On the Use of Real-World Datasets for Reaction Yield Prediction

The lack of publicly available, large, and unbiased datasets is a key bottleneck for the application of machine learning (ML) methods in synthetic chemistry. Data from electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) could provide less biased, large datasets, but no such datasets have been made publicly available. The first real-world dataset from the ELNs of a large pharmaceutical company is disclosed and its relationship to high-throughput experimentation (HTE) datasets is described. For chemical yield predictions, a key task in chemical synthesis, an attributed graph neural network (AGNN) performs as good or better than the best previous models on two HTE datasets for the Suzuki and Buchwald-Hartwig reactions. However, training of the AGNN on the ELN dataset does not lead to a predictive model. The implications of using ELN data for training ML-based models are discussed in the context of yield predictions.

KHL: Consulting for Managing Sales Force Attrition (A)

Kalpak Healthcare Limited (KHL), a large pharmaceutical company in the southern part of India, once faced severe sales force turnover in its Life Branded Medications SBU, popularly called the Branded SBU (B-SBU). It became an issue of highest concern to the top management of KHL; so they appointed a team of consultants from a premier management school in the region to study the issue and recommend possible solutions and strategies. Over a period of 6 months, the consultants conducted extensive research—studying internal company records, analysing the industry and external environment, gathering qualitative data through in-depth interviews (DIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) among KHL employees and executing a division-wide quantitative survey labelled as Manpower Mood Meter (M3) among the field executives—and finally came up with recommendations. The case is organized as two independent, successive ones—A and B. Case (A) describes the consultants’ engagement with KHL and ends with them pondering over the types of analyses to be done with the huge volume of data they had collected. Case (B) details the kinds of analyses they actually do and the inferences they draw. The set of recommendations the consultants finally make to the KHL top management is given in the epilogue of the teaching note. The critical value of this case lies in its ability to open up the students’ minds to the dynamic interplay of multiple factors—individual, managerial, organizational, industrial-contextual and historical—that holistically affect a phenomenon like ‘attrition’ in organizations. This could perhaps also be one of those rare cases that makes use of the principles of System Dynamics in a real, applied and combined context of marketing and human resource (HR) management.

KHL: Consulting for Managing Sales Force Attrition (B)

Kalpak Healthcare Limited (KHL), a large pharmaceutical company in the southern part of India, was facing severe sales force turnover in its Life Branded Medications SBU, popularly called the Branded SBU (B-SBU). It became an issue of highest concern to the top management of KHL; so they appointed a team of consultants from a premier management school in the region to study the issue and to recommend possible solutions and strategies. Over a period of six months, the consultants conducted extensive research—studying internal company records, analysing the industry and external environment, gathering qualitative data through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions among KHL employees and executing a division wide quantitative survey labelled as Manpower Mood Meter (M3) among the field executives—to finally come up with recommendations. The Case is organized as two independent, successive ones—A and B. Case (A) describes the consultants’ engagement with KHL and ends with them pondering over the types of analyses to be done with the huge volume of data they had collected. Case (B) details the kinds of analyses they actually did and the inferences they drew. The set of recommendations that the consultants finally make to KHL top management is given in the epilogue of the teaching note. The critical value of this case lies in its ability to open up the students’ mind to the dynamic interplay of multiple factors—individual, managerial, organizational, industrial-contextual and historical—that holistically affect a phenomenon like ‘attrition’ in organizations. This could perhaps also be one of those rare cases that makes use of the principles of System Dynamics in a real, applied and combined contexts of marketing and human resource management.

Port City Rising from the Ashes

This chapter provides a brief economic and sociohistorical overview of Port City—where the author conducted her fieldwork. The chapter discusses the role of one large pharmaceutical company in the city’s recent “revitalization” efforts and its resulting consequences. It also provides a thick description of the various Port City neighborhoods that are still socioeconomically segregated and provides key details regarding the city’s structures and residents.

Glaxo Italia, S.p.A.: The Zinnat Marketing Decision

In September 1990, the financial controller of this Italian subsidiary of a large pharmaceutical company must analyze the implications of two different strategies for introducing a new product into the Italian market: co-marketing distribution, in which Glaxo would permit another company to market the same product but under a different brand name; and direct sales, under which Glaxo's own sales force would be the sole channel of distribution. The tasks for the student are to scrutinize and correct financial forecasts contained in the case and then value the alternative cash flow streams. The purpose of the case is to exercise students' forecasting and valuation skills and to illustrate the application of discounted cash flow analysis to the choice of marketing policies.