STUDY OF ETHICS TRAINING INFLUENCE ON ETHICAL BEHAVIOR OF MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVES IN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Previous studies provide mixed and varied results on influence of ethics training on ethical behavior of the sales force. Poor regulatory system and no stringent codes on ethics by the concerned regulatory bodies in the pharmaceutical industry in India created an urgent need to conduct the present study. It is a correlation and a cross sectional study conducted under non-contrived setting where data is collected using a structured questionnaire (n=300). Results show that graduates and less than 35 years of age group medical representatives have better influence on ethical behavior after their ethics training. Researchers strongly recommend that, roleplaying scenarios and real-world examples from the field and detailing them how they fit or violate the policies or regulations are valuable. Pharmaceutical companies are advised to reinforce ethics training online to ensure consistent delivery as ethics improves employee morale, recruitment, retention and success in sales.