The declines in oil and gas prices in 2014 by 50% or more led governments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to decrease healthcare budgets correspondingly by more than 30%. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the marketing strategies that managers of international pharmaceutical companies have successfully implemented in the MENA region to ensure profitability after the 2014 decreases in the healthcare budgets, which followed the decline in oil and gas prices. The study involved data collection through semistructured interviews of 6 middle and executive managers working in 2 international pharmaceutical companies located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The cultural intelligence and strategic flexibility theories constituted the conceptual framework for this study and exploration of challenges associated with implementing marketing strategies for international pharmaceutical companies in the MENA region. Participants had a minimum of 5 years of experience in planning and implementing marketing strategies in the MENA region. The findings from the thematic data analysis led to the identification of major marketing strategies, which have helped to maintain business sustainability of pharmaceutical companies, despite difficulties with the reduction in healthcare budgets in the MENA region. The important themes emerging from this study included: (a) product launch strategy and operating model, (b) transformation of leaders by vision and guidance, (c) recognition of culture and diversity, and (d) the importance of training and learning agility. The results of the study may contribute to positive social change because pharmaceutical and healthcare knowledge benefits human health and may serve to influence positive job creation and enrichment of the economies of the region.

Depuis la réforme économique de la Chine en 1979, des milliers de dirigeants chinois ont travaillé au sein de multinationales, ils ont été inspirés par une solide expérience managériale et une vision globale. Du fait des différences culturelles entre la Chine et l’Occident, la maîtrise du leadership pour les patrons chinois dans un contexte professionnel de plus en plus interculturel et mondialisé, s’impose plus que jamais. Notre recherche empirique nous a conduite à analyser des données issues de l’observation, d’interviews en profondeur, ainsi que d’une expérimentation  in situ, en immersion professionnelle, afin de répondre aux questions suivantes : Que signifie aux yeux de dirigeants chinois, la notion de «leadership global» ? A quelles difficultés, quels défis les dirigeants chinois sont-ils confrontés pour développer leurs capacités de leadership interculturel? Comment différents facteurs culturels influencent-ils le développement du leadership interculturel des dirigeants chinois ? Notre recherche nous a permis de comprendre comment le leadership interculturel peut être développé selon un modèle basé sur un cadre théorique interdisciplinaire. Nous avons pu proposer un prototype de développement du leadership en milieu interculturel qui doit permettre d’identifier le dirigeant doté d’un haut potentiel en matière de leadership interculturel et contribuer à optimiser ses talents en ce domaine. / Thousands of Chinese managers have been working in multinational firms since the economic reform of China in 1979; they all have been inspired by its sound management experience and global vision. In view of the distinct culture between China and Western countries, leadership development for Chinese managers in cross cultural working environment becomes very important.As the first action empirical research on this topic we analyzed data from observation, in-depth interviews and quasi-experimentation to answer the questions: “What is global leadership for Chinese manager?” “What are the difficulties and challenges for Chinese managers to develop their cross cultural leadership?” “How various cultural factors influence Chinese leaders’ cross-culture leadership development?” Research finding had figured out the mechanism of how leadership can be developed with a cross culture leadership development model based on interdisciplinary theoretical framework, a cross culture leadership development prototype have been proposed to identify high potential cultural intelligent leaders and help to develop them efficiently.