Thesis (MA)--University of Montana, 2009. / Contents viewed on November 24, 2009. "Major Subject: Communication Studies" Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Με βάση τα στοιχεία σχετικά με την επίδραση των αξιών και τη σημασία τους μας ενδιαφέρει να τις εξετάσουμε ως προς καθοριστικές παραμέτρους της συνταγογραφικής συμπεριφοράς και της τεχνικές επικοινωνίας που χρησιμοποιούν οι εταιρίες για να προσεγγίσουν τους γιατρούς. H φαρμακευτική βιομηχανία σήμερα εστιάζεται κυρίως σε ποσοτικές μετρήσεις και στον αριθμό των ιατρικών επισκεπτών παρά στην αποτελεσματικότητα των επισκέψεών τους. Αυτό ωθεί τους γιατρούς στο να κλείνουν τις πόρτες στους Ι.Ε. Σε άλλους κλάδους βιομηχανιών όπως στις τράπεζες και στην αυτοκινητοβιομηχανία χρησιμοποιούνται ψυχογραφικά χαρακτηριστικά. Ήδη κάποιες φαρμακευτικές εταιρίες όπως η UCB έχουν ήδη αρχίσει να εκμεταλλεύονται αυτά τα εργαλεία μάρκετινγκ. Οι μέθοδοι αυτοί περιλαμβάνουν τη συνταγογραφική συνήθεια των γιατρών, δημογραφικά, τις αξίες των γιατρών τρόπο ζωής και ότι άλλο μπορεί να επηρεάσει τις συνταγογραφική τους συμπεριφορά. / -

There can be little doubt that competition in the pharmaceutical industry has increased considerably over the past few years. Growth in the pharmaceutical industry in South Africa has been affected adversely in recent years by the increased competition from generic drug manufacturers. As soon as a drug comes off patent, competitors are ready with generic copies, resulting in price drops. Pharmaceutical companies are therefore forced to continually evaluate their existing strategies, to ensure that their financial performance remains at the desired level. This study aims to determine the importance that entities in the pharmaceutical industry attach to competition during the strategy-formulation process. The study will also attempt to provide an understanding of how entities have adapted their product-market strategies, as identified by Ansoff, over the past five years. As an ancillary objective, this research aims to determine whether the level of competition in the industry has adversely affected the financial performance of the entities competing within the industry. Entities within the pharmaceutical industry consider the level of competition in the industry to be very high, and, accordingly, it is one of the major factors that they consider when determining which product market strategy to adopt. Because of this, the product-market strategies adopted by entities in the pharmaceutical industry have changed substantially over the past five years. No strategy is, however, dominant. Over the past five years, most of the entities in the pharmaceutical industry have displayed improved profitability, risk and cash flow-ratios, as well as growth in revenue, net profit and net asset value. This improvement in financial performance is despite an increased level of competition. It can therefore be concluded that the level of competition in the pharmaceutical industry is not reflected directly in the overall financial performance of companies in the industry. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The emergence of biotechnology necessitating change in traditional pharmacological research, cost cutting by hospitals and health insurers, and an increasing number of patent expirations have posed a considerable challenge to the pharmaceutical industry, which hitherto had been considered recession-proof. Responding to this challenge, the industry has undergone tremendous consolidation through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). These M&As have resulted in high concentration within the therapeutic classes of drugs, thereby raising anticompetitive concerns. / In order to allow the mergers to proceed, the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. had required the merging entities to divest their R&D assets. The European Commission, on the contrary, had taken more permissive approach. / The thesis has argued that R&D divestitures in pharmaceutical cases have not been appropriate as anticompetitive concern arises owing to the acquisition of market power with drug purchasers, rather than the combination of R&D assets. The innovative nature of the industry, and the costs and risks involved in drug discovery make it hard to analyze the likely future state of the market. Ex-post analysis shows that divestiture in these cases proved counterproductive. / It is suggested that ex-post remedies like compulsory licensing and price regulation are preferable in pharmaceutical mergers, as they do not disrupt the companies' R&D structure. Moreover, these remedies could be applied once the anticompetitive concerns become apparent the merger is consummated, thereby allaying the uncertainty involved in the assessment of the future state of innovation markets.

