![\"SCMP_C-Suite](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/793008bb-2b5e-4065-ac3b-af317da9a06e_692f6a9a.jpg\" "\\"SCMP_C-Suite")
SCMP_C-Suite The Game Changers_Merck_Shaping Tomorrow<\/p>\nHe breaks it down simply. \u201cS stands for sales, I stands for innovation and T\u2026 many people will think T stands for technology\u2026 but actually it\u2019s talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sales remains essential, he says, calling it \u201cthe foundation, the bread and butter\u201d. Innovation, in his view, must extend far beyond the product pipeline and into the business model itself. Talent, especially in today\u2019s environment, is \u201cthe most important\u201d.<\/p>\n
Cheng wants Merck to be seen differently \u2014 not just as a drug manufacturer, but as a science and technology organisation embedded in a wider healthcare ecosystem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really want everybody to remember that Merck is not just another pharma, but truly a science and technology company.\u201d<\/p>\n
That same reframing shapes how he sees Hong Kong\u2019s position in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never shy away from reality,\u201d he says. \u201cEverybody knows that Hong Kong\u2019s appeal has diminished when compared to the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he pushes back against a simple decline narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that we are doing bad. It\u2019s because other areas are doing better, especially China.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where some see shrinking opportunities, Cheng sees strategic repositioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHong Kong still carries a very unique value, which is that it is a bridge market.\u201d<\/p>\n
For him, the city\u2019s importance lies less in raw sales than in what it enables.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t measure Hong Kong by its sales revenue. We should measure it by what Hong Kong enables.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also challenges the industry\u2019s basic mindset. In his view, healthcare is too often still focused on treating illness after it appears, rather than preventing it in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in the healthcare industry. But actually what we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re selling medicine. Our target customers are the patients. They are sick. So we are providing sick care, not healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
That distinction matters to him. \u201cI think what the industry needs to do more is around prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sees prevention as a true \u201ctriple win\u201d with better patient outcomes, less strain on healthcare systems and earlier intervention.<\/p>\n
Shaping TomorrowSCMP_C-Suite The Game Changers_Merck_Shaping Tomorrow<\/p>\n
While the strategy is clear for Cheng, he says execution depends on people. In recent years, he notes that Hong Kong has faced a serious talent crunch. Migration trends and regional competition have made hiring more difficult across the healthcare industry. His response has been to widen the search.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to hire from beyond Hong Kong\u2026 from China, from Taiwan, from Malaysia.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also broadened the company\u2019s internal mix of expertise. \u201cNot just from traditional science backgrounds but right now also from finance, from communication, also entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The goal was not simply to fill vacancies, but to bring in new ways of thinking. \u201cI really want to bring some new and fresh ideas to the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make that work, he places a strong emphasis on culture. At Merck, overcommunication is encouraged because misunderstandings often create more friction than genuine disagreement. He also wants employees to stay open to experimentation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no stupid idea. All great ideas come from those small ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cheng describes himself as \u201ca failure person because I keep trying lots of new initiatives\u201d. It is a candid admission, but one that reflects his leadership style. For him, success depends on trying, learning and trying again. \u201cIf I don\u2019t try new initiatives there\u2019s always no success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than forcing people to change, he prefers to create the conditions that make change feel natural.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we don\u2019t tell people to change. We create a new environment [so] that people want to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy also underpins Merck\u2019s approach to artificial intelligence. Cheng does not view AI as a technical upgrade alone, but as a cultural shift.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI transformation is not just an IT project. This is really a culture change.\u201d<\/p>\n
While training has been widespread, adoption remains uneven. \u201c100% of the participants join the training,\u201d he notes, yet \u201cless than one-third\u201d are fully integrating AI into daily work.<\/p>\n
Still, the direction is clear. \u201cIn the past we all relied on our experience, sometimes gut feeling, but right now with AI it is all about the data.\u201d<\/p>\n
He believes healthcare is moving towards more precise, personalised and predictive models, where data will guide decisions more than instinct alone.<\/p>\n
When speaking to younger professionals, though, Cheng returns to purpose rather than technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cFind something bigger than yourself,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat you\u2019re doing is impacting human life. We are not just looking for a job, looking for a paycheck.\u201d<\/p>\n
For him, purpose is not abstract idealism. It is a source of resilience.<\/p>\n
Lessons That Last![\"SCMP_C-Suite](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/916bb266-3854-4955-96bd-7d7d45f31576_692f6a9a.jpg\" "\\"SCMP_C-Suite")
SCMP_C-Suite The Game Changers_Merck_ Lessons That Last<\/p>\n
Over more than two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, Cheng has lived through repeated crises, including the Sars epidemic, financial turmoil and the Covid pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I heard many things, and that \u2018this time we are dead\u2019. But every time, when we look back at what we went through, we survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
That experience has shaped how he leads. During good times, he believes, companies should prepare for the bad. During tough times, leaders should help teams stay steady and keep sight of a credible future.<\/p>\n
But some of the most important lessons have come from his personal life.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his wife\u2019s health issues shortly after he joined Merck, he says: \u201cThat was the most challenging time I faced. Right now my wife still requires dialysis every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balancing executive responsibility, academic study and caregiving gave him a different perspective on achievement, endurance and meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThinking back to some of the most challenging times, wow, I learned a lot during those tough times.\u201d<\/p>\n
His definition of success has clearly evolved. In the past, he measured it through sales targets and market share. Now, he sees it differently. What matters is whether patients receive the right treatment early enough to prevent their condition from worsening.<\/p>\n
And when he thinks about legacy, Cheng returns to belief rather than balance sheets.<\/p>\n
\u201cSIT is not just a framework. This is a belief system,\u201d he says. \u201cI hope everyone at Merck will remember we are not just a pharma company.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hopes his work for the company makes a real difference in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone can say \u2018my family is living healthier because of Tony Cheng\u2019, that will be the legacy that I hope I can leave behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
His final reflection is simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealth is really the most important\u2026 If you are ultra-rich but you don\u2019t have good health, what\u2019s the point?\u201d<\/p>\n
For Cheng, that question defines the future of healthcare and is, he believes, the real measure of a game changer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He breaks it down simply. \u201cS stands for sales, I stands for innovation and T\u2026 many people will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[576,72,114,113,103,397,396,240,61,60,166,43,387,10178,850,80,90,386],"class_list":["post-495336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-asia","tag-business","tag-china","tag-economy","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-hong-kong","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-south-china-morning-post","tag-sport","tag-technology","tag-us","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}