Innovara, Inc. is a global business and management development company, specializing in healthcare marketing, sales, and management performance. We are known worldwide for our highly customized experiential training, medical thought leadership, and business development and strategy services for the healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. Our ultimate goal is to help industry, providers, payers, policymakers, and advocacy leaders improve people’s healthcare.
The Innovara team is recognized for the excellence of our work and dedication to delivering quality, tangible results with the highest level of integrity. Having worked with some of the world’s leading healthcare companies, we’ve gained extensive experience in a wide range of healthcare-related fields.
Our trainers and consultants are based all over the world. By living locally, we are able to attend various medical association meetings, stay informed of local healthcare industry trends, and build stronger relationships with our clients.
Relationships at the highest levels of our client organizations are the keys to our success. For us, a short-term client is an exception—our clients are long-term clients by the very nature of the strategic advice that we offer and the partnerships that we form.
Innovara is a global business and management development company specializing in pharmaceutical, medical devices, diagnostics, biotech, generics, and life sciences healthcare subsectors. We build innovative, custom training solutions for organizations inside and outside of these industries.
Our specialties relate to functional skills and behaviors: healthcare marketing, medical affairs, sales, management/leadership, and medical/scientific presentation skills.
“One-of-a-kind training, Innovara always delivers more than expected and ready with backup plans to make sure that the training is delivered fully.” – Participant, Advanced Strategic Marketing (ASM)™
The days of team-building exercises, embarrassing icebreakers, gamification for gamification’s sake, and never-ending slide presentations are over. All Innovara courses are packed with interactions and assignments that develop and reinforce practicable skills, based on functional competencies. Your employees aren’t just participating in a learning program - they’re applying what they’re learning, as they learn it, heightening the impact of experiential learning. This empowers your team to grow their skills and use them immediately while maintaining an environment that is fun and collaborative.
“This workshop dramatically improved my presentation skills in a short period of time and provided a helpful framework for future learning.” – Participant, Executive Coaching to Advance Medical and Scientific Presentation Skills (ECAMP)™
Have you ever completed a training initiative, only to find that the participants are now speaking a different language than the rest of your team? Our customization process ensures that you receive a solution that is uniquely yours. This makes it easy for participants to relate and fold their learnings into your organization’s existing processes, terminology and ways of thinking, enriching and building upon them.
Whether you’re starting with our globally recognized experiential training programs, such as Marketing Plan in Action™ or Selling in Seconds™, or beginning a new training program focused on your business objectives, here’s how we design your custom training program:
Gather information about your products, customers, and therapeutic area. Compile that information with current and future regional and global healthcare industry trends. Tailor our examples, assignments, workshops, and case studies to the exact needs of your organization – right down to the specific terminology that we will use in training.When designing your courses, we are happy to use your templates or create a new template for you, based on your corporate branding or the branding of your learning initiative. We can also incorporate your existing systems, protocols, terminology, and tools into your customized learning program.
Innovara follows the Successive Approximation Model (SAM) for course development, which allows for greater collaboration and evaluation of the training materials throughout every step of the development process. We find this model to be more agile and responsive than the traditional ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) model for talent development.
“This program is unique and highly beneficial, with lots of learnings, examples, and practical applications you can make use of in your daily MSL work.” – Participant, From Insights to Acumen (FITA)™
We offer in-person, blended learning, and eLearning solutions to meet the needs of your global team. Here are some examples of training packages we have designed over recent years:
2-3 days of in-person, instructor-led training with workshops and team presentationsWeekly, synchronous online instructor-led training, with teamwork between sessions2-3 day, synchronous online instructor-led training, with breakout roomseLearning series with resource banksRegardless of learning modality, all training packages include a variety of interactions and assignments that relate directly to on-the-job skills. Whether your goal is to bring everyone together in a room, or to save on travel costs by training online, we will work with you to build a dynamic, experiential learning solution that meets your business objectives.
