SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 53
Download to read offline
0
A
PROJECT REPORT
ON
IDENTIFYING AND BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PATIENTS AND
MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURERS GLOBALLY
FOR
PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF MBA IN HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA- DE)
SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY
SUBMITTED TO
SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY
MANIPAL, KARNATAKA
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
Mr. Sanket Nandavadekar
SUBMITTED BY
Ms. Disha Gupta
Roll No.- 1311000445
HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
1
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Disha Gupta has successfully completed the project
work as a part of academic fulfilment of Masters of Business Administration
(MBA) Semester IV examination.
_______________________
SANKET NANDAVADEKAR
Project Guide
Date : 14.10.2015
2
DECLARATION
I, Disha Gupta student of Master of Business Administration, Semester- IV of
Sikkim Manipal University, hereby declare that I have successfully completed this
Project on- Identifying and bridging the gap between Patients and Medical Device
Manufacturers globally in the academic year 2015.
The information incorporated in this project is true and original to the best of my
knowledge.
DISHA GUPTA
Roll No. 1311000445
Date- 14.10.2015
3
―Judge not the value of something by its price, but by how much value it adds to
your life‖
- Disha Gupta
4
LIST OF CONTENTS
INDEX
# Description Pg No
1 Acknowledgement 4
2 Foreword by Guide 5
3 Preface 6
4 Executive summary 7
5 Review of Literature 9
6 Methodology used 41
7 Data Analysis 47
8 Conclusion 49
9 References 50
5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
● I would like to thank Sikkim Manipal University for giving me the
opportunity to choose and explore my topic of interest for the purpose of
completion of my MBA.
● I would like to thank my guide Sanket for being a friend and partner in
completion of this project; and also for being strict with me so that I give my
best to this project.
● It is a pleasure to study pricing and price determining factors for Medical
Devices and related products in the Domestic and International Markets.
● The work carried out and data collected is applicable not only to Medical
Devices but also to Pharmaceutical and FMCG products in their respective
international markets.
● This project would be a compilation and guide for all professionals in
international marketing and sales profiles.
● Study of this project is a view of the prevailing gap between end users in
medical industry and the manufacturer & distributors in terms of pricing and
its impact on the industry.
● Project report is an effort to understand the impact due to this gap, and
mainly to define the measures to reduce this gap for the benefit of all the
stakeholders of medical industry.
6
FORWARD BY GUIDE
Value offering of this study is well achieved from the given resources. I as a
mentor of the project feel amazed by the outcome of this study. Mainly about the
fact that 1.26+ Billion population of India has direct or indirect impact from the
area that project mentee has studied with sincerity and passion.
Project was carried with minimum resources at hand, given this case mentee has
done best of the possible effort to achieve most relevant conclusion on this study.
Project study has brought to light very important eye opening facts that healthcare
and medical industry. People of India and different participant in the healthcare
value chain have to realise that they can all together make this industry sustainable
only if they work in more productive way, in sync, safe guarding interests, bring in
some element of social responsibility, improve awareness levels and most prime is
to work in conjunction instead of just business goals.
Mere awareness, make in India, reactive involvement of government of India, fair
practices governing bodies, industry watch dogs and social bodies can bring the
change most expected in terms of pricing of medical devices, drugs, services and
overall offerings.
About the project mentee, I believe that she has showcased her brilliance not only
by selecting this most valuable area of study but more by achieving impactful
outcome on the fundamental aspects of healthcare and medical industry like price
to end consumers, services by doctors and hospitals, awareness levels among all
7
the members of industry including government of India, stakeholders their interests
and the positive negative business benefits.
About the project research and study methodology, the plan was to make this study
set a direction on which areas the healthcare industry needs to focus on for making
it more sustainable as well as more affordable to all types of consumers in the
ecosystem. Therefore, many hours of primary research through online references,
books, magazines, white papers, speeches & lectures by industry experts, videos &
conferences, medical journals to name a few were thoroughly referred for forming
the very foundation of this project. And secondary study was primarily done
through survey method, using today‘s most up to date technology (Google docs,
polling, experts view, etc) were mindfully put to use and a healthy data deck was
built to reach study conclusion. I‘d encourage you as a reader to have a good read
on the conclusion drawn out of this study.