Background. Good health care is becoming increasingly unaffordable. A wider use of generic medicines offers significant cost savings. As the family practitioner is the gatekeeper in prescribing medicines, his attitude towards generic medicines is crucial. The factors that influence family practitioners' prescription of pharmaceuticals require investigation. Objectives. The primary objective of this study is to assess attitudes and perceptions that family practitioners have towards generic medicines and evaluate factors that influence its prescription. The secondary aim is to assess the individual characteristics and personality traits of family practitioners that may impact on generic prescription. Methods. This study is a convenient sample of 198 family practitioners that are surveyed by means of a questionnaire. Responses were based largely on a Likert scale and evaluated by factor analysis. Results. Using factor analysis, five factors identified in the order of importance are as follows: 1) Patient factors: It is primarily the patients' disease profile and their financial capacity that determines the use of generic versus ethical drugs. 2) Clinical autonomy of the family practitioners: Family practitioners resent their clinical decisions being challenged by managed care organisations. 3) Strategies promoting generics: Improved marketing by the generic pharmaceutical industry and the provisions of acceptable financial incentives are likely to promote wider use of generics. 4) Cost of medicines: Most family practitioners are price-sensitive. A further reduction in the price of generic medicines is therefore likely to increase the use. 5) Specialists' opinion: Specialists use fewer generics and their choice of medication is respected by family practitioners. A wider use of generic medicines by specialists will positively impact on generic prescription by family practitioners. Personality traits and individual characteristics of the family practitioners do not affect their prescription of generic medicines. It is noted that most family practitioners have encountered specific instances of reduced efficacy, an increased side-effect profile, substandard packaging, erratic availability and poor patient confidence with the use of generic drugs. Conclusion. In order to bring about a reduction in the healthcare costs by promoting wider use of generics, different stakeholders in the industry need to act synergistically. All stakeholders need to increase the awareness of generic medicines by continuing health education. Specific recommendations for the generic pharmaceutical industry include increased marketing, further reduction in the price of generics and implementation of research and surveillance studies to ensure satisfactory clinical efficacy of their drugs. Medicines Control Council need to closely monitor the number and quality of available generic medicines. Managed care organisations need to respect the clinical autonomy of family practitioners and work closely with them. Finally, acceptable and ethical incentives need to be considered for family practitioners, the gatekeepers, to achieve the objective of wider use of generic medicines. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of Natal, 2001.

Data was collected using a questionnaire at two large medical practises. A sample of 50 respondents was used for the study using the convenience sampling technique. The questionnaire consisted of two sections, namely section A that comprised the demographic information and section B collected scores for job satisfaction questions on a five point scale ranging from very dissatisfied to very satisfied. Responses to individual questions were tabulated and mean scores and standard deviations were computed. Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the relationship between the dimensions of job satisfaction and overall job satisfaction. The t-test was used to ascertain the relationship between gender and the job satisfaction factors, as well as overall job satisfaction. The F-test was used to examine the relationship between age, marital status, qualifications and length of service with the job satisfaction factors and overall job satisfaction respectively. Overall the respondents were satisfied with their job. Highest satisfaction levels were experienced for working conditions, work itself and recognition. It was found that “Working Conditions” was the best predictor of overall job satisfaction followed by job security and responsibility. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Continuous Improvement processes are commonly used by many organizations facing competitive pressure. By implementing continuous incremental changes, it allows optimizing resources while maintaining flexibility. However, it requires significant resources and involvement from all levels of management, as well as field workers. Continuous Improvement is based on the study of processes and the identification of recurrent problems; therefore it is particularly adapted to manufacturing activities and other repetitive processes. R&D (Research and Development) activities are less repetitive and tend to be iterative, which make them more difficult to study. Yet these activities represent a strong competitive asset and an early mistake or misunderstanding might have a significant cost. The objective of this project was to study the deployment of Continuous Improvement for R&D processes through a literature review and a case study in the pharmaceutical industry. Action research has been the research method that has been employed; the particularity of this method is that the researcher participates actively to the studied change. It resulted in the identification of some characteristics that have to be taken into account in the deployment of improvement activities. First the culture is based on problem-solving, which increase the efficiency of data study and analytical method whilst formalization tools are less efficient, as well as performance indicators related to improvement activities. Besides, the need of customers (both internal and external) is difficult to define and is subject to evolution; this issue tends to be aggravated by a lack of communication. Moreover, development projects being unique and highly iterative, it is recommended to study processes at a more conceptual level, although no specific mapping tool seems particularly adapted. Finally, beside the study of general processes, the study of each individual project (project reviews) allows individual and collective learning. This project also propose a tool allowing the study of information flows between activities and teams in order to reduce mismatch between need and reality (and thus communication issues). This tool relies on the use of local SIPOC diagrams to represent activities and the mapping of flows between each of them.