“The Sales Training conducted by the team at Innovara was informative, interactive, and was fun while learning. It built relations with team members and we were able to learn from the experiences of others.” -Participant, Physician Partnership Program (PPP)™
For larger talent development initiatives or initiatives with unclear business objectives, we recommend starting with a development needs assessment. These assessments are based on your competency model (if you do not have one, we can either create one for you or provide our own, based on industry best practices). We will first conduct a meeting with you to determine your team’s general pain points. From there, we will determine which of the following assessment types will highlight your specific training needs:
Self-assessments180-degree: self-assessment + manager’s feedback360-degree: self-assessment + manager’s feedback + feedback from peers, subordinates, clients, and/or othersAfter the assessment has been completed, Innovara will provide a report that highlights the specific training needs, with recommendations for training and other talent development resources to upskill your team. All Innovara assessments are conducted online, using our preferred survey software or adapted for use in your company’s learning management system.
Our custom training programs include evaluations at Kirkpatrick levels 1-3 to measure the impact of the training initiative on your team:
Level 1: How beneficial/relevant the training is to the participants’ jobsLevel 2: Pre-learning knowledge check; post-learning knowledge retention Level 3: Personal action plan describing how the participants will apply the skills learned in the trainingWithin 30 days of the final day of training, Innovara will provide a report that includes the full evaluation data and analysis.
Participants who complete all three evaluations and receive a score of 80% or greater on the level 2 evaluation will receive a certificate bearing a seal from the Accrediting Alliance for Training and Development.
Consulting services are available by request to assist your organization in completing a level 4 evaluation: measuring the learning against your organization’s business outcomes and KPIs.
“We were able to use what we learned to integrate a new process for launch readiness into our existing process.” - Participant, World Class Launch (WCL)™
Effective talent development begins with a functional competency model. A functional competency model allows you to clearly outline what is expected of your talents and identify skill gaps, as well as areas for growth. Innovara takes a collaborative approach to competency modeling that involves all relevant stakeholders.
The Functional Competency Model Process
We start with our own competency model, based on healthcare industry best practices. We hold several meetings with your team to determine what customizations are needed. Within 8 weeks, you will receive a custom competency model, based on measurable, observable, describable behaviors. We work with you to design talent development initiatives that fit the specific skill gaps and needs for the roles and functions outlined in the competency model.“Great opportunity to understand the MSL role and be provided with effective tools and strategies.” – Participant, MSL Excellence
Ready to see the difference Innovara can make for your organization? We specialize in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, and healthcare industries, as well as other life sciences. If your organization is outside of these industries, drop us a line anyway – we can build a custom solution for you, too!
+1 (413) 387-6188
innovara@innovara.com
Barri Blauvelt, MBA MPH founded Innovara, Inc., a global business and management development firm in late 1983, dedicated to providing highly customized, results-oriented services to health care industries worldwide. Mrs. Blauvelt is a published author on studies from healthcare technology assessment (HTA) to patient preference and policy informing research and related methods, to benchmarking best medical, industry, policy and advocacy practices. Her work in medical affairs and related research spans many types of healthcare industry (including pharma, biotech, other life sciences, devices and diagnostics) and many therapeutic areas/medical needs. In public health related research, she often partners with U. of Massachusetts, Johns Hopkins, Harvard and other leading schools of medicine and public health both in the US and around the world. She is a member of the US President’s Cancer Panel with her focus on ethnicity of cancer. She also is a member of the CEO Lifesciences Roundtable, and advisor to NIH and other major national and internal studies and medical associations, as well as the Chairperson of Women in High Places: Leading the Global Challenge of Medicine.
G. Christopher (Chris) Blauvelt is Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Innovara, Inc., a management development and strategic consulting company. Since joining Innovara in 1993, Mr. Blauvelt has provided international financial, research and marketing expertise supporting Innovara’s development into a leading global management and business development firm specializing in health care, financial services and related industries. Major projects that he has managed include the development of management and sales programs in key account management for major pharmaceutical companies, engineered learning programs, benchmarking best practices in the health care industry, and strategic business development reviews for major corporations interested in entering a specific market or industry.
Prior to joining Innovara, Mr. Blauvelt spent 15 years with the American Express Company. His responsibilities at American Express included:
Prior to joining American Express in 1978, Mr. Blauvelt was a manager with Citibank in consumer banking. Mr. Blauvelt also served in the American Peace Corps in Tamil Nadu, South India for two and half years.
