杏林製薬が50歳以上の一般社員と55歳以上の管理職を対象に希望退職を実施すると発表しました。
製薬業界 止まらぬ早期退職、中堅にも広がる動き | AnswersNews (ten-navi.com)
営業部門を中心に人員削減を続ける他社とは異なる体制の見直しなので気になりますね。
戦力量の面から考察してみました。
兵士が30%程度損耗を受けると作戦不能になるために、その部隊は戦力として数えられなくなります。
50%の損耗を受けると「壊滅」となり、損耗を受けた部隊の指揮系統は崩壊します。
壊滅した部隊は解散し、兵員は他の部隊の補充兵員として編入されます。
100％の損耗率は「殲滅」です。
殲滅とは部隊の消滅を意味します。
旧日本兵は部隊が壊滅（50％の損耗）しても抵抗を続け「玉砕」するという悲劇がおきました。
欧米では部隊が壊滅したら兵士は降伏するのが常識です。
戦力をどこまで減らすことができるのか？
それは相手の戦力量と相対的に決まります。
杏林製薬のMRは700人体制で、特定領域3科医師28,000名を中心に全体で78,000名をカバーするので、約110Dr／1MR、ビジットが約5.6回／日と推定されます。
杏林製薬は参天製薬と同じく国内中堅12社に分類される製薬企業の一つです。
同じく中堅と言われる持田製薬のMR数は660名、 日本新薬650 名、大正製薬630名と、対象領域は異なりますがおよそ同規模となっており、これ以上の削減は競争優位性を失うことになります。
戦力量分析は競争優位に必要な戦力量を定量化し、KPIに落とし込むことが出来ます。
“Analyzing Kyorin Pharmaceutical’s Choice to Maintain Sales Force”
Kyorin Pharmaceutical recently announced a voluntary retirement program targeting employees aged 50 and above, as well as managerial staff aged 55 and above. This move sets them apart from other companies in the industry, which have been primarily focusing on reducing their workforce, especially within their sales departments. This reevaluation of their organizational structure piques our interest.
Let’s consider this decision from the perspective of maintaining their sales force.
In military strategy, if a unit suffers around 30% casualties, it becomes operationally ineffective and can no longer be counted as a viable fighting force. When casualties reach 50%, it’s considered “annihilation,” and the command structure of the affected unit collapses. Annihilated units are disbanded, and surviving personnel are incorporated as reinforcements into other units. A 100% casualty rate is referred to as “extermination,” signifying the complete obliteration of the unit.
In the past, Japanese soldiers tragically often continued to resist even after their units were annihilated (50% casualties), culminating in the concept of “gyokusai” (do-or-die last stand). In contrast, in Western military tradition, soldiers generally surrender once their units are annihilated.
The extent to which a company can reduce its sales force depends on the relative strength of their competitors. Kyorin Pharmaceutical has a staff of 700 MRs, covering a total of 78,000 people, including 28,000 doctors in three special fields, so it is estimated that there will be approximately 110 Drs/1 MR, or approximately 5.6 visits/day.
Kyorin Pharmaceutical, along with Santen Pharmaceutical, is one of the 12 medium-sized pharmaceutical companies in Japan.
Mochida Pharmaceutical, which is also said to be a mid-sized company, has 660 MRs, Nippon Shinyaku 650, and Taisho Pharmaceutical 630, which are roughly the same size although the target areas are different, and further reductions would mean losing competitive advantage. Analyzing sales force strength allows for the quantification of the necessary capabilities for competitive advantage and facilitates the establishment of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).