4. DEVELOPMENT OF THE RESEARCH MODEL
4.5. The Research Model
This section presents the final Research Model and its variables as well as the operational questions and instrument used to investigate key success factors for sales force readiness during new product launch in the Swedish pharmaceutical industry. See Figure 6 for a graphical presentation of the Research Model. Based on the analysis of the conducted case studies, the expert interviews and findings in the literature, the Research Model was finalized and the operational data collection instrument developed. The data collection instrument can be found in Appendix 6. The final model and its variables have strong support in the six conducted case studies and the six conducted expert interviews as well as in the literature. The Research Model is divided into three stages. The first stage, circumstances, is intended to identify how the product’s newness, the stability of the market and the change rate of the market are related to launch success. The notion is that these factors are not controllable by sales management, but are useful and important insights for sales force strategy formulation. Stage two, key sales force factors, includes the key sales force variables to be investigated in terms of their importance to a successful new product launch. The notion of key sales force factors is that these sales force readiness elements involve methods and practices controllable by the sales manager, which is in line with the way sales force strategy elements are defined in the literature (Dubinsky and Barry 1982; Dubinsky and Hansen 1981; Micheal et al. 2003).
The third stage, effect, includes the outcome of the launch in terms of being successful or not.
143 Figure 6: The Research Model
The model used for investigating key success factors in sales force readiness during launch of pharmaceutical products in the Swedish market.
Performance in Selling a New
Product
Key Sales Force Factors
Type of New Product
Circumstances
Stability of the Market (Market Dynamics)
Market Change Rate (Market Dynamics)
Emotional Attachment (New Product Adoption)
Activity Accountability (Sales Force Control)
Explanation of Unachieved Sales Goals (Sales Force Control)
Introduction Rationale of the Product (Supervisory Context)
Speak Freely with Managers (Supervisory Context)
Sales Manager Observations on the Field (Supervisory Context)
Problem Solution Approach (Sales-person Characteristics)
Numbers of Sales Representatives (Organizational Design)
Promoted with Other Products (Organizational Design)
Product Order in Sales Call (Organizational Design)
Effect
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Type of New Product:
This variable investigates whether the type of newness of the launched product impacts the success of the launch. The three defined types are: (a) the product is not a new type of product to the market and a revision of a previous product for the company launching it (Old-Old); (b) the product is not a new type to the market while it is of a new type to the company launching it (Old-New); and (c) the product is a new type of product to the market and it is also new to the company launching it (New-New). This variable is shown under the stage “circumstances” in the Research Model. The variable is derived from a variable in the literature by Micheal et al (2003).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• At time of launch, was this product:
a. not-new-to-the-market and revisions-to-the-firm?
b. not-new-to-the-market but new-to-the-firm?
c. new-to-the-market and new-to-the-firm?
Stability of the Market
This variable is shown under the stage “circumstances” in the Research Model. This variable aims to investigate whether a successful product launch is more favored by a stable market or by an unstable market. The variable is a derived item from the variable
“market volatility” in the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• What was the nature of the market environment for this new product at the time it was introduced: stable or unstable?
Market Change Rate
This variable aims to investigate whether a successful product launch is more favored by a rapidly changing market, or the opposite, by a slowly changing market. This variable is shown under the stage “circumstances” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the variable “market volatility” in the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
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This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• What was the nature of the market environment for this new product at the time it was introduced: did it change slowly, or change rapidly?
Key Sales Force Factors
Emotional Attachment
This variable aims to investigate the emotional attachment and commitment of the sales representatives for the success of the new product. This variable is shown under the stage
“Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the variable “new product adoption / commitment” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, did the sales representatives feel emotionally attached to the success of this new product? (Yes/No)
Activity Accountability
This variable aims to investigate whether or not the sales representatives were held accountable for their sales activities. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the variable
“Sales Controls / Behavior Control” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, were the salespeople held accountable for their actions in selling the new product, regardless of results they achieved? (Yes/No)
Explanation of Unachieved Sales Goals
This variable aims to investigate whether the sales representatives had to explain themselves to their manager(s) when they did not achieve their set performance goals.
This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model.
The variable is a derived item from the variable “Sales Controls / Outcome Control” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
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This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, if the sales representatives’ performance goals for this new product were not met, would the sales representatives be required to explain why?
