Advocacy Excellence: Optimizing Group Structure & Operations

Best Practices, LLC conducted research to identify the geographic and functional factors that drive advocacy group structure as well as advocacy reporting relationships and how groups align themselves with internal customers. Additionally, this study presents different organizational models for pharma advocacy groups and current trends in staffing and budgets for pharma advocacy groups. Advocacy leaders can use this research to compare their organizational structure and resourcing with those of leading organizations.

Industries Profiled:
Health Care; Pharmaceutical; Diagnostic; Biotech; Research


Companies Profiled:
Abbott; Genomic Health; Boehringer Ingelheim; Amgen; Pfizer; Novo Nordisk; Genzyme; Lilly; Parexel; MedImmune

Study Snapshot

This benchmarking research included executives at 11 bio-pharmaceutical, healthcare companies. Research participants included Executive Directors, Medical Executives, Directors and Product Managers. More than 80% of benchmark partners were directors or above –and most worked directly in Advocacy groups or functions.
Field interviews and study analysis produced many observations and benchmark findings. Key study insights reflect the inter-related evolution of an Advocacy Group’s structure, service and staffing strategies to support its success with partners and internal customers.

Sample Key Findings

Optimizing Impact with Less Resources: Advocacy is not known for its big budgets or staff; what it is recognized for is its ability to network and pull ideas and people together -whether they’re internal or external -and to build a commonality of interest so that the group’s impact is broader than just one person’s efforts. These high-impact skills don’t always require large budgets. Continue to leverage and showcase this skill set, which can be highly leveraged.

• Align Staff with Internal Customers: Advocacy leaders often locate staff with internal customers. Also popular is locating staff in regional areas to more closely serve local needs. The two approaches are usually linked, allowing staff to be more aware of internal customers’ needs as well as regional issues and nuances. In this type of structure, association coverage is often organized by region. During periods of resource reduction, co-location can be used in short periods –achieving many of the benefits of permanent co-location but at somewhat lower costs –often with fewer staff resources fully dedicated to internal customers.

• Benchmark Class
• Key Insights
• Advocacy Models: Key Trends and Drivers of Sub-Group Group Evolution
• Advocacy Group Models and Structures
• Advocacy Group Staffing Benchmarks: Key Trends In Resourcing Advocacy Groups
• Advocacy Group Services: Key Trends in Service Levels and Approaches
• Advocacy Roles and Responsibilities: Key Trends in Alliances Management
• Communicating The Value of Advocacy in a Global Bio-Pharma Company
• Contact Information