Pharma 4.0: analysis on core competence and digital levelling implementation in pharmaceutical industry in Indonesia

PURPOSE: This paper aims to explore core competencies and analyze the digital leveling implementation of Pharma 4.0 in Indonesian Pharmaceutical companies. METHOD: This study uses a mixed-method Delphi study conducted in the first two rounds. The first and second rounds aimed to determine the core competencies of the Pharmaceutical Industry to face the Pharma 4.0 era. In the first round, FGD was conducted involving 12 participants, and semi-structured interviews were carried out with 10 participants in the second round. Alongside Delphi, this research also employs NVIVO as a tool for content analysis. Furthermore, in the third round, a survey was conducted to determine the leveling of the digital implementation of Pharma 4.0, involving 215 senior management participants representing 34 national pharmaceutical industries. RESULT: The study revealed eight core competencies needed by human capital in the pharmaceutical industry to face the Pharma 4.0 era: critical thinking, bioinformatics, entrepreneurial thinking, digital skills, intrapreneurial skills, research skills, regulatory compliance, and data ethics. Regarding digital leveling implementation, this study found five main levels: level 1 (simplification), level 2 (automatization), level 3 (integrated system), level 4 (digital transformation), and level 5 (disease prediction). This study also affirms that most of the pharmaceutical industries in Indonesia are at level 2 (mean = 4.2) and level 1 (mean = 4.0). Several pharmaceutical industries are at level 3 (mean = 3.5), and a few others are at level 4 (mean 3.2) and level 5 (mean = 1.4). RESEARCH IMPLICATION: This study is the first to analyze the leveling of digital implementation in Pharma 4.0. The results showed that core competencies could be used as a benchmark to develop employee skills. This current study provides the essential data for core competency development and digital leveling implementation for the pharmaceutical industry and government in preparing Pharma 4.0.