Innovation as a strategy used by the pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers in Kenya

Abstract

The pharmaceutical sector is going through competitive times that force the sector to adopt different strategies in order to gain a competitive advantage. One of the strategies is to employ innovative techniques to achieve competitive advantage. The aim of the research was to investigate the Innovation as a strategy used by the Pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers in Kenya and it had two objectives.

The first one was to establish the innovative techniques used by the pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers in Mombasa County. The second objective was to identify the factors influencing adoption of innovative practices by them. The research design of this study was descriptive in nature with a target population of all the 78 registered Pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers within Mombasa County. The study was carried out using a semi structured questionnaire that was circulated on a pick and drop basis.

The study revealed that Health promotion and disease prevention was moderately practiced. Post- - hospitalization continuity of care and medication reconciliation was least practiced. patient refill and providing consultancy services were also ranked moderately important by the retailers while Asthma management was ranked least important. The pharmaceutical wholesalers ranked customer service call centre and stock management lessons as highly important. In the factors influencing innovative practices, customer needs and expectations was highly rated. The results were compared with the previous studies and found agreement with a few. The researcher also recommends that the pharmaceutical wholesalers and retailers implement the innovative practices that each rated highly in order to achieve the competitive advantage over their competitors.