CEO Insights Magazine

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors across Asia, strong leadership plays a crucial role in driving innovation, ensuring compliance, and fostering sustainable growth in an increasingly complex and competitive environment. Leaders in this region face a unique array of challenges, ranging from navigating shifting regulatory landscapes to managing diverse teams and operations spread across multiple countries. The ability to adapt to these dynamic changes, coupled with the capacity to implement strategic solutions, has a significant and lasting impact on the long-term success of their organizations.

Making a remarkable impact in the industry is Edwin Tjahyadi, President Director of PT Quantum Laboratoris Internasional. With a robust background in both operations and finance, Edwin’s career began in supportive roles, where he honed his skills in evaluating potential risks and opportunities in business partnerships and collaborations. His deep understanding of assessing both internal and external factors such as financial stability, operational capacity, and market threats has been pivotal in shaping his leadership approach. These early experiences gave him the insight and strategic foresight needed to navigate complex business environments successfully.

Edwin's transition into a commercial role within the pharmaceutical industry marked a significant turning point in his career, as it required him to lead the organization through a major shift in its operational culture. One of the most notable challenges was transitioning the company from a marketing-centric approach to a more operation-centric one. This shift became even more critical as government regulations, such as the e-catalog system for centralized procurement, necessitated a stronger operational focus to ensure compliance and efficiency. Throughout his career, Edwin has continuously emphasized the importance of maintaining dual controls within the organization, ensuring that both marketing and supporting departments uphold high standards of work ethic, integrity, and accountability. His leadership has not only guided the organization through these transitions but also reinforced the foundational principles of responsible, sustainable business practices. CEO Insights Asia engaged in a one-on-one interaction with Edwin Tjahyadi. Let’s read on.

Can you describe your leadership style? What are the principles or strategies that you adhere to as a leader?

My leadership approach is a blend of transformational, transactional, and adaptive methodologies, each serving a unique purpose in fostering growth and success within my team and organization. I believe that key qualities of effective leadership include being visionary, providing clear and strategic direction, and offering consistent motivation and coaching to help teams perform at their best. I place a strong emphasis on closely monitoring the performance of my team members, ensuring that high performers are recognized and rewarded, while also addressing areas where improvement is needed. By clearly outlining a structured career progression for top performers, I ensure they are given the opportunity to step into leadership roles when the need arises, creating a pathway for future growth within the organization.

To support the long-term success and sustainable growth of the company, it is crucial that every team member, whether in marketing, sales, or support, adopts an intrapreneurial mindset. This mindset focuses on enhancing profitability, maintaining strict compliance with regulations, and staying vigilant in identifying and mitigating potential risks, all of which are integral to the company’s continued success.

How do you stay informed about current industry trends to guide your organization towards future success?

I make it a priority to continuously learn, expand my network, and attend pharmaceutical conferences to stay informed about the latest industry developments. I also participate in seminars that provide insights into the economic outlook as presented by financial institutions. Additionally, I hold regular discussions with key business management personnel from distributors to identify practical challenges and develop effective strategies for market penetration. We also collaborate on creating adaptable strategies to address new regulatory changes introduced by government authorities.

What were the key challenges you faced when establishing yourself as a successful leader, and how did you overcome them to become a successful professional?

A significant challenge I faced in establishing myself was during the period when the organization needed to shift its work culture from being marketing-centric to operation-centric. The marketing-centric approach was based on the assumption that having a strong brand and strong promotional relationships would automatically drive sales growth.

However, the need for an operation-centric work culture arose when regulators redefined generic products as commodities, which are easily interchangeable. In this scenario, the principal must ensure consistent product availability at every distributor branch while adhering to the government's price-controlled procurement system.

Managing a business with generic products categorized as commodities demands that the team carefully monitor products from the distributor’s warehouses all the way through to their sale to end clients. Furthermore, we must comply with stringent technological and regulatory standards, especially in terms of the traceability, tracking, and control measures imposed by regulators. The extended duration of the stock placement and the ongoing monitoring until products are sold means that the principal must have the financial resources necessary to guarantee product availability at all distributor branches across Indonesia’s provinces. In some instances, subsidized financial programs are essential to facilitate collaboration and ensure that products are absorbed by clients.

To successfully implement an operation-centric work culture, the principal team must collaborate closely with the distributor’s sales team to strengthen our connection with their clients. In support of our internal marketing efforts, it is crucial to establish area support teams in every province where the distributor has branches. These area support teams will focus on non-marketing functions, enabling the area marketing teams to dedicate their efforts entirely to driving sales growth in their regions.

To meet the growing needs of the organization, it is imperative that we strengthen our Human Resources department, particularly in terms of recruitment and training capabilities. The training programs should be designed to develop both company-specific technical skills and essential soft skills, fostering a company-owned work culture and mindset.

Given your extensive experience in the industry, what advice would you offer to emerging leaders in the field?

Managing companies involves overseeing organizations with multiple functional layers. These organizations consist of individuals who must have clear goals and a shared vision. It is essential to communicate this vision to the team, translating it into measurable objectives and guiding everyone towards achieving them. Collaborating with department heads to solve problems is key, as is leading by example through integrity, strong work ethics, and fostering organizational development to create successors for key positions.

Navigating industry changes involves ensuring compliance with regulations and driving necessary technical innovations. It’s also important to develop the team’s capacity to train others, so as the organization grows, it cultivates qualified individuals who align with the company culture. Implementing dual controls within both the operations and marketing/sales functions, along with an approval system for expenses based on the organizational structure, helps maintain effective oversight. Additionally, assessing potential risks in operations and finance is crucial, and addressing them with fair and measured actions promotes sustainable business growth.

Edwin Tjahyadi, President Director, PT Quantum Laboratoris Internasional

Edwin Tjahyadi began his career as a Management Trainee and then became a Trade Finance Officer at a foreign bank before moving to a local bank as Vice President at the Head Office, managing operational procedures. In 1999, he transitioned to the pharmaceutical industry as Assistant Director, working in operations, finance, human resources and commercial roles. After 21 years, he retired as Commercial Director. Currently, he is President Director at PT Quantum Laboratoris Internasional, overseeing the production of cost-efficient medicines.

Hobbies: Listening to popular genre music, yoga, outdoor activities for health and community and travelling.

Favorite Cuisine: All Asian cuisine, European and American cuisine

Favorite Book: All books that deal with management issues, human development and trade finance.

Favorite Travel Destination: East and West Europe, America, Asian destinations such as Japan, China, Thailand