Industry veteran Marine Queniart-Stojanovic, a self-described “global citizen with a French passport,” currently serves as Sanofi’s GM for general medicines in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. With Sanofi undergoing a significant transformation in its business approach, Queniart-Stojanovic is adapting this to the market realities in her managed countries as well as building a pragmatic, inclusive (and award-winning) company culture.
The journey to this position has taken Queniart-Stojanovic to roles in both emerging and developed markets across three continents. She has served in global and local roles, with time spent in commercial leadership as well as leading on innovation, including driving patient health services and digital and multichannel transformation. “As a people person, I love connecting people and working together with my team to deliver the best possible healthcare solutions for patients,” she asserts.
Where we are completely aligned with global strategy is looking at how best to allocate and prioritise resources to have the biggest impact on patients in a local context
Globally, Sanofi has been transforming in recent years, with CEO Paul Hudson leading a simplification of the French giant’s management structure and a doubling down on digitalisation. Queniart-Stojanovic expands, “Sanofi is transforming its business model, both in terms of moving from being a provider of medicines to one of healthcare solutions, as well as innovating on route to market and how we create a personalised experience for healthcare professionals.”
However, the specific context of the Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore country grouping necessitates a tailored strategy. As Queniart-Stojanovic outlines, “These global movements help ensure that Sanofi can concentrate on the areas in which it can make the most difference to patients. In mature markets, we can have the biggest impact in the specialty care and vaccines areas. However, in emerging markets like Thailand and Malaysia the biggest pain points and the real needs of patients are still in chronic diseases. For example, diabetes is still a huge issue with unmet needs and a burden in our countries and therefore remains a focus and a growth area.”
She continues, “Where we are completely aligned with global strategy is looking at how best to allocate and prioritise resources to have the biggest impact on patients in a local context.”
In addition to this chronic disease focus, Queniart-Stojanovic is also hoping to continue her affiliates’ digitalisation push, connecting healthcare stakeholders and creating a more beneficial ecosystem for patients. She explains that “Sanofi had already started its customer engagement transformation in this part of the world pre-COVID and adoption of digital tools is now accelerating among our sales teams. Our aim now is to truly leverage data to provide the information that our teams needs when, and how they want it.”
Sanofi has received a number of ‘Great Place to Work’ awards in the region in recent years and building an inclusive and forward-thinking company culture is dear to Queniart-Stojanovic’s heart. “We want a culture that walks the talk and is supported by a clear and shared set of beliefs and values. However, this culture should also be very pragmatic and connect to our overall strategy,” she claims.
“Sanofi’s ‘Play to Win’ strategy supports our culture in terms of stretching beyond, taking action without being told, acting for the interests of patients and customers, and thinking Sanofi first in our actions. These cornerstones have now become a common language and our people have responded really well to leaders telling stories and giving examples of them. This then becomes a story-based culture of what we value in terms of behaviour as opposed to a PowerPoint presentation or poster on a wall. Beyond that, our culture is about showing up as your best possible self and being accepted for who you are, with the right intentions.”
