This paper provides a comprehensive description and definition of the eBusiness landscape, how it affects healthcare, and opportunities created in the health industry and specifically in diabetes care. Marketing and sales managers are bombarded with hype about eCommerce, but much of the information is either too technical or presented by enthusiasts with a vested interest. The Internet is indeed not only a great opportunity as a new sales channel, but also contributes to improving the overall effectiveness of marketing communications, sales processing and customer service. Unfortunately, it can also be a way of wasting a lot of money. While one cannot ignore the potential of the Internet to add value to your companyâs sales and marketing activities, at the same time it would be unwise to expect eMarketing to be a panacea to cure a faltering marketing or sales strategy. The question is how to separate the hype from the real issue and how eBusiness can fit into the overall strategy of the companyâs marketing and sales strategy.
Traditionally, in trying to understand the determinants of the prescribing decision, pharmaceutical market researchers have focused almost exclusively on the attributes of their drugs as the drivers of the product choice. But we know that physicians treat different patients differently. What is it about one patient that leads a doctor to prescribe Drug A while another patient receives Drug D? By understanding the role that patient factors play in the prescribing decision, pharmaceutical marketers will be better able to understand the behavior of their customers and in turn be better able to market their products to their customersâ needs. In addition the paper shows how this new approach can also help to position a product; and how commonly available data can be âminedâ to develop a deeper understanding of how a product is being used, that is, for which âtypesâ of patients or segments of patients is the drug being used.
Previous work by Maclennan and Mackenzie indicated that while top executives in the pharmaceutical industry often advocate being market oriented and customer focused, few companies (large or small) use market segmentation to its maximum potential. Segmentation often remains largely data-driven, resulting in segments increasingly divorced from segmentation theory. One might take a âDelphiâ approach to developing strategic market segmentation. Starting with a hypothesis, one would seek to validate a strong conceptual model for segmentation. Used implicitly it can improve the quality and focus of problem definition, while explicitly it provides a template for isolating critical decision points and information needs in support of those decisions. Any systematic analysis of the process on comparative product performance and the marketplace would be premature. However, early indicators suggest this approach can produce a higher level of client satisfaction, a more rational approach to setting market research objectives, enhanced market understanding, and more significantly, clinical development priorities reviewed as a result of leveraging information needs more effectively.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the mergers and acquisitions that have taken place in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, and develop a framework, which would provide directions for a successful merger. In the context of a spurt in the number of Indian companies joining the bandwagon of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) this paper assumes significance as it would provide inputs for companies planning such an M&A. The framework has been developed on the basis of information gathered through in-depth interviews of top executives of pharmaceutical companies, which have undertaken M&A in the recent years. This information has been supplemented by data from the Pharmaceutical Retail Store Audit conducted by ORG-MARG.
Using data collected in the springs of 1999 and 2000 from a standardized survey of over 18,000 respondents across the United States, a prospective model of health plan customer loyalty was developed. The model was based on a combination of categorical modeling and multivariate forecasting and has provided highly predictable results at national, regional, and local market levels. The fundamental principle of the model is to predict health plan loyalty based on changes in independent attribute ratings of patient care. Health care organizations can gain a competitive edge by understanding how changes in any or all attributes influence customer loyalty.
This paper in the form of a ten-step guide is aimed at helping improve the quality of information-based business decision making. The paper encourages information suppliers to think more closely about ways in which they can help their decision making end clients more effectively apply market research evidence to the decision making process.
The pharmaceutical and medical instruments industries have become global industries. The industries have evolved from a group of independent affiliates to virtual organizations with locations all over the world. At the same time there is a booming number of new competitors, often innovative and technology driven and venture capital funded, who enter the market and play according to different rules. All these changes require that we look at our industries, strategies and practices from the outside in.