Industry Blog

Every day millions of professionals are using Twitter to share ideas with others, gather real-time intelligence and build relationships.

This article summarizes my personal introduction to, and views of, Twitter. Throughout 2009 I’d been hearing a lot about Twitter but I didn’t understand it and couldn’t appreciate its value, so I started to investigate it more fully. After reading many books and spending countless hours on the Internet I could see where Twitter was going but still struggled with its value. I compared the process I was going through to that of learning a new language. I surmised that if millions of people were doing it, something must be making sense to them, so I persevered.

I set up my Twitter account and started following people. Then I discovered that major pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, medical education and communication companies, government bodies and patient associations were on Twitter and were publishing interesting information. That’s when I had an ‘A-ha’ moment and now fully appreciate the significance of the service and use it every day to stay up-to-date and connected. The experience I had in getting started with Twitter is very similar to that of most new Twitter users.

So what is Twitter? Twitter is a very powerful communications platform which is highly useful for both personal and business needs. It was developed in March 2006 within a small San Francisco podcasting company and has experienced rapid growth over a very short period of time.

Twitter works this way. Twitterers or tweeters send and receive short messages (140 characters) called ‘tweets’ on Twitter’s website or with mobile phones. When a user logs in, Twitter asks one simple question: What’s happening? Users then answer in 140 characters or fewer. Because of the 140 limit Tweets are easy to write and read. They’re like news headlines.

Twitter is a ‘recipient-driven information network’ – ie you decide what messages you want to receive. People choose to follow other people and receive a stream of their messages. Messages are distributed in real-time and can be sent and received from mobile phones, PCs or websites.

When Twitter first started it asked the question “What are you doing” and people responded with comments like “having a coffee, going to the beach, watching a TV show etc”. Many people still use Twitter for this purpose so that they can stay connected with their friends. However Twitter has evolved over the last year and people have been having more serious dialogues and have been commenting on significant events in real time. In November 2009 Twitter changed the question to “What’s happening?” and as a result the type of information being exchanged has improved.

Twitter has become a great way of sharing common experiences, be them emergencies, organized events, concerts or conferences. People within the moment are sharing their experiences and their messages are being relayed virally.

Twitter is also emerging as a key business communication channel, one where companies engage with their customers and stakeholders in a very direct and public way. Through Twitter businesses can monitor what people are saying about their products and services; they can respond to customer requests; provide information and links to additional services; and run customer-engagement programmes. In short, they can add value to the communities in which they operate.

Twitter is becoming increasingly popular with professionals, especially healthcare professionals. As Twitter has gained followers people are using it more and more to talk about what they’re reading or thinking about and often including links to good content. Through this Twitter is distributing ideas and comments from experts in their field. There’s still a lot of nonsense on Twitter however if you carefully choose the people you follow you will be rewarded with a valuable stream of news and current events.

Within healthcare there are a number of emerging uses for Twitter. These have been summarized in a recent article (Healthcare advances use of Twitter. 140 healthcare uses for Twitter at http://philbaumann.com/2009/01/16/140-health-care-uses-for-twitter/) and some include:

1. Tissue recruitment (for kidney and other organs, including blood)
2. Epidemiological surveys
3.Disaster alerting and response
4. Emergency response team management
5. Adverse event reporting in the clinical setting and other pharmacovigilance functions
6. Drug safety alerts from the FDA
7. Daily health tips from authoritative sources
8. Environmental alerts: pollen counts, pollution levels, heat waves, severe weather alerts
9. Publishing health-related news
10. Publishing disease-specific tips
11. Publishing the latest advances in pharmaceuticals and  biomedical devices
12. Live-tweeting from medical conferences
13. Clinical Trial awareness
14. Product safety alerts
15. Discussing public health care policy

Within the pharmaceutical and medical industry Twitter has developed solid traction, particularly in the US. Major companies such as Allergan, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Baxter, Bayer, BD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genzyme, Medtronic, Merck Serono, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and sanofi aventis are all active on Twitter.  They report results of clinical trials, mergers and acquisitions, attendance at conferences and breaking news.

On my company’s news Twitter site (www.twitter.com/PMPConnect) we follow these companies and retweet significant events. We also comment on industry issues and update our followers with real-time, relevant information. Signing up is quick, free and easy. Simply go to www.twitter.com and click the Sign Up Now button. Once you’ve created an account go to our Twitter site and click Follow, on the top left. Then search Twitter and follow other accounts, and when you login again you will have a stream of up-to-date topics to read and respond to.

Twitter is a powerful means of conversation, idea-sharing and collaboration because it’s an easy-to-use combination of messaging and microblogging. It will continue to grow and evolve within the Social Media space and at some stage will be replaced by newer technology (remember Netscape before Internet Explorer; and AltaVista before Google). Regardless of how it develops Twitter is changing the landscape of social communication within healthcare.

There’s a useful article in October’s Harvard Business Review about undertaking overseas assignments (Three Keys to Getting an Overseas Assignment Right, by Mark Clouse and Michael Watkins, HBR Oct 2009, p.115; http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/10/three-keys-to-getting-an-overseas-assignment-right/ar/1). It’s centered around a senior manager who works for a pharmaceutical company and has just moved to China.

The article provides advice on how to make a successful transition from a leadership position in a familiar setting to a position of similar or greater responsibility overseas.

The first principle is: Establish the Family First. If disruption for the family is minimized there are increased odds that everyone will thrive in the new setting. A crucial factor in ensuring a smooth transition is to retain as much of the familiar as possible, and to set up support networks to combat feelings of isolation and dislocation.

Principle 2: Build Credibility and Openness from the Start: Don’t try to “fix” problems first, rather ask people lots of questions even if you are sure you know what the central issues are. Setting up your office can wait. Go to the front lines right away and really listen. Start reaching out on day one.

Principle 3: Get Serious About Compliance: It’s critical for transitioning international executives to consider, identify and manage compliance issues. Taking the unofficial role of chief compliance officer, executives need to systematically ask people in the front lines detailed questions about their actions. It’s important to be able to differentiate between serious compliance lapses and unfamiliar but acceptable ways of doing business.

International assignments are exciting and challenging and managers grow and develop through their experiences.

Readers are invited to share stories related to “Getting an Overseas Assignment Right”.

I’ve just read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review on mergers (Mergers That Stick by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, HBR Oct 2009, p 121; http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/10/mergers-that-stick/ar/1).

The pharmaceutical and medical sector has certainly seen a number of mergers over the years. Many candidates we talk with have been through two or three mergers during their careers. We get to hear their various stories about merger successes as well as a number of stories where the outcome has been less than successful. That’s why I found the HBR article interesting.

It highlights the importance of getting it right by truly focusing on the people involved. Rather than having scenarios of winners and losers, successful mergers embrace their new talent and work towards quickly integrating and motivating their employees. The result is less disruption, increased market share and a culture of innovation and adaptation.

The research in the article involved 350 interviews in 20 countries with the goal of identifying the practices of industry leaders. It was found that in successful mergers there was heavy investment in “emotional integration” events which were designed to forge relationships and form social networks. Companies complemented these events with specific training in relationship building and networking.

By doing this, attention is drawn away from territoriality and conflict and towards collaboration. Real value is then created by attending not only to operational integration but to the integration of talent.

Many readers would have experienced or witnessed mergers within the pharmaceutical and medical industry and you are invited to share you stories and thoughts.