Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The pharmaceutical industry has a vital reliance on successful new product launches (NPL), which are a critical driver of a company s performance. The prevailing literature on NPLs is fragmented and has mainly concentrated on a product s superiority as well as the strategic and tactical launch activities largely omitting the importance of customer relationships. The aim of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive overview on the key determinants of a successful NPL in the Finnish pharmaceutical industry. In practice, this study considers the extent to which a NPL and getting physicians to prescribe a new drug is relational activity. The role and relative impact of a company s strategic orientations and their mediating mechanisms were studied with survey data collected from the pharmaceutical companies operating in Finland. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling revealed that the relationship orientation had the strongest positive impact on both customer acceptance and financial launch success. The company s accumulated market-based assets represented an alternative mediator in addition to product advantage. Sales force management and relationship marketing activities transformed a relationship-oriented organizational culture into launch performance. PLS regression modeling combined with target projection identified the diversity of determinants affecting launch performance at different stages of NPL. Product advantage and relationship marketing activities contributed to gaining the acceptance of key opinion leaders in the early phase of launch, while market-based assets and a company s relationship orientation largely determined the acceptance of the majority of target customers in the later phase. The buyer s perspective focused on the physician-pharmaceutical industry relationship and was studied by means of theme-interviews among a randomized sample of physicians. The positive relationship orientation of the physicians towards the pharmaceutical industry and whether they actively interacted with pharmaceutical companies were reflected in their early adoption of new drugs, especially when a product had a unique advantage and the physician s own personal interest accelerated the adoption of a new drug. In comparison, physicians who were negatively oriented towards the pharmaceutical industry and interacted passively adopted a new drug later based on evidence- and experience-based reasoning and the opinions of colleagues. In conclusion, this thesis calls for a relationship approach in order to complement the traditional sales and marketing approach regarding the launch of new pharmaceutical products. A successful pharmaceutical product launch should focus on appropriate relationship marketing activities that are conducted in a timely manner to achieve customer acceptance and financial launch performance.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Minna Matikainen
Language: English
Subfield: Issues, ethics and legal aspects
Field: Nursing
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2177633040