
So, does he finally have a fleet of Benzes in his garage? Tadena smiles demurely and, with a twinkle in his eyes, shakes his head before bursting out laughing.
Now, what has a Benz got to do with the man’s career path, you might ask. Actually, nothing at all, but see, the Benz represented something that Tadena was aspiring for at that time. As a young and upcoming management staff member of a multinational company, Tadena was looking for more marketing experience, apart from the fact that he was badly bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.
"I wanted to save enough money then so that, within five years, I could set up another company [his first business endeavor didn’t go as planned]. Never in my dreams did I imagine I’d end up becoming a CEO," says Tadena. The young dreamer’s background didn’t even point to his being head of a multinational company. The eldest son of the late Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur mayor and World War II veteran Filomeno Tadena, Lito (as his friends fondly call him) almost followed in his father’s footsteps when he took up foreign service as preparation for a law degree. But when his father was assassinated, he decided that politics was too dirty for his taste and pursued an MBA course. It was while "doing his time" in the MBA program that he was recruited as a management trainee by Procter & Gamble, where he started honing his management skills for a couple of years before trying out his luck at putting up a company with a friend. The company was supposed to put them on the way to becoming millionaires before they reached 30. Alas, the activated carbon plant company, which was a tie-up with a Japanese company and which would have been the first ever of its kind in the country, went pffft even before it took off.
The tire company that hired him offered good benefits but "the pace was so slow that you’d often see very bright and contented 50-year-old salesmen," states Tadena. He was young and he was restless. Fueled by his desire to move up, be one of the country’s youngest millionaires, and drive around a brand-new Benz, he immediately applied for a job at a pharmaceutical company and got in – hey, no sweat. After all, he had a good track record and a solid educational background. "It was a very rewarding job. I was earning a lot of money and in three months’ time, I was made regular, and became eligible to buy a car," smiles Tadena at the memory.
But before he could even scout for the latest models, an oil crisis hit the country. Prices of commodities and yes, cars, went up. "I ended up buying a Beetle," laughs Tadena. "I didn’t want to spend all that money just for a Benz." If there’s one thing that Tadena has a lot of, it’s prudence.
In five years’ time, Tadena said he had forgotten about his plans of putting up his own business as he had his hands full going up, up and up the corporate ladder. After a year as a medical representative, he was promoted to district manager, and after a year, became national sales training manager. "My boss who trained me as a rep all of a sudden was reporting to me," says Tadena, who adds that the experience gave his confidence a great boost.
Then, the head-hunting began. Knowing his potential, companies approached him and offered him posts. One such company was GlaxoSmithKline, which was then looking for a marketing director. But he was only in his late 20s and the company wasn’t too keen on taking on seemingly "inexperienced" people.
Three years later, however, the same company came knocking at his door again, asking him if he was still interested. "I said ‘Sure, but I’m more expensive now,’" says Tadena with a smile. To cut the story short, he was hired as head of marketing of GSK. He has never looked back since then.
What he loves best about GSK, says Tadena, is it allows its people to experiment and explore their own ideas. "It gives people enough elbow room to do what they think is best for the company. It’s almost like having my own company and because of this, you learn to love it as your own," he explains. While there had been offers up until about a couple of years ago, Tadena never thought of leaving GSK, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
He certainly appreciates how GSK has welcomed his ideas on providing value health to the public. GSK’s health program, in a nutshell, enables patients to buy medicines at more affordable prices. In doing so, it became the first global pharmaceutical company to heed the government’s call for lower-priced but quality medicines for Filipinos.
The program was implemented in 2004 and began with products such as antibiotics, which are 34 percent cheaper than other brands. The following years saw GSK selling quality medicines for hyperacidity, flu, asthma, infections, tuberculosis, gout, nausea, cough and fever at five to 34 percent off the original prices. In a similar manner, Tadena is actively advocating the implementation of GSK Foundation’s Pinoy Health Pass, a healthcare insurance coverage scheme for about six million indigent Filipinos. This is in partnership with PhilHealth, local government units and other private donors. With the subsidized healthcare plan, even a balut vendor can have a health pass, says Tadena.
Another treatment GSK is issuing soon is the anti-cervical cancer vaccine. Cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus and, at the moment, only one other company is developing a vaccine. On the local front, GSK is very much involved in the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program, which aims to eradicate elephantiasis in partnership with the Department of Health and other private donors. GSK hopes the disease will be totally eliminated by 2010. Like disease busters, the GSK team goes to rural and coastal areas to give away free medicines for this disease caused by mosquito bites.
Given all his responsibilities, Tadena says he isn’t stressed out at all because he’s not afraid to lose his job. "You just have to keep doing your best. If your best is not good enough, you should be ready to face the consequences and relax," he says. Workaholism is not his cup of tea, either. "I work when I need to work and finish it, then I forget about it," says Tadena, who is after speeding up things and cutting red tape.
With this kind of work ethic, he could have more time dreaming and planning how and where to lead his beloved company. It’s no surprise that he was recently awarded the prestigious Leadership Award at the GSK Leadership Conference 2006 held in Orlando, Florida. Of the 11,000 GSK employees, only 1,100 – or the top one percent – employees are invited to attend. And of this number, only 25 were cited and Tadena was the first and only Filipino to have received the prize.
A good leader, he says, has to be authentic, trustworthy and competent. "It’s very easy to inspire when they know you are sincere and that they believe that you know what you’re doing" Of course, he has to show some results as well. His greatest challenge, of course, is how to get the full potential out of every employee.
These days, Tadena, with the support of his wife and three daughters, is juggling his time between his GSK job and his own businesses. Yes, he finally got back to that activated carbon plant and also takes care of an IT courseware company and a distribution outfit. On the side, he dabbles in photography, golf, gardening and just chilling out.
So, does he finally have a fleet of Benzes in his garage? Tadena smiles demurely and, with a twinkle in his eyes, shakes his head before bursting out laughing.
BrandSpace Articles
<
>
