Effects of digitalisation on pharmaceutical sales management in South Africa

Abstract

This research qualitatively investigates the effects of digitalisation on pharmaceutical sales management in South Africa, which relates to the research problem statement of slow digital uptake in the pharmaceutical industry when looking at sales force management. To prove the research problem statement, three research questions was posed. The first research question is “How can digitalisation increase efficiency for the pharmaceutical sales force?”. The results indicated that the customers in the pharmaceutical industry have already started using technological system to increase their efficiency with minimal influence from the sales force which is can further increase efficiencies and speed. The second research question is “What is required for digitalisation to be successful within the pharmaceutical industry?”. The first requirement is investment from the organisation into digital technologies, the second requirement is in investing into the development of employees in digital technologies, the third requirement being the adaptation of the sales team to incorporate these digital platforms into their value proposition for the customer. The third research question is “How would digitalisation change the current landscape within the pharmaceutical industry?”, the results indicate that the role of the sales team would evolve to a business partner which would be essential to remain competitive. The key takeaways from that the current incremental implementation of digitalisation are due to the personal nature of the pharmaceutical industry and the unvalidated success of digital components in the industry. The managerial implications being upskilling of the employees which influence the stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry and management of the digital technologies which strengthens the impact of upskilling