Online Access: www.absronline.

org/journals

Management and Administrative Sciences Review

Volume 5, Issue 5 e-ISSN: 2308-1368

Pages: 269-274 p-ISSN: 2310-872X
September, 2016

HR Strategy for Employee Development in a Romanian

Pharmaceutical Company

Eliza Antoniu1*, Elena Jianu1, and Nicoleta Isac1

1. University of Pitești, Faculty of Economics, Romania

This paper addresses specific aspects regarding the human resources strategy within a major
pharmaceutical company in Romania, the aim being to highlight its role in the development
of the company employees and to achieve organizational objectives. In the content are
presented the main objectives of the human resources strategy, directions for
operationalization and targeted positive effects. The human resources strategy of the
researched company is integrated into the overall strategy and the development of employees
is considered an essential component of this strategy, something that leads to an increased
organizational performance and to achieve competitive advantage. The research tried to
identify the strategic objectives aimed at developing employees, its operational modalities and
its achieved benefits; it is a qualitative research, which aimed to review the company's official
documents (published on its website), to structure and to analyze the information and to
draw the conclusions. We consider that the human resources strategy implemented in the
company is an example of managerial efficiency, in terms of employee development and
increased organizational performance. It can be a model followed by other Romanian
companies having to develop their employees and thus obtain the benefits of a high
performance.

Keywords: strategy, human resources, employee development

INTRODUCTION
In today context, the strategy is an important more powerful in a business environment that is
component of the human resource management, constantly changing and is affected by a strong and
through which organizations can address, in a prolong crisis.
coherent, consistent and pro-active, the support and
This paper examines the human resources strategy
the professional development of their employees.
in the Romanian pharmaceutical company in order
Paying a strategic role of human resource
to identify its specific issues, issues that have
management and considering the labor force an
contributed greatly to position this company
essential element in achieving and maintaining
among Romanian bests of the pharmaceutical
competitive advantage, organizations can become

*Corresponding author: Eliza Antoniu,

University of Pitești, Faculty of Economics, Romania.
E-Mail: elizantoniu@yahoo.com
269
Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev.
e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X
Volume: 5, Issue: 5, Pages: 269-274
industry. Through the analysis performed, this
paper aim to contribute to a better knowledge of the
human resources practices that lead to a greater
employee’s performance and thus to increase
company performance.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The human resources represent one of the most
important investments of an organization, whose
results become more evident over time. Therefore,
Manolescu [1] believes that human resources must
be considered a strategic resource of any
organization that requires a continuous investment
to ensure growth and maintain competitiveness.
This objective is achieved by grounding a coherent
management strategy for the human resources
development. According to the same author, the
human resources strategy consists of all long-term
objectives regarding human resources, the main
ways of achieving them, the necessary resources
that will contribute to achieve the overall objectives
of the organization.
This paper also reviews other understandings on
the concept of HR strategy, belonging to various
specialists. Therefore, Armstrong [2] consider that
HR strategies indicate what the organization wants
to do about its human resource management
policies and practices and how they should be
integrated with the business strategy and each
other. He also consider that it set out aspirations
that are expressed as intentions, which are then
converted into actions. The same author believe that
the purpose of HR strategies is to articulate what an
organization intends to do about its HRM policies
and practices now and in the longer term to ensure
that they contribute to the achievement of business
objectives.
According to Păuș [3], the human resources
strategy define organization's intentions regarding
the main directions of development to its
employees and the needs or requirements to be met
in this area in order to facilitate the achievement of
the organizational goals. So, the human resources
strategy must proceed from both organizational
and individual goals, of the company personnel.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This paper aims to describe and highlight the
specifics of HR strategy. The analysis is not
representative for Romania, but it is a good example
for all organizations who have raised the issue of
human resource development through a strategic
approach and who understand that their
employee’s performance lead to the company’s
success. Therefore, we used a qualitative research,
an empirical too, whose main steps are: setting the
research goal, establishing the required sources to gather
information (the official documents of the organization,
published on its website), structuring and analysis of the
information, highlighting relevant issues and draw
conclusions.
CASE COMPANY
Antibiotice Iași Inc. is the Romanian leading
producer of generic medicines; it’s a Romanian
legal entity having the juridical form of a joint
stock company and it operates in accordance with
the Romanian legislation and the provisions of its
own Statute. The company’s purpose is the
development of products and the implementation
of initiatives in the medicines (obtained by semi-
synthesis and biosynthesis) and other products.
On the Romanian market, Antibiotice Iasi Inc. is the
leading producer of anti-infective medicines and
the only manufacturer of the active substances
obtained by biosynthesis. Its 148 types of medicines
portfolio covers a wide range of therapeutic areas,
mainly cardiovascular, anti-infective, central
nervous system and digestive tract classes.
The average number of employees of Antibiotice
Inc. was 1465 individuals in 2014, of which:
- Higher-education employees = 618
employees, representing 42.18% of total
personnel, an increase of 9.12% over the
previous year.
- Secondary-education employees = 847
employees, representing 57.82% of total
personnel, down 5.3% over the previous
year.
270
Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev.
e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X
Volume: 5, Issue: 5, Pages: 269-274

