Papers on International Management
SAMPLE INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 – Introduction
The purpose of this project was to investigate the use of e-detailing in the Greek
pharmaceutical industry. The purpose was also to evaluate whether or not these e-
detailing platforms can really fulfil its purpose of educating and convincing the
pharmaceutical firm’s customers to choose their products instead of the others that the
competition has to offer. The value of the project will derive from the answers that this
project provide whether or not these platforms can replace, or complement the traditional
visit in the doctor's premises. Complementing the traditional visit will emphasise on the
necessity to get in touch with the physician remotely, without abandoning the face to face
interaction. E-detailing will create a new strategy of hybrid visits that consists remote and
in person visits.
The chosen methodology was face-to-face interviews with eight respondents who are
sales and marketing professionals working within the pharmaceutical industry in Athens,
Greece. The data was collected during them months of January through June, 2013.
In the last two decades pharmaceutical firms have grown exponentially, due to many
scientific, as well as social reasons. There have been major developments in the industry
creating breakthrough pharmaceutical products and surgical techniques that changed the
way that modern medicine was conducted. The last two decades the technological
advances were also tremendous, not only to the medical related innovations, but also in
the field of communications both wired and wireless. Internet, as well as social media,
with the capacity of real time exchange of data, voice and video are becoming a new
everyday reality to the life of everyone. The pharmaceutical firms equipped with motive
and means to achieve it have tried to grasp the attention of their customers (mainly the
physicians) with every possible way they could muster. The idea of getting advantage of
the power of internet is not new. The various tools that were emerging as society and
technology were allowing were countless. In the following pages there will be an attempt
to analyse the virtues and shortcomings of e-detailing as another promotional tool that the
big pharmaceutical firms have started to employ, for the purpose of better rather than
simply greater exposure.
To satisfy the aim and value of the project the following research questions have been
composed:
1. To investigate the key drivers that led the pharmaceutical companies to create e–
detailing platforms.
2. To study how e-detailing platforms are working in the European countries and the
USA.
3. To investigate if e-detailing platforms can replace the traditional way of visiting the
doctors or just complement them.
4. To investigate whether e-detailing can enhance clients’ perception, without
jeopardizing the Social Capital as we know it.
5. To determine if e-detailing is a tool more effective on mature or new pharmaceutical
products.
6. To determine if e-detailing is applicable to every physician (digital segmentation),
while identifying the e-detailing limitations.
The interview guide (as examined in Chapter 3 – Project Methodology) was conducted to
the form of semi-structured interviews hoping that it will provide an in depth view point
of the respondents’ opinions. Also in Chapter 3, a series of factors that influence the
doctors in the extent of Innovation Characteristics, Communication Channels, Social
System and the Physician Characteristics themselves will also be examined.
In Chapter 4 (Analysis & Results), there will be an extensive attempt to present not only
statistically sound results, but with the appropriate qualitative form that will enhance the
results and justify the selection of this project strategy.
Chapter 5 will illustrate a viable promotional strategy, which will have to be implemented
extensively if such strategy is adopted. In Chapter 6 the conclusions, along with the
project’s limitations and the personal reflection of the writer will sum up the project.