As tecnologias da informação móveis e sem fio (TIMS) e as competências dos profissionais de vendas: dois estudos de casos na indústria farmacêutica no estado de Goiás

Abstract

The Scientific and Technological Revolutions supported changes in the economy, providing a much more dynamic feature to business processes through the increased use of information and promotion of innovation. This innovation has contributed to the emergence of Wireless and Mobile Information Technology (TIMs, its acronym in Portuguese) and of the ubiquitous computing including the use of laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs, its acronym in Portuguese) smart phones interconnected by wireless nets which enable the communication of several professionals in different environments. With TIMs appearance, entire organizations had to readapt its technological structure, its business processes, its human sources, its leadership and organizational culture to fit the new activities. Considering these aspects, this study aimed to identify the results of TIMs’ use to the skills of professionals of pharmaceutical industry in Goiás. On this basis, the study has been divided in three thematic blocks: (1) TIMs’ concepts and its consequences for organizations and for the individuals working with this technology; (2) the concept of competences, focusing on comprehension of individual competences; (3) the scenery of the pharmaceutical industry and its trade professionals competences. In order to research these themes, it was used the method of Multiple Cases Study in two pharmaceutical companies in Goiás. The study results identified the facilities that TIMs’ brought in order to achieve the goals and help the organizations purchase costs reduction, agility and speed in communication, the challenges of finding appropriate companies to answer the companies’ peculiarities and make the professionals use the TIMs. It was also discovered how TIMs affected the profiles, abilities and competences from the professionals. Finally, the mobile applications have provided e improved both mobility (the users can negotiate anytime and anywhere) and flexibility (which allows the data collect directly from the source); and the publicizing of products (some wireless connections allow geographical displacement).