ORTHOPAEDICS
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAS FORCED COMPANIES OPERATING WITHIN THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY TO ADAPT QUICKLY, BE IT IN RESPONSE TO DEMAND OR TO DEVISE NEW MODES OF WORKING. ORGANISATIONS UNABLE TO DO SO, HAVE FARED BADLY. BENNY HAGAG, PRESIDENT, MICROPORT ORTHOPAEDICS, TALKS TO MPN ABOUT ITS SURVIVAL TACTICS.
SURVIVAL INSTINCT —
ITS IN THE BONES PLEASE TELL A LITTLE ABOUT MICROPORT ORTHOPEDICS AND ITS FOCUS. MicroPort Orthopedics is a global producer of orthopaedic hip and knee technology, with headquarters in the Greater Memphis area of the US. It is the subsidiary company of MicroPort Scientific, a global medical device company providing innovative services and products to surgeons and patients worldwide, with a focus on total orthopaedic joint care. In 2014, the parent company expanded its global portfolio by acquiring Wright Medical’s total orthopaedic joint business. MicroPort directs its full attention on developing innovative and differentiated technologies that are customised to meet each customer’s needs, in addition to maintaining our current fundamental portfolio. WHAT NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND STRATEGIC CHANGES HAVE BECOME PERMANENT FIXTURES FOR HOW MICROPORT ORTHOPEDICS WILL OPERATE POST-COVID? COVID-19 deeply affected the medical device industry. It hit us unexpectedly and forced many businesses to shift from a culture of working face-to-face with customers to one where the entire organisation went fully remote. Although this initially made it difficult to engage with customers, it did, however, allow us to develop creative solutions and approaches to address this challenge. We focused on developing compelling and informative video and email communications with our employees. It was important to provide critical organization detail to our team during an uncertain time.
We quickly pivoted to develop new tactics, new sales capabilities and new management techniques. These tools hadn’t been available previously, or at least did not exist at the scale required during the pandemic. MicroPort Orthopedics’ ability to sustain the business throughout COVID-19’s first wave is directly attributed to our ability to maintain unity with all of our employees around the world, as well as the support received from our parent company. The decision by MicroPort Scientific to financially invest in our division to sustain the company and minimize impact allowed our global organisation to direct its full attention to developing necessary management and communication skills to enable our business to thrive in this adaptive environment. We monitored the situation daily, identified practical opportunities of growth, and evolved
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