Table 1. Personnel structure of Antibiotice Iași Inc. in company annually allocates significant sums for
2014 training so that each employee to be involved in
such a program, at least once a year.
Total number of employees, of 1465 100%
wich: The company has a well-qualified staff with a
majority share of those with higher education, as
Higher education employees 618 42,18%
shown in the following table.
Secondary education 847 57,82%
employees
Table 2. The structure of employees by profession in 2014
Source: own processing of company’s data
Professions Number Share of
higher-
The implementation of strategic objectives for the education
period 2014 - 2016 has been a constant concern for employees
the human resources department, which aimed to (%)
fill the necessary structures of personnel by Physicians, 168 28,67 %
attracting and hiring 43 people specialized in the pharmacists,
following activities: promotion, sales, production, specialists,
business development, quality control, regulatory pharmaceutical sales
affairs, bioequivalence trials, intellectual property and promotion
and automation.
Chemical engineers, 166 28,33 %
chemists, physicists
Figure 1. The structure of employees by level of education
Economists 102 17,41 %
in 2014
Engineers various 60 10,24 %
specializations
Biologists 35 5,97 %
42.18%
2
57.82% I.T. specialists 15 2,56 %
Other fields 40 6,83 %
618
1
847 Total number of 586 100 %
employees
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Source: Financial Statements Antibiotice Inc. 2014[4]
Secondary education personnel
The orientation towards performance of the entire
Higher education personnel organization's activities led to the implementation
of some HR efficiency measures such as:
Source: own processing of company’s data
- filling structures with the necessary staff
through redeployment of the surplus staff
Company’s management is working towards for other structures, based on their ability to
employee’s motivation for them to achieve a high adapt to their specific requirements;
level of performance. Middle managers - the hiring of 37 higher-educated employee
communicate with employees and ensure their in different areas as promotion, sales and
support in the planning and management of their marketing, technical and production,
individual career. In this sense, company’s pharmaceutical development, regulatory
employees are given the opportunity to affairs, pharmacovigilance, quality control,
permanently improve their professional knowledge export.
and skills by participating in work-shops, training
and continuous training and self-learning. The

