Latest news2009
Multiple Perspectives
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 14:56
Synthesised research provides useful, practical solutions to management problems. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
Displaced Concepts
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 14:52
Research papers with roots outside pharma consider how channels to market work. (Part of the Pharmaceutical Marketing Research Roundup series.)
Turning the Key
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Mon, 11/01/2010 - 14:00
Dr Brian D. Smith and Lindsay Bruce look at how sales teams can make key account and key opinion leader strategies work.
Survival of the Dumbest
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 11:32
Definitions of the same management strategy terms can vary significantly. This is important in practice as it can lead to communication problems. There are clear explanations for why and how this 'dumbing down' of strategic concepts occurs. Whether we'll find a solution or simply adapt to live with it remains to be seen.
Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won't
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 11:30
The full title of this article, published in the Journal of Strategic Marketing, is Maybe I Will, Maybe I Won't: what the connected perspectives of motivation theory and organisational commitment may contribute to our understanding of strategy implementation. This paper reviews the management problem of marketing strategy implementation and proposes some new perspectives on the subject. It finds that the well-developed research into motivation theory and organisational commitment theory offer useful perspectives on strategy implementation. As an academic paper, it also suggests five postulates and accompanying hypotheses for future empirical work.
Nothing So Practical (Research Watch)
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 11:27
Responding to those who dismiss theory as the antonym of practical, Kurt Lewin, an American psychologist, was reported to have said that 'there is nothing so practical as a good theory.' Not only do I agree, but I pity those who don't understand the importance of theory in explaining practical, real-life problems. This review of recent literature provides wide-ranging evidence of the value of theory in practice.
Exploratory Study of KOL Management Trends in European Pharmaceutical Companies
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Thu, 07/01/2010 - 11:26
Opinion leadership is a well-defined concept. Likely changes in the pharmaceutical sector, consequences of its industry life cycle, are anticipated to make key opinion leader (KOL) management more important still. Despite this, little is known about the scope of KOL management processes in pharmaceutical companies or the trends that those processes may follow in response to industry changes. This article presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative study involving 18 pharmaceutical company executives with responsibility for KOL management. It suggests that an enhanced, formalised, integrated and IT-enabled model of KOL management will evolve and that many leading companies have extant plans to realise such an approach.
Overcoming "them and us"
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Wed, 18/11/2009 - 18:37
When we strongly identify with our group, we instinctively identify against people in other groups. However, this persistence of stone-age group identity thinking doesn’t help us in the information age.
Time to put away childish things
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Wed, 18/11/2009 - 18:35
It is common to see experienced executives defending outmoded ideas with ferocious determination and irrationality. My research sheds some light on why otherwise intelligent people may revert to such childish behaviour.
Inside the modern salesforce
Submitted by pragmedicljb on Wed, 18/11/2009 - 18:34
Business to Business (B2B) sales operations is very different from business to consumer (B2C) selling. The traditional salesperson is fast becoming obsolete but, as with many things in management, the picture is much more complex than the headline.