Mr. Blauvelt has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Kenyon College and a Masters Degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from Columbia University. Mr. Blauvelt’s innovative and successful advertising work while at American Express has earned him CLIO and ADDY awards.
As a corporate Vice-President and partner of Innovara, Mr. Gerry Hsiang oversees all Innovara services in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This includes the ability to provide business and management development services in the Mandarin language. Mr. Hsiang is renowned for his work in developing healthcare sales and marketing personnel, talent, and organizations, including in pharmaceuticals, OTCs, consumer health and medical devices and diagnostics. This also includes major initiatives in sales force and marketing effectiveness. The scope of his activities ranges from setting up of sales forces, establishing guidelines and processes for recruitment, training and related development work, through to organizational analyses and competency modelling, distribution analysis, marketing and sales management and much more.
Most recently, Mr. Hsiang is offering Innovara services in medical thought leadership development, early stage commercialization consulting, segmentation and targeting paralleling Innovara’s expertise and leadership in this area of business development. Mr. Hsiang is the only Asian of the senior consultants for United Nations to help China government to enhance the pharmaceutical industry’s operations and capabilities. He has also been involved in major global and regional contracts for Innovara, working in the USA and elsewhere in the Asian Region.
Based in Australia, Mr. Malcolm Schokman joined Innovara in 2001 as the Vice President responsible for operations in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Greater China. He also works on global projects involving marketing strategy, marketing skills development and business and marketing strategy consulting.
Prior to joining Innovara, Inc., Mr. Schokman spent twenty-two years of marketing, sales, general management and consulting experience in the healthcare industry, mainly in the Asia Pacific region. He began his career in the industry with Glaxo and in a career that spanned two decades with MNC’s he worked in six countries in Asia, Sri Lanka, Singapore (in the regional office), Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong and China, holding positions in Product Management, Training and as Sales and Marketing Manager, Marketing Director and General Manager. He was appointed as an Executive Director to the Glaxo Boards in Sri Lanka, Philippines, Hong Kong and China. He was responsible for setting up the sales and marketing systems for Indonesian operations and was the commercial team head behind the major new product development and manufacturing projects in China. He held regional marketing positions in Singapore and HK/China. After leaving Glaxo Wellcome, he consulted to a Swiss Trading company to re-engineer their healthcare operations as well as established a performance management system for them, as well as consulted to a number of other health care companies in the Asia Pacific region on marketing and sales development related projects.
Mr. Schokman is a graduate from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK and also holds a Masters Degree in Marketing from the University of Lincoln and Humberside and a Post Graduate Diploma in Training and Development from the University of Leicester in the UK. He has extensive experience in operational and strategic marketing and sales of prescription and OTC pharmaceuticals, co-marketing strategy, skills development of marketing and sales managers and in performance management.
JongKun Bae joined Innovara in early 2005 as a Training Consultant and Senior Director, exclusively representing Innovara in South Korea.
Mr. Bae specializes in sales and sales management training and development, assessments, competency modeling, and medical thought leadership development.
Prior to joining Innovara, Mr. Bae held a position with Quintiles Korea as an Academy Team Leader. His responsibilities included training business development, program development, and training delivery for pharmaceutical companies.
While at Quintiles, Mr. Bae received numerous performance awards, including a Best Performance Award in 2004. Before joining Quintiles, he held a range of scientific, sales, and training positions with Janssen Korea, UCB Korea, and Bayer Korea.
Mr. Bae holds a biology degree from Chung-Ang University Seoul, as well as a Master’s Degree in Marketing from Ajou University. He has extensive experience in training for marketing planning
and execution and more than 10 years of experience as a facilitator of marketing excellence.
He also has project experience to achieve Medical Excellence in how Medical Advisor/Lead and MSL prepare for scientific interactions with customers and conduct close collaboration between medical, marketing and sales.
Based in Bangkok, Prasart Leelatian focuses on the delivery of Innovara services in business and management development to the healthcare industry and service providers in Asia. Occasionally, he collaborates with the global team to lead, coordinate and assist with multi-region initiatives.
