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Manufacturers find bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets challenging to serve due to low margins and highly localized needs. As such, residents in BOP markets often go without products commonly available in developed countries. Going without medical equipment may negatively affect healthcare services. This study develops a supply chain design strategy that supports the production of medical equipment by preserving variety flexibility at low volumes that stands to create new market opportunities for manufacturers and improve healthcare for residents in BOP markets.

The authors introduce a mass-customization model called options-based planning (OBP) which offers a framework to both leverage the efficiencies of high volume production models and provide products that are customized to local market needs. An empirical simulation, grounded in data collected from a large international manufacturer of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, illustrates how an OBP production strategy will likely perform under BOP conditions and facilitate the delivery of healthcare equipment to BOP markets.

OBP provides a means for manufacturers to provide the customization necessary to serve fragmented BOP markets, while enabling higher production volume to make serving these markets more feasible. The empirical simulation reveals the relative benefits of OBP under conditions of forecast uncertainty, product complexity (number of design parameters) and different levels of responsiveness.

Increased access to modern medical equipment should improve healthcare outcomes for consumers in BOP markets.

The MRI context in BOP markets serves to illustrate the value of the OBP model for manufacturers.

This article aims to provide a description of principal aspects of policy and practice associated with orphan drugs and treatments of rare diseases, and give perspectives for 2011 on new and emerging approaches for addressing patient access.

Information has been synthesized from a wide variety of sources including the authors' experience and familiarity with this topic, having over the past ten years developed market access strategies for many orphan drugs. This is supplemented by pertinent information from conferences, meetings and articles published over the last 20 years and from policy documents released by relevant regulatory bodies.

While a small number of people suffer from any one rare disease, approximately 30 million in the EU and 25 million in the USA are affected by such diseases. Annual orphan drug treatment costs may approach $500,000. High costs coupled with relatively sparse supportive clinical data and difficulty in meeting standard cost‐effectiveness benchmarks raise significant issues for payers in allocating finite budgetary resources. Since the US (1983) and European (European Parliament, 2000) orphan drug regulations were approved, hundreds of agents have been granted orphan status although many fewer have achieved marketing authorization. Agencies have introduced a slew of incentives to help sponsors develop and market orphan medicinal products. The nature and focus of the programs are undergoing a metamorphosis as access to funding is becoming as important as supporting development.

The article represents a contemporary examination of orphan drug policy and practice, bringing together historic elements which influenced practice up to 2010 and the latest, emerging trends and approaches which stakeholders are now embracing and which will shape procedures from 2011.

The purpose of this paper is to show the link between the comparative effectiveness research (CER) and the interest in developing drugs for rare disease by the pharmaceutical industry. Total healthcare spending is on the rise without having a corresponding better health outcome. As such, with the growing role of government in healthcare, measuring and demonstrating value is beginning to expand beyond the private sector to metrics applied in the public sector. A modern approach to comparative effective research began its rapid rise in the USA when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated $1.1 billion for CER. This paper analyzes the implication and impact on the pharmaceutical industry.

The paper reviews the basic definitions of CER and its areas of strength and weakness. It used real examples of drugs to show the impact of the Reinvestment Act of 2009 on the rise of orphan drugs.

The study shows that the act encouraged the development of orphan drugs, mainly because of the low budget impact due to a smaller patient base. Provisions of the Affordable Care Act provide incentives for such rare disease indications, as no one can be denied coverage with pre-existing conditions.

The study is limited by the number of available rare drugs and the ongoing process of implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

The study shows the cost-effective method of treating medical conditions.

Development of orphan drugs opens up access to care for many patients at a cost-effective price.

This paper shows the link between the CER and the interest in developing drugs for rare disease by the pharmaceutical industry. It also brings out the possible implication of the Affordable Care Act on the pharmaceutical industry with respect to its strategies for drug development and drug portfolio.

The present paper aims to understand the underpinnings of the variations in brand level direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising through a two‐part study. First, it seeks to examine the various influences on advertising intensity (operationalized by advertising to sales ratios) in the context of DTC advertising. Second, it aims to analyze how changes in share of voice impact changes in market share.

