Customer Relationship Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Customer centricity has long been a guiding principle for many businesses. However, it is usually limited to marketing existing products with as strong a customer focus as possible. Corporate strategy remains basically product-centered. Customers typically have a fractured view of an enterprise. Conversely, the enterprise has only a splintered view of the customer, determined by different customer contact points, as customer information is usually locked in departmental silos. This article argues that trends like electronic commerce drive the need for a more customer-centric view. Customer relationship management, which is built on an integrated view of the customer across the whole organization, is currently being discussed as an appropriate concept for achieving this. To illustrate the elements of the concept, a case study undertaken at a pharmaceutical company provides the necessary empirical evidence.