Abstract:

The paper is based on the past years experience of a worldwide operating pharmaceutical company in the area of international survey research among the medical profession. The company has tried different approaches from the very decentralized approach to the centrally planned and managed international survey. Three types of standard-approaches are identified and the factors influencing the decision as to the centralized/decentralized approach to international survey research are discussed in the light of the companies recent experience. The influencing factors are grouped into company- or circumstance- specific factors variable factors based on both sets of factors on one hand and the three standard centralized/decentralized approaches on the other hand, two decision matrixes are presented and discussed. No standard recommendations can be given to companies regarding the problem of centralized/decentralized approach to international survey research, but the two matrixes are offered as a help to rationally evaluate the desirability of a centralized/decentralized approach in a given situation.