Forecasting for the Pharmaceutical Industry

Noting that one's view of forecasting changes according to what role one plays in the pharmaceutical industry, Cook (principal of ZS Associates, a management and sales consulting firm) boils down the definition to: "the need to provide inputs for multiple decisions within an organization." Over the course of six chapters he introduces the history of forecasting and its use in the pharmaceutical industry; examines the tools, methods, and analytics available to forecasters; describes the approaches and algorithms that can be used in new product and in-market forecasting; considers the future role of forecasting in pharmaceutics; and presents a case study illustrating the application of forecasting. Distributed in the US by Ashgate. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)