Mankind Pharma—Aiming for the Sky

In July 2024, the management of Mankind Pharma Ltd. (Mankind) was discussing future avenues for sustainable growth. Rajeev Juneja, the vice chairman and managing director, wanted to make Mankind among the top three domestic pharmaceutical players in India by revenue in the coming decade. One way the company could have achieved its growth objectives was to launch a range of specialized drug formulations in therapeutic areas with high growth potential. Another alternative was to expand its consumer business, as Mankind already had some well-known brands in wellness, hygiene, and personal care in the consumer health business. Choosing both options was not feasible due to constrained resources. Management had to make a decision.

This case is appropriate for graduate and postgraduate strategic management courses and executive management courses focused on strategy. It can also be taught in executive programs to discuss dilemmas for a growing company in emerging markets. The case will help cover topics such as growth and expansion strategies in a strategic management course. Participants are expected to have a basic understanding of how macroenvironmental factors and competitive forces impact business operations. This case should be discussed in a strategy class after the instructor has already discussed the concepts and frameworks related to analyzing the external environment. Further, participants are expected to understand the firm’s resource-based view to assess the firm’s internal environment. Because this case mainly focuses on the firm’s strategy formulation, it should complement the cases that might be assigned for strategic analysis in a typical strategy curriculum. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Apply the PESTLE (political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and environmental) analysis to evaluate how emerging market conditions affect pharmaceutical company growth strategies.</li><li> Assess the competitive environment using Michael Porter’s five forces framework.</li><li> Identify organizational capabilities through the VRIO (value, rarity, inimitability, and organization) framework.</li><li> Analyze the benefits and challenges of various growth dilemmas that a company in the emerging market faces.</li><li> Develop the capability to operationalize the strategic decisions a company takes.</li></ul>

• strategy, growth, emerging markets