Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Business Studies Unit, Durban University of Technology, 2008 / The pharmaceutical industry is in the midst of a fundamental transformation. Time and cost constraints are forcing marketers to search for new ways to maintain and grow brand awareness. The amount of time that doctors allow for representatives to market their products is becoming less and less and as a result products are not getting the exposure they used to. Organisations that find innovative ways to maintain exposure of their products may gain a competitive advantage over those organisations that rely on traditional marketing methods. The prolific increase in the use of the internet may provide pharmaceutical organisations with a complementary channel to market their products. The objective of this study is to determine the levels of internet technology adoption among general practitioners. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is one of the most influential research models in studies of the determinants of information systems/ information technology (IS/IT) acceptance. In TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are hypothesised and empirically supported as fundamental determinants of user acceptance of a given IS/IT. Using TAM, this study sets out to determine general practitioners’ intention to use the internet as a source of pharmaceutical information. The literature review provides an extensive evaluation on the development of TAM and its application in different technologies. Based on these findings, the researcher developed this study to investigate internet technology acceptance in the pharmaceutical industry. Use is made of the descriptive survey method and data is retrieved from a sample of 105 general practitioners in Kwazulu-Natal. The observation is made via the benefit of a questionnaire. The process of sampling is that of convenient sampling. The analysis is quantitative and makes use of statistical analysis appropriate for the data. Analysis of the survey results produces useful insights into the factors influencing internet technology adoption by general practitioners. When analysing the independent variables, respondents were not in strong agreement about the perceived usefulness nor the perceived ease of use of internet technology as a source of pharmaceutical information. However, positive results from the relationships between the independent (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) and dependent variables (attitude and intention to use) provide valuable data with which organisations may develop internet-based marketing strategies. Based on the survey findings, recommendations using the Beynon-Davies (2004) Internet Adoption Model are suggested.

Abstract not available

"June 2002" / Bibliography: p. 347-360. / xiii, 360, [200] p. : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (M.Med.Sc.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2002

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Business Studies Unit, Durban University of Technology, 2008 / The pharmaceutical industry is in the midst of a fundamental transformation. Time and cost constraints are forcing marketers to search for new ways to maintain and grow brand awareness. The amount of time that doctors allow for representatives to market their products is becoming less and less and as a result products are not getting the exposure they used to. Organisations that find innovative ways to maintain exposure of their products may gain a competitive advantage over those organisations that rely on traditional marketing methods. The prolific increase in the use of the internet may provide pharmaceutical organisations with a complementary channel to market their products. The objective of this study is to determine the levels of internet technology adoption among general practitioners. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is one of the most influential research models in studies of the determinants of information systems/ information technology (IS/IT) acceptance. In TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are hypothesised and empirically supported as fundamental determinants of user acceptance of a given IS/IT. Using TAM, this study sets out to determine general practitioners’ intention to use the internet as a source of pharmaceutical information. The literature review provides an extensive evaluation on the development of TAM and its application in different technologies. Based on these findings, the researcher developed this study to investigate internet technology acceptance in the pharmaceutical industry. Use is made of the descriptive survey method and data is retrieved from a sample of 105 general practitioners in Kwazulu-Natal. The observation is made via the benefit of a questionnaire. The process of sampling is that of convenient sampling. The analysis is quantitative and makes use of statistical analysis appropriate for the data. Analysis of the survey results produces useful insights into the factors influencing internet technology adoption by general practitioners. When analysing the independent variables, respondents were not in strong agreement about the perceived usefulness nor the perceived ease of use of internet technology as a source of pharmaceutical information. However, positive results from the relationships between the independent (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) and dependent variables (attitude and intention to use) provide valuable data with which organisations may develop internet-based marketing strategies. Based on the survey findings, recommendations using the Beynon-Davies (2004) Internet Adoption Model are suggested.

Thesis (M.Info.Tech.)--University of Wollongong, 2006. / Typescript. "Includes an observation study" Includes bibliographical references: p. [135-141].

Thesis (M.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of General Practice, 2005. / Includes publications published as a result of ideas developed in this thesis, inserted at end. "April 2005" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-242).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Flinders University, School of Medicine. / Typescript bound. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 204-216) Also available in electronic format.

The work content and style of practice of family physicians in British Columbia has been evolving since the second world war. Since the late sixties, a reassessment of the role of family physicians has been underway, both in Canada and the United States. Primary health care has recently been given greater recognition in North America. The development of family practitioners’ tasks in the last twenty years is reviewed from the point of view of a practitioner. In Canada, the health care system has been changing since the forties, as a result of a series of federal-provincial agreements. It had become apparent that, despite constitutional deeding of health care to the provinces, federal incentives and funding were required to develop an appropriate nationwide system of health care. What was a joint private enterprise and local community sponsored health care system in the thirties, has now become a complex government-funded operation. Government involvement in third party payment schemes, for doctors particularly (the last of a series of national health insurance programs), has changed the relationship of doctors to their patients, because both became subject to the new rules of the Medical Care Act of 1967. Government involvement in payment for services has led to questions about accountability for spending. Subsequently, this led to the need for better planning, especially health manpower planning, which began to be considered very important in the early sixties. At that time, the Royal Commission on Health Services examined the prospects of bringing physicians’ services and allied health manpower services to all Canadians. The attempts to plan physician manpower in Canada and British Columbia in the sixties and seventies are considered and criticized. Conclusions are drawn regarding the prospects for future manpower planning for primary care to be given by family practitioners in British Columbia. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.

Not available