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Kramer Pharmaceuticals Inc Essay

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Facts:
Kramer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was a major manufacturer of prescription drugs for the medical and dental professions. It had a sales force of over 500 detailers, whose primary responsibility was calling regularly on hospital personnel, doctors, and dentists to describe the product line and to persuade these medical personnel to use and prescribe Kramer drugs.
After having worked at Kramer for 12 years, Bob Marsh, a detailer of the company, was fired for unsatisfactory performance, poor attitude, and reluctance to improve. Marsh's abrupt termination of the services stunned some of his clients, who regarded him as an outstanding detailer. A number of doctors, physicians, and pharmacists strongly expressed to Kramer's executives and …show more content…

A good manager should build on his strengths and ignore his weaknesses. Using positive reinforcement, such as praises and monetary incentives, a good manager may help Marsh better leverage his good reception in physician offices and drug stores.

2. Offer subordinates too many suggestions too quickly
The successors to Marsh's first two district managers were young managers with many new ideas about how to increase sales. They offered too many suggestions too quickly, sometimes too forcefully. For instance, Jim Rathbun made several specific suggestions to Marsh regarding establish new products with physicians and advocated pinpoint detailing. When Marsh was unable to meet these expectations in the following four months, he not only missed his annual salary increase but also was put on probation. In another example, Ted Franklin, the manager who eventually fired Marsh, prepared a long list of survival procedures for Marsh to improve his sincerity, company loyalty, job interest, enthusiasm, cooperation, deference to supervision, and work habits. For him to prevent dismissal, Marsh had to achieve nothing but complete success. The responses were not what these supervisors expected. Marsh appeared moody, unfriendly, indifferent, and lethargic.
Marsh's case clearly reflected a model covered in the class. He first made some efforts to correct the boss's (Jim Rathbun) bad impression; slowly, Marsh realized

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