Pharmaceutical executives spend an extra 11 hours a month online, study says
A study run by online business networking service MeettheBoss.com shows that pharmaceutical executives are spending an extra 11 hours a month online sharing their professional experiences and learning from their peers.
A study run by online business networking service MeettheBoss.com shows that pharmaceutical executives are spending an extra 11 hours a month online sharing their professional experiences and learning from their peers.
MeettheBoss asked 3,000 of its 11,000 pharmaceutical members what direct value they gained from spending time running blogs, writing tweets and connecting with other executives on sites such as Linked-In, Xing, MeettheBoss, Ryze, Facebook and Twitter.
The answers revealed that pharma industry executives proficient with online activities are spending an average of 11 hours more per month online than this time last year - and more than 90% of respondents said they felt their time online was "very valuable" to their daily role.
"I find online business networking very useful," says MeettheBoss member Meredith Cole, project manager at GSK. "It allows me to create or join a discussion and get immediate answers and experiences from like-minded professionals on issues such as regulation or technology." Other industry leaders, including John Earley - global head of lean/supply system at Astrazeneca, and Steve Dreamer - vp & head of engineering excellence at Novartis, have also shared their expertise on the site
"Everyone knows that building contacts in the industry can strengthen your career prospects, but sharing your knowledge with the world is a very effective personal branding exercise," says Adam Burns, editor-in-chief of online business channel MeettheBoss.TV.
Though most experts agree there is no substitute for face-to-face networking, using social media tools correctly can bring substantial return on an executive's time investment and could even pull business to the company.