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Interview
"Fluency in English is not enough"
"It is crucial to look for new experiences abroad", states Guilherme Maradei, vice president of Global Operations and General Manager Brazil of Pfizer Nutrition.
The executive, who already worked at Procter & Gamble, analyzes his own career and gives some tips to the executives of the pharmaceutical industry who want to have a high level management position.
"You need to know how to operate in a foreign environment without acting like a foreigner", highlights the executive, who has already experienced working in countries like Argentina and Mexico.
Follow the main parts of the interview:
How did the beginning of your professional life contribute to consolidate your career?
I started at Procter & Gamble, as one of the first "key account teams" dedicated to two of the main customers in Brazil (Lojas Americanas and Wal-Mart). In 1996 having key account teams used to be unusual, especially a team focused on Sales, finance, HR, IT and Logistics. As an engineer, I always liked the analytical approach when taking a decision as well as to understand how simple analyses impact the final result.
What is your main experience abroad?
It was at Pfizer as a Senior Director - Worldwide Strategic Planning. I didn´t know exactly what a Strategic Planning team could do worldwide. Soon I started to coordinate the project which set up global business units Pfizer, which helped define the present organizational structure of the company.
What are the challenges for international companies as they have to increasingly put into practice a pre-defined plan?
As a whole, the major pharmaceutical companies have a strategic plan already defined as they need to develop businesses strong enough to support the drop in the revenue that comes together with patent losses - this is really valid and pre-defined. The biggest challenge is to understand and adapt the differences that exist among countries and emerging countries. The problem is that all companies end up searching for similar opportunities and consequently the winning strategies are those that keep strong and focused throughout the years.
To wrap up, what tips to you give to an executive who intends to have a high level management position in the pharmaceutical industry?
Among other things it is crucial to try new experiences abroad. The pharmaceutical industry is really global, that´s why it is important to develop the ability to work with different cultures and know how to influence other people from a different culture and language. Fluency in English is not enough - You need to know how to operate in a foreign environment without acting like a foreigner.
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