Scoping the required business management skills for community pharmacy: perspectives of pharmacy stakeholders and pharmacy students

Background: The literature is dearth in identification and categorization of business management skills required by community pharmacists. While community pharmacy stakeholders (predominantly community pharmacy owners, managers, and pharmacists) and pharmacy students are valuable sources for identifying business management skills, no review is currently available that synthesizes their knowledge. By identifying currently known business skills and organizing these into a managerial skills framework, this review provides a foundation skillset for community pharmacist business management.

Methods: Six electronic databases were searched for published articles, with titles and abstracts screened according to inclusion criteria. Full articles meeting the specified criteria were assessed and skills identified were mapped to the human, conceptual, and technical skills of a business management framework.

Results: Pharmacy stakeholders and students identified 36 business management skills/aptitudes required for community pharmacists. Pharmacy stakeholders most frequently identified the skills of communication, professionalism, general business management, leadership, and teamwork. Although the pharmacy students concurred with many of these skills, they more frequently identified confidence, entrepreneurship, and having prior experience or opportunity in a management role. A substantial number of identified skills/aptitudes were categorized under the human domain of the business management framework.

Implications: Community pharmacists require training in effective business management, with particular emphasis on human domain skills. The tertiary education system should consider implementing the skills/aptitudes revealed in this review into the pharmacy curriculum. Recruiting business minded personalities into the profession, particularly targeting students with an attraction to business management, is one strategy to improve management skills within the field.