(Yes/No)
Introduction Rationale of the Product
This variable aims to investigate whether the sales representatives were provided with an explanation of the rationale for the introduction of the product. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the variable “Supervisory Context / Internal marketing” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• Did the sales representatives’ supervisors explain the rationale for the introduction of this product? (Yes/No)
Speak Freely with Managers
This variable aims to investigate whether the sales representatives were able and also encouraged to speak freely with their managers regarding easy and also difficult issues in their work, in the knowledge that he or she would want to listen. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the variable “Supervisory Context / Trust” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, the sales representatives could talk freely to their supervisor about difficulties they had at work and would know that he or she would want to listen?
(Yes/No)
Sales Manager Observations in the Field
This variable aims to investigate to what extent the sales manager should, or should not, observe the sales representatives’ performance in the field in order to contribute to a successful product launch. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the variable
“Supervisory Context / Field Attention” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000).
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This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, to what extent did the sales representatives’ supervisor observe their performance in the field: no-monitoring; medium-monitoring; or high-monitoring?
Problem Solution Approach
This variable aims to investigate the character of sales representatives for a successful product launch with focus on the approach that sales representatives utilize for problem solving in their sales situations. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is a derived item from the propositions around “Sales-person characteristics / Problem-solving: intuitive and systematic” from the literature by Atuahene-Gima (1997).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, how did the sales representatives handle problem solving: intuitive or systematic?
Numbers of Sales Representatives
This variable aims to investigate the optimal number of sales representatives to be utilized by the sales force during a successful product launch. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is derived from the conducted expert interviews and case studies with strong support from the literature (Churchill Jr et al. 1985; Piercy et al. 1997; Rangaswamy et al. 1990; Sager 1994) and based on the variable “sales force organizational design” derived from Micheal et al. (2003).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• How many sales representatives did you utilize during the launch of this new product?
Promoted with Other Products
This variable aims to investigate whether the product launched on the market should be sold by the sales representatives together with other products or otherwise alone. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is derived from the conducted expert interviews and case studies, with support in the literature (Rangaswamy et al. 1990) and is based on the variable “sales force organizational design” derived from Micheal et al. (2003).
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This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• Did the sales representatives sell the new product only or did they sell other products during the same sales call: “Alone” or “Together with other products”?
Product Order in Sales Call
This variable aims to investigate the order in which the product launched is sold during a sales representative’s sales call with the physician. The variable addresses those situations when a sales representative sells two or more pharmaceutical products during his or her sales call to the physician. The question is whether the launched product should be sold first in order to contribute to a successful launch, or if the launched product does not need to be sold first and the launch will still be successful. This variable is shown under the stage “Key Sales Force Factors” in the Research Model. The variable is derived from the conducted expert interviews and case studies, with support in the literature (Rangaswamy et al. 1990) and is based on the variable “sales force organizational design” derived from Micheal et al. (2003).
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument as:
• During launch, was the new product sold first during the sales call? (Yes or No)
Effect
Performance in selling a new product
This variable aims to investigate if a launch was successful or not, in measure of performance outcome. This variable is shown under the stage “Effect” in the Research Model. The variable is partly based on and derived from items in the variable “Sales force outcome performance / performance in selling a new product” from the literature by Hultink and Autahene-Gima (2000). The data was to be collected from two sources for validation purposes; of which one, the data collection instrument, was considered more subjective and, the other, available third party sales and market share data, was considered more objective.
This variable was made operational in the data collection instrument (subjective) with the following items:
a) For launch year one, did you exceed sales targets set for this new product? (Yes or No)
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b) For launch year two, did you exceed sales targets set for this new product? (Yes or No)
c) For launch year one, did sales representatives assist sales managers in achieving the objectives for this new product? (Yes or No)
d) For launch year two, did sales representatives assist sales managers in achieving the objectives for this new product? (Yes or No)
Items where data was to be collected from a third party data source (objective):
e) Gaining significant market share for this new product:
- Market share, year one - Market share, year two - Market share, year three - Market share, year four
f) Generating a high level of sales volumes for this new product (quickly generating sales for this new product);
- Sales, year one - Sales, year two - Sales, year three - Sales, year four
The full data collection instrument can be found in Appendix 6. The instrument was tested on four sales managers and two of the experts from the expert interviews. Minor modifications were made to the formulation of the questions to secure better understanding of the concept, however as the interviews were conducted over the phone there was always an opportunity to explain concepts or questions.
All items are derived from earlier research and are well grounded in the literature and from the empirical data collected in the course of the case studies and expert interviews.
The scale has been modified and defined based on the interviewed experts’
recommendations in order to better suit the investigation pursued here.
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