Pfizer is partnering with a social networking site for physicians, in order to reach out to doctors more efficiently.

Sermo is a networking site for physicians that allows them to use the collective wisdom of the group to discuss, share and exchange and take away new insights.

According to this article,

“Pfizer-affiliated doctors will be able to talk candidly with the site’s 31,000 members, potentially giving the company insights into prescribing patterns and a way to show doctors data on its drugs.”

Pfizer doctors, who will be clearly identified, will be able to ask questions of the Sermo community or respond to posts. If Pfizer doctors were to offer comments others deem biased, the system provides for quick rebuttals.

We should be seeing more such inititaives taking off with the explosion of social networks.

At an individual level, here is a doctor using technology to to reach out to patients who is willing to “evisit by videochat, IM or email for certain problems or follow-ups.

Business Week reports that two employees at CityWatcher.com have silicon chips embedded into them. According to their CEO, Sean Darks, who also has one of the chips embedded says that the chips work “like an access card. There’s a reader outside the door; you walk up to the reader, put your arm under it, and it opens the door.”

According to this article it is not the first time that it has been used at the workplace. It was used by 18 members of the Mexican attorney general’s staff.

Looks like even customers are using it! According to Wolfgang Grulke ?Barcelona’s Baja Beach Club began microchipping its VIP nightclub members, to let them into exclusive areas and clock up drinks and food via a chip implant in the arm produced by VeriChip Corporation?

He believes that within a decade, microchips will be common. ?Already two scientists at Britain’s Warwick University have chips embedded under their skin that let them send emails just by thinking.?

Interesting times we live in!

Market shifts are happening pretty rapidly these days. Davis Masten’s post that 90% of the products that Intel delivers on December 31 did not even exist of January 01 of the same year!!

This New York Times article reports that I.B.M. has identified about a dozen “hot” skills most likely to be in demand over the next three years. This year?s list includes expertise in the life sciences, wireless networks, digital media databases and Linux programming.

While it is critical that organizations develop competencies on the emerging skills, individuals too will need to look at how they can stay relevant.

As Robert B. Reich, a professor of economic and social policy at Brandeis University added in the same article, “The most important community for an individual will not necessarily be a company, but a looser community of people with similar skills and social connections and continually building up those skills and connections is what a career is today.”

Here is what I think would be the top six dominating challenges for organizations in the year 2005 and beyond:

To read more about the last three issues, go
here

Consider these findings from a survey conducted by Top Consultants.

I believe that the “need for contract staff” increased with organizations needing to fill the gap arising out of specific short term assignments while at the same time needing to keep a control on manpower numbers and managing the uncertainties in business.

In addition technology has made it possible to engage staff from any corner of the world.

Technology and vagaries of business will continue to ensure that this trend will continue.

Any thoughts? Any opinion?

Here is what I think would be the top six dominating challenges for organizations in the year 2005 and beyond:

To read more about the top three issues, go
here

Development Dimensions International, Inc. (DDI)
conducted a survey of more than 321 HR professionals
for the 2004 HR Forum and readers of Human Resource
Executive Magazine to identify basic trends that are
having an impact on HR today and to see how HR is
responding to them.

Some interesting extracts from the study:

Respondent profile:

43% respondents represent directors or VP’s of HR
64% were from multinational organizations
59% worked in companies with more than
USD100 million in revenue

Six Trends influencing HR in the next two- three years

Proficiency and Importance of HR Competencies

Click for Larger Image

Common Barriers to Change

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Details of the study can be found here

• Deepa