December 2007  -  Rita E. Numerof, Ph.D., President and Bill Ott, M.B.A., discuss how to create Strategic Sales Excellence in Maintaining Momentum in an Increasingly Competitive Environment, published in the Winter 2007 issue of Focus magazine.

Too often, the organizational response to increased competitive pressure is to assume simply that reps haven’t "gotten" the training that’s been given, and do more of it. The authors argue that when the sales landscape changes, sales management needs to look at the end-to-end sales process against the new requirements of the situation, and to focus on the role of management in changing behaviors to adapt. Numerof and Ott illustrate through a case study the step-by-step approach taken by a successful pharma organization to successfully adjust to such change.

November 2007  -  Globalization and the increased competition that it brings is driving change in the role of the market research function and the way it defines itself. The need to move from a tactical approach to a strategic marketing orientation is nothing less than a transformation -- and that is the point of Transforming the Market Research Department -- and Why You Need to Do It. Published in the November 2007 issue of Product Management Today (as A Transformation of the Market-Research Department May Be in Order) , authors Dr. Rita Numerof, President, Bill Ott, Senior Consultant, and Teena Rull, Consultant, discuss the changes required in the function to support pharmaceutical companies in their transition from a product-driven to a market-driven business model.

The authors discuss the new demand requirements of the strategic marketing role, the competencies required at the individual contributor level, and the changes needed in the functional mandate to successfully support growth and sustainable competitive advantage.

July 2007  -  Michael N. Abrams, M.A., Managing Partner, and Mark T. Morgan, M.S.(R), Senior Business Analyst discuss the range of emerging physician relations management models in Nurturing the Hospital Physician Relationship, published in the July 9, 2007 issue of H&HN Online.

Historically, management of physician relationships has been the province of the CEO. Often, such efforts were largely fire-fighting exercises that offered drama, but in the long run, limited effectiveness. As hospitals become more business oriented in their approach, there’s a growing realization that a more systematic approach is needed.

The authors categorize the kinds of range of approaches currently in use across the industry, describing the characteristics, strengths and limitations of each. The complexity and ambition of these models varies, as does the ease with which the return on investment can be measured, but they all represent movement in the right direction -- more systematic and effective management of a key organizational asset.

June 2007  -  Rita E. Numerof, Ph.D., President, and Jack Nightingale, M.P.A., Consultant, discuss the direction pharmaceutical sales organizations will take in After the Arms Race: the Future of Primary Care Salesforces, published in the June 2007 issue of Product Management Today.

The authors predict dramatic changes in the way that pharmaceutical companies promote drugs to Primary Care physicians. The major pharmaceutical companies that have dominated this market have built success on their ability to saturate the market with sales representatives. For years, the potential payoff in increased revenues from blockbuster drugs fueled an ‘arms race’ among leading companies, creating an army of sales reps competing for physician attention. This trend has run its course as the underlying business drivers have shifted, and retrenchment has begun. The question now is how quickly new commercial models will be adopted and how disruptive they will be to current sales practices. The authors outline the likely shape of these new models, and suggest that early adopters will gain competitive advantage for several years to come.

May 2007  -  Michael N. Abrams, M.A., Managing Partner, and Bill Ott, M.B.A., Senior Consultant, describe how leveraging the disciplined mindset of the Finance Department can quantify the financial return on investment of human capital in How Finance Can Help Build a Leadership Infrastructure, published in the May 2007 issue of Financial Executive.

The authors point out that despite the significant investment made in recruiting and training staff, most organizations don’t think about human resources in the same way they think about other assets. Likewise, investing in a systematic process to assess and develop future leaders deserves but often does not get the rigorous financial treatment used for other asset-growth strategies. The authors suggest that many of the concepts common to finance can be profitably applied to the challenge of building a leadership infrastructure. They offer a framework for non-HR managers to understand how finance concepts can be applied to HR, and how management of the leadership pipeline parallels other asset management efforts.