271
Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev.
e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X
Volume: 5, Issue: 5, Pages: 269-274
Figure 2. The structure of the employees with higher
education in 2014
10%
Physicians,
pharmacists,
4%
specialists and
8% pharmaceutical
40% sales promotion
Chemical
14% engineers,
chemists,
physicists
24% Economists
Source: own processing of company’s data
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As results of the Rules of Organization and
Functioning of Antibiotice Iasi Inc. [5], the human
resources strategy consists of all activities directed
towards development, motivation and retention of the
employees in order to achieve organizational goals
and meet the employees’ needs. The objectives of
human resources were grounded by considering
the following aspects: legislation and government
policies, labor market trends, changing of the
demographics area, actions of competition, technological
changes in the industry, market demand of products or
services offered by the organization, and so on.
The strategic objectives of Antibiotice Iasi Inc.
concern: employees requirements planning,
business planning of recruitment and selection,
wages management, establishing procedures for
dealing with complaints, plans for training and
development of the employees, labor protection
systems and ways of social support for the
employees .These objectives are considering a
number of issues such as:
- attracting human resources within the
organization;
- retaining the selected human resources in
the organization for a longer period of time;
- organizational career development of the
employees;
- reducing absenteeism and fluctuation of the
employees in the organization;
- motivation of human resources;
- increasing employee satisfaction in the work
process;
- increasing the capacity for innovation and
adaptation to change of the organization.
The strategy’s implementation is done by the
Directorate of Human Resources in the following
ways: recruitment, selection and integration of new
employees; human resource development; evaluating
employee performance; material and moral motivation
and the management of labor relations. The HR
Directorate’s components are: Human Resources
Office; Personnel Documents Management; Legal
Advice - Labor law; Payroll Office.
The main responsibilities of the Directorate of
Human Resources are:
1. Human resource planning, identifying staffing
needs at the organizational level;
2. Providing the necessary human resources in
order to achieve long-term organizational
objectives;
3. Attracting and training of the qualified personnel
for work in the organization, through actions of
recruitment, selection, employment and
integration, in accordance with the existing
organizational structure;
4. Analysis, evaluation, grading, designing and
redesigning jobs within the organization;
5. Performance management and reward system
and benefits;
6. Management by objectives;
7. Preparation and monitoring of the annual
external and internal training plan;
8. Managing careers through career plans, to ensure
staff succession in key positions;
9. Establishment and management of
organizational charts and job descriptions;
10. Ensure specific activities on human resource
management: personnel files, register of employees,
individual employment contracts, remuneration;
11. Legal advice;
12. Developing internal documents: Rules of
Organization and Functioning (R.O.F), Internal
Regulation and Collective Labor Agreement;
272
Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev.
e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X
Volume: 5, Issue: 5, Pages: 269-274
13. Settlement of labor disputes;
14. Establish keeping record and reporting wage
income.
The human resources strategy is based on ethical
concepts, according the Code of Ethics [6] of the
organization. According to it, the organization
develops processes for recruitment, selection and
promotion based on fairness and in order to avoid
discrimination. These processes are based on
performance criteria, correct and clearly defined
and all employees are treated with dignity and
respect, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, age,
gender, religion or social class.
In 2014, the human resources strategy [7] was
oriented mostly towards the recruitment, selection,
motivation and continuous development of the
company’s employees. Conjugate, these lines of
action led to achieve a higher labor productivity by
7.48% compared to 2013.
According to the human resource strategy, the main
directions of the employees’ development [8] were:
 The professional development of
managers (top managers, middle managers,
line managers) and senior executives, with
higher and secondary education, by
participating in two major modules of
training:
- Module I - Organizational Development
- Module II - Development of expertise
 Training courses on the following
directions:
- Quality’s assurance and control;
- Bioequivalence and evaluation of the
product;
- Pharmaceutical formulation, design
experiments and stability of medicinal
products;
- Intellectual property;
- Project management;
- Risk management;
- Qualification and calibration of metrology
equipment;
- Sales and negotiation techniques;
- Leadership and coaching;
- Performance Management.
In order to develop the professional skills of the
employees, quasi 650 of them (44% of the total
employees) benefited from continuous professional
training and personal development programs,
established by the annual training plan with
external lecturers.
 Partnerships between organization and
academia
Through collaborative partnerships signed with
three universities („Al. I. Cuza” University,
University of Medicine and Pharmacy „Gr. T.
Popa” and Technical University" „Gh. Asachi” from
Iași) were provided conditions for conducting
internships practice and study visits for a total of
230 students from the following specializations:
Pharmacy, Medicine, Chemistry, Chemical
Engineering and Biology. These partnerships have
helped to familiarize the students with specific
activity in the pharmaceutical industry and to
establish the prerequisites for future personal
selection from among graduates.
 The system of management by objectives
In this system were enrolled a total of 202
employees, responsible for the management and
execution of all structures of the organization. In
formulating the individual goals they pursued
them to be consistent with the mission and vision of
Antibiotice Iași Inc., derived from the strategic
orientation of the organization and to consider the
opportunities while reducing the negative impact of
pharmaceutical market’s risk and specific
limitations.
CONCLUSIONS
The human resources strategy of Antibiotice Iași
Inc. aimed mainly at increasing the performance of
employees in the process of achieving individual
goals and the overall goals of the organization.
For that purpose were established two courses of
action:
1. Increasing employee’s involvement - including
strategies for attracting and retaining staff in the
organization through flexible pay and motivation
systems.
273
Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev.
e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X
Volume: 5, Issue: 5, Pages: 269-274

2. Streamlining the employee’s activities – including a

training and development strategy for the
REFERENCES
successful implementation of the tasks set as job
evaluation, updating job descriptions and [1]. Manolescu, A., (2005) Human Resources
performance evaluation. Management, 4th Edition, Economica
The organizational training programs [9] were Publishing House, Bucharest, Romania,
divided into two major directions: 17 – 122.
1. Vocational training and General Management [2]. Armstrong, M. (2012) Armstrong’
Practices with internal lecturers, for both specialized Handbook of Strategic Human Resource
staff with higher and secondary education and for Management Practice, 12th edition,
senior executives. Kogan Page Ltd, U.K., 23 - 24.
2. Other forms of training with external lecturers [3]. Păuș, V. (2008) Human Resources
(outside the company), for 13% of specialized staff Management, Comunicare.ro
with higher education. They conducted courses for Publishing House, Bucharest, Romania,
quality’s assurance - with particular emphasis on
13-14.
the new guidelines applicable in the international
pharmaceutical industry – such as ICH-Q8 [4]. Financial Statements Antibiotice Inc. 2014.
(Pharmaceutical Development) and ICH Q9
[5]. Rules of Organization and Functioning
(Quality Risk Management), courses conducted by
representatives of international authorities and (R.O.F).
experts from the pharmaceutical industry. [6]. Antibiotice Iași Inc. Code of Ethics.
To maintain competitiveness in a highly [7]. Annual Report 2014.
competitive market, the company invested in the
sales force, updating the salary package. The [8]. Directors' Report January-September 2014.
benefits offered within the company are: car; mobile [9]. www.antibiotice.ro.
phone (for sales staff); transport subsidy (for all
employees); medical services; financial support in
special situations as celebrations and holidays; low-
price company’s products at a low-price; subsidies
for sports activities; profit sharing and benefits of
banking (top management).
Human resources constitute the most important
category of resources of Antibiotice Iasi Inc.,
through its efficient utilization the company is
reaching its strategic objectives of reaching
performance and obtaining competitive advantage.

274