Le caratteristiche imprenditoriali delle farmacie di comunità : un’indagine esplorativa

In the last ten years, community pharmacies have undergone relevant normative interventions which have led from one side, to an increase in the number of competitors for dispensing activities, and from the other, to a pharmacists’ eventual role in the implementation of new care services. Faced with a transforming scenario, community pharmacists are expected to develop managerial and professional competences in order to respond to environmental challenges and safeguard both their profitability and their ability to fulfil the goals posed by the national health and pharmaceutical policies. The present study seeks to investigate to what extent community pharmacists perceive environmental turbulence and to what extent they believe to possesses entrepreneurial and managerial orientation, and self-efficacy, to build their pharmacies’ competitive advantage. A survey was prepared and a questionnaire have been sent to the pharmacists belonging to the provincial Association of Young Pharmacists of Agrigento, Italy. The results of the exploratory analysis are discussed along the paper in the light of the major changes community pharmacies are currently experiencing.