Knowledge transfers as the basis of decision support for drug prescription
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/VJIKMS-07-2017-0043 |
| Published date | 14 May 2018 |
| Pages | 294-312 |
| Date | 14 May 2018 |
| Author | Toufiq Ahmed,Nilima Haque Ruma,Kunio Shirahada |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Knowledge management,Knowledge management systems |
Knowledge transfers as the basis
of decision support for
drug prescription
Toufiq Ahmed,Nilima Haque Ruma and Kunio Shirahada
School of Knowledge Science,
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Nomi, Japan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore thedrug knowledge transfer process in pharmaceutical
marketing and to investigatehow drug knowledge transfer facilitates to change general practitioners’(GPs)
prescribingdecision.
Design/methodology/approach –As an exploratory study, a semi-structured interview has been
performed with 13 medical representatives (MRs) from five established Japanese pharmaceutical
manufacturingcompanies and 14 GPs, working in Japan. Sampling was done by using snowballmethod, and
data were analyzedby using an inductive research analysis method.
Findings –Findings revealed that periodic and direct knowledge transfer between MRs and GPs
facilitates to change GPs prescribing decision from one to another brand of drug. In the prescribing
decision changing process, GPs are tending to evaluate and observe the acquired knowledge through
academic journal and conferences, consulting with their colleagues and information and
communication technology. After having a satisfactory evaluation and observation of acquired drug
knowledge, GPs are tending to apply in their prescription. Other communication channels such as
internet, telephone, direct or postal mails are used as re-enforcing tools of direct drug knowledge
transfer process.
Originality/value –The study contributesto the understanding of drug knowledge transfer from MRs to
GPs in pharmaceuticalmarketing, which is still an areaof under-explored topic.
Keywords Japan, Knowledge transfer, Decision support, General practitioner,
Medical representative, Prescribing drug
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The rapidly growing use of information and communication technology(ICT) in marketing
is changing the way in which knowledge is being created, managed, storedand transferred.
In particular, knowledge transfer is a process involving two entities to transfer knowledge
from one to another and important for new strategiesand product development (Argote and
Ingram, 2000). Knowledge transfer among entities provides opportunities for interactive
learning and interaction that facilitate to create a new knowledge which has significant,
positive effects on business innovationand performance (Tsai, 2001). Successful knowledge
transfer and better performance may vary dependingon the quality of sender and receiver’s
relationship (Szulanski, 2000). Knowledge transferability through ICT has significantly
improved in R&D, M&A and in sales and marketing activities.The uses of ICTs instead of
personnel movement have been increasing in recent days regarding knowledge transfer in
pharmaceutical marketing activities. But it is still questioning the effective role of ICTs in
knowledge transfer, especially do ICT able to transfer tacit knowledge from one entity to
other entity (Roberts,2000).
VJIKMS
48,2
294
Received12 July 2017
Revised6 November 2017
Accepted17 December 2017
VINEJournal of Information and
KnowledgeManagement Systems
Vol.48 No. 2, 2018
pp. 294-312
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5891
DOI 10.1108/VJIKMS-07-2017-0043
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5891.htm
In pharmaceutical industries,knowledge transfer through medical representatives (MRs)
plays an important role to update general practitioners (GPs) about the availability and
techniques of using drugs to patients. The four forms of knowledge, such as scientific
knowledge, social knowledge, patient knowledge and experiential knowledge, were
interconnected to prescribe a new drug by the physician (Prosser and Walley, 2006).
Therefore, pharmaceutical companies should transfer trustworthy drug knowledge that
facilitates GPs to prescribe a right drug to patients at the right time. Thus, prescribing
behavior of GPs could modify positivelyto improve drug efficacy, safety and hazards. The
study shows that knowledgetransfers between physicians have the positive impacton their
prescribing decision. To date, however, there is inadequate understanding of drug
knowledge transfer between MRs and GPs, and there is lacking in the published literature.
Therefore, the study about the impact and influence of drug knowledge transfer on GPs
prescribing decisionis very essential.
Knowledge is an intangible asset of a firm, generate high revenue and improves firm’s
performance (Grant, 1996;Nonakaand Takeuchi, 1995). Therefore, knowledge management
(KM) practices are increasing among organizations. The aim of KM practices in Japanese
organizations was to let know managers about how to develop new product and share
knowledge inside the organizations (Nonaka etal., 2008). According to Nonaka et al. (2008),
the KM practices at that time was limited in Japanese autos and electronics firms. Very
limited work has been known in pharmaceutical industries, especially the impact of KM in
GPs decision-making. Therefore, it is important to examine how drug knowledge transfer
facilitates GPs prescribingdecision.
Objectives of the study
The major objective of this study is to explorethe impact and influence of drug knowledge
transfer on GPs prescribingdecision. To address this objective, we have come up with three
research questions(RQs) in the present study, which guides our study as well.
RQ1. How does an MR transfer drug knowledgeto a GP?
RQ2. How does GPs acquiredrug knowledge from MRs and other sources?
RQ3. How does knowledgetransfer facilitate to change GPs prescribingdecision?
To answer these RQs, we came up with a theoretical framework of prescribing decision
change after drug knowledge transfer. By conducting an interview, the present study
focused on the GPs and their prescribing decisionwhich adopting in this framework. In the
next section, we provide an overviewof Japanese pharmaceutical industries. We then review
the literature on knowledge transfer models and look at knowledge transfer in
pharmaceuticalmarketing, followed by our conclusions and the implicationsof the study.
Overview of Japanese pharmaceutical industries
Japanese pharmaceutical industries are mostly depended on domestic sales (Reich, 1990).
They typically focus their marketing efforts toward GPs and directly to patients, i.e. to the
end users (Manchanda and Elisabeth, 2005). GPs play as a primary decision maker by
prescribing medicine and serving as an intermediary between pharmaceutical firms and
patients. Moreover,as a tradition, GPs in Japan also purchase and dispense medicine to their
patients (Saito et al.,2010).The drug distribution system in Japan is also very distinctive, as
they use two distributionchannels. One is manufacturing company distributionchannel and
the other is pharmaceuticalwholesale distribution channel as shown in Figure 1.
Knowledge
transfers
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