Prasart has had over 30 years of sales and marketing accomplishments in many industries including pharmaceuticals, laboratory equipments, veterinary medicines, and nutritional products. At Eli Lilly and Company, he was in charge of many pharmaceutical management positions in USA and Southeast Asia for over 20 years. From the company’s Asia office in Singapore, he managed a number of business expansions, including talent development in the region.
With Innovara, Prasart has successfully conducted core development programs in open seminars as well as in-house customized sessions, including Training the Trainers. Highly popular programs are Powerful Business Communications (PBC), Marketing Plan In Action (MPIA), Physician Partnership Program (PPP), Selling and Coaching Skills, Sales Planning to Impact and Drive Results (SPIDER), and Managing The Winning Sales Team (MWST). Primary participants of these programs are commercial and training personnel in the healthcare industry focusing on ethical and over-the-counter pharmaceutical, medical devices and nutritional products.
Marketing and Sales Competency Assessments (IMA and ISMA) are another area Prasart has contributed significantly to Innovara’s highly reputable solutions that aims to help corporations in identifying the needs and resources for the development of their commercial.
Interaction with Healthcare Professionals
Prior to joining Innovara, Prasart was a senior consultant at In Vivo Communications, a medical education agency in Asia Pacific where he collaborated with medical thought leaders in areas such as management of medical expert forums and advisory boards, and facilitation of educational meetings for the public and healthcare professionals.
At Innovara, he masters core medical presentation programs in highly customized coaching, both one-on-one and group coaching sessions. With medical professionals, his services scan a broad range of programs, including training in Moderating a Panel Discussion, Chairing a Scientific/Medical Meeting, Powerful Medical Presenter (PMP), Executive Coaching to Advance Medical Presentations (ECAMP), and the 121 PMP Coaching. Attendees of his programs have come from all parts of the world: from Europe to South Africa, the Middle East to Australia, India to North and Southeast Asia.
Gary Lyon joined Innovara in January 2011 as Executive Director for Canada, following a 20+ year career in the pharmaceutical industry and university teaching positions in the UK and Canada. His Innovara projects have included: facilitating over a dozen MPIA, ECAMP®, ECHOS® and PPP programs; conducting qualitative and quantitative market research aimed at helping clients commercialize new market opportunities; assessing multi-country sales and marketing management competencies via Innovara’s ISMA instrument and contributing to the development of a new training program designed to help sales managers master analytics for rapid opportunity analysis.
He has lectured in business studies at Lakehead and Laurentian Universities. Gary has coached hundreds of small business start-ups through the Ontario Self-employment Benefit Program, co-funded by the Canadian and Ontario governments. His most recent pharma position was General Manager, Global OTC Operations for Glaxo Wellcome, based near London. He has worked in pharma in marketing, strategic planning and senior operational roles, based in the Far East, North America (US and Canada) and Europe and began his marketing career with Procter & Gamble in Toronto.
He has written and presented extensively on industry issues and is the co-author (with Michael Owen) of a Nicholas Hall Report on the Outlook of DTC Pharma Promotion in Europe and a chapter contributor to T. Blackett, ed., Brand Medicine: The Role of Branding in the Pharmaceutical Industry (2001). He holds an MBA (Distinction) from Imperial College London, an adult teaching certificate (PGCE) from Buckinghamshire New University (UK) and a BA (Hons) in Business Administration from the Ivey Business School at Western University (Canada). He is based in Toronto.
Hassan Elanany joined Innovara in March 2018 as Head of Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and Pakistan, following a 14+ year career in the pharmaceutical industry and as a talent development professional.
Hassan has extensive experience delivering business and executive coaching programs in the Middle East to top multinational companies such as Merck, Pfizer, Nestle, Cilantron, AstraZeneca, Barwa Bank, and others. In cooperation with the Egyptian government, he developed and delivered the top business coaching program for women entrepreneurs, AnaR2EDA. In 2017, Hassan began the Coach Show podcast, and he currently has his own radio program (MAN NABDA2) on the sports and youth radio station, to help youth recognize their capabilities and develop their skills.
Hassan is a Speaker, Coach and Trainer At JOHN MAXWELL, as well as a business coach at ActionCOACH and Chief Executive Officer at World Business Fitness.