Data on brand level advertising as well as sales were collected from different government and industry sources. This is used to compute the ratio of DTC advertising to sales as well as changes in share of voice, market share and average drug prices. A log‐log model is used to find parameter estimates based on OLS regression.

Market share has a negative influence on the ratio of advertising to sales. Drugs which have a greater degree of innovation (as judged by the FDA) appear to spend more on DTC advertising relative to sales. The paper also finds that an increase in share of voice is not associated with increased average drug prices, but is related to a growth of market share because of a change in the share of total prescriptions dispensed.

The paper is one of the few to examine the factors influencing advertising to sales ratios in the context of DTC advertising. It is also one of the first to investigate the relationship of changes in the share of voice with changes in market share.

Increasing awareness of man's impact on the environment and pressure to behave in a more sustainable manner are encouraging both the recycling and reuse of materials and the replacement of hazardous chemicals with more benign ones. The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive and the Restriction on the use of certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) Directive, have recently been adopted into law with the specific intention of further encouraging these activities through legislation. In addition to these directives, there is a growing need to adopt sound design principles so that new products are created in a more environmentally acceptable way and that their environmental impact throughout their lifecycles is minimised. This paper gives an overview of this new European legislation and discusses its impact on the electronics industry. The potential benefits of adopting such an approach are outlined.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze e-waste management systems in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and India and benchmark best practices in the Indian scenario.

The first part of the research paper focuses on the description of e-waste management systems in the above-mentioned countries using a case study analysis approach while the second part analyzes, evaluates and compares e-waste management systems performance based on seven performance indicators using a five-point scale. Finally, the RADAR chart approach is used to benchmark the best practices of e-waste management in these countries in the Indian scenario.

The study finds that India is lagging far behind from Germany, Switzerland, and Japan in e-waste management despite being the fifth largest e-waste generator across the globe. India must adopt best practices followed in these nations like a dedicated agency to oversee and coordinate the e-waste management, coordination among different value chain partners involved in e-waste management, development of infrastructure to collect and process e-waste, monitoring and control of all processes and stakeholders, etc.

The study suggests the solution to the loopholes in the Indian e-waste management system by adopting the collection, recycling and reporting mechanism followed in German, Swiss and the Japanese e-waste management system. There is a dire need to improve e-waste management systems in India as only 5 percent of e-waste is processed through the organized sector.

E-waste is increasing at an alarming rate and most of e-waste in India is being handled by the unorganized sector, where rudimentary methods are used to process e-waste severely damaging the environment and health of workers. The unorganized market employs 0.5m child laborers. Hence, routing the e-waste to the organized sector will result in social benefits by putting a check on unsafe practices and will create green jobs.

This paper’s contribution lies in extracting the best practices followed in nations excelling in e-waste management and recommend their implications in the Indian scenario. This study is aimed at all the stakeholders, but especially at policy-makers and producers, who have the onus to tackle the e-waste problem.

Outlines and comments on the waste electrical and electronic equipment and the restriction on the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment directives, which have recently become law.

The promise seen in new venture units is alluring.

The long‐term survival of a business often hinges on its ability to successfully introduce new products into the marketplace. These new products and their successful development can be the lifeblood of a company. This paper aims to examine why product development delays occur in SMEs, the nature of these delays, and what can be done in order to avoid them.

This research is exploratory in nature and provides empirical support to several propositions found in the innovation management literature on the development of new products.

Various reasons for delays in new product development are found, including poor definition of product requirements, technological uncertainties, senior management support, lack of resources, and poor project management. Major concerns raised included management and organisational style, lack of attention to detail, limited support for innovation, lack of strategic thinking, and poor manufacturing capabilities.

The consistent development and introduction of new products that customers value can be an important criterion for business growth and prosperity. Suggestions to help accelerate the NPD process in SMEs are presented, including active and visible senior management commitment, early involvement of functional groups, the introduction of new work methods, early market/technical testing, and effective new product organisations.