Brands are recognised as one of the most valuable assets that a company can possess and therefore brands are key role-players in the business strategies of organisations. The rivalry amongst competitors in the pharmaceutical industry is fierce and companies should design their strategies in such a way in order to achieve competitive advantage. Brand loyalty is regarded as a powerful tool in the development of pharmaceutical brands. The main aim of this study was to measure brand loyalty in the pharmaceutical industry of South Africa and to establish whether patients are brand loyal to original pharmaceutical brands and the influence of generics on pharmaceutical brand loyalty. The measurement of brand loyalty in the pharmaceutical industry is based on Moolla’s brand loyalty framework for the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry. This study also aimed to determine whether Moolla’s FMCG brand loyalty framework is applicable to the pharmaceutical industry. The twelve brand loyalty influences identified by Moolla are: Customer satisfaction; Switching costs; Brand trust; Repeat purchase; Involvement; Perceived value; Commitment; Relationship proneness; Brand affect; Brand relevance; Brand performance and Culture. The empirical study was conducted among 250 over-the-counter medicine consumers with different demographic profiles. The methodology included the sampling procedure, data collection, questionnaire development and statistical techniques used. Results were analysed with regards to Factor analysis; the Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy; Cronbach Alpha coefficients; Bartlett’s test of sphericity, mean values and effect sizes. The Empirical results through quantitative analysis included the validity of the research instruments, the calculation of the reliability coefficients which reported on the significance of the research variables. The results were presented in a conceptual framework to measure pharmaceutical brand loyalty. The results of this study concluded that the brand loyalty influences as identified by Moolla are important for measuring pharmaceutical brand loyalty. The results of this study also concluded that patients are indeed brand loyal and do prefer branded pharmaceuticals to generic pharmaceuticals in the over-the-counter medicine industry of South Africa. The importance of this study is the contribution of a brand loyalty framework to measure pharmaceutical brand loyalty which will aid pharmaceutical companies in the strategic management thereof. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Brands are recognised as one of the most valuable assets that a company can possess and therefore brands are key role-players in the business strategies of organisations. The rivalry amongst competitors in the pharmaceutical industry is fierce and companies should design their strategies in such a way in order to achieve competitive advantage. Brand loyalty is regarded as a powerful tool in the development of pharmaceutical brands. The main aim of this study was to measure brand loyalty in the pharmaceutical industry of South Africa and to establish whether patients are brand loyal to original pharmaceutical brands and the influence of generics on pharmaceutical brand loyalty. The measurement of brand loyalty in the pharmaceutical industry is based on Moolla’s brand loyalty framework for the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) industry. This study also aimed to determine whether Moolla’s FMCG brand loyalty framework is applicable to the pharmaceutical industry. The twelve brand loyalty influences identified by Moolla are: Customer satisfaction; Switching costs; Brand trust; Repeat purchase; Involvement; Perceived value; Commitment; Relationship proneness; Brand affect; Brand relevance; Brand performance and Culture. The empirical study was conducted among 250 over-the-counter medicine consumers with different demographic profiles. The methodology included the sampling procedure, data collection, questionnaire development and statistical techniques used. Results were analysed with regards to Factor analysis; the Kaiser- Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy; Cronbach Alpha coefficients; Bartlett’s test of sphericity, mean values and effect sizes. The Empirical results through quantitative analysis included the validity of the research instruments, the calculation of the reliability coefficients which reported on the significance of the research variables. The results were presented in a conceptual framework to measure pharmaceutical brand loyalty. The results of this study concluded that the brand loyalty influences as identified by Moolla are important for measuring pharmaceutical brand loyalty. The results of this study also concluded that patients are indeed brand loyal and do prefer branded pharmaceuticals to generic pharmaceuticals in the over-the-counter medicine industry of South Africa. The importance of this study is the contribution of a brand loyalty framework to measure pharmaceutical brand loyalty which will aid pharmaceutical companies in the strategic management thereof. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013