Conclusion achieved and next steps, though the conclusion may look like macro
level industry corrections, each of the recommendation made is a detailed study in
itself. A reform to be taken up and carried over years in a consortium form by the
private players, government bodies, doctors, medical professionals, hospitals,
manufacturers, distributors, dealers and engagement of end patients/ consumers. In
order to achieve balance of price and benefits also to make this whole industry a
sustainable environment for current and potential players everyone in the industry
need to join hands and work towards achieving set out milestones, these I believe
to be the very next steps from the industry owners and members towards a brighter,
fair and win-win future!
8
PREFACE
● There is a huge physical distance between manufacturers of medical devices
and the actual end users (patients and doctors).
● The most impacting factors are the physical distance, time to treatment/
consumption and the price of the products.
● This work has been done in order to determine how the distance between
end- users and manufacturers can be reduced, and how we can get the
manufacturer closer to the end user of medical devices as well as equipment
which are life- saving and critical to a patient.
● This topic is of interest to me after experiencing various aspects of this
industry while I was working for past two years in the field of International
Marketing of Medical Devices.
● The actual cost of manufacturing a product (MP) is less than its selling price
(SP).Which has also been defined in mathematical representation as SP>MP.
● In this project the factors which determine the cost have been studied
carefully, to bring forth various measures to reduce those negative factors,
unnecessary costs and achieve better value for all the stakeholders from
manufacturers to patients.
● Everybody should be entitled and should have equal rights to avail of high
quality medical supplies. Cost should not be a factor while availing of health
care facilities.
● Today‘s Pharmaceutical industry has set an example to be looked up to by
many other industries, and it‘s only now that people are moving to generic
medicines only because of more awareness. They‘re able to decipher the
difference between brand names v/s generic names. Those generic medicines
are much less priced than the same products with a brand name or marketing
support.
9
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Problem Statement-
● Manufacturers produce medical devices by using raw materials and their
engineering capabilities up to their maximum capacity.
● However, those life supporting products have to cross a series of
middlemen/ facilitators before reaching the final end user or patient.
● As the product passes through a chain of middlemen/ facilitators, its value
(base cost and then final sell price) also escalates step by step.
● The final value of the product is always on the higher side, and at times
more than 100% of its incurred manufacturing cost, shocking isn‘t it!
● Even if a manufacturer wants to he can‘t sell directly to the hospital as their
production capacity is higher than the consumption/ order levels of hospitals.
Significance of the study-
● This study is being done so as to find ways of bringing the end- user closer
to the patient in terms of access, awareness, affordability in terms of cost to
purchase and the overall value.
● Various pricing strategies like export, import regulations, registrations
required for medical devices have been studied and presented in this study.
● I‘ve also tried to include business aspect of why some products can‘t be
manufactured locally and only have to be imported from other foreign
markets.
10
Purpose-
● This study was carried to make patients, doctors and healthcare professionals
aware of the difference between brand names and generic names.
● To improve awareness between manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
● To identify, analyse and scope possibilities of suggesting resolutions to the
on-going pricing issues globally.
Hypothesis-
● All medical device manufacturers and hospitals must have only one selling
point and one buying point respectively.
● This can be done by large sourcing organisations, which procure material
from many manufacturers globally and sell directly to hospitals.
● Also, manufacturing companies should have service handling, complaint
handling and training capabilities.
Methodology-
● Compilation of data from previously done research
● Discussions with industry experts
● Survey by means of questionnaire
Period of study- March 2015 to Sep 2015
11
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Why do we need distributors and how did the need arise?
DISTRIBUTOR- An entity that buys noncompeting products or product lines,
warehouses them, and resells them to retailers or direct to the end users or
customers. Most distributors provide strong manpower and cash support to the
supplier or manufacturer's promotional efforts. They usually also provide a range
of services (such as product information, estimates, technical support, after-sales
services, credit) to their customers.
Distributors, merchants, dealers or factors are characterised by two features.
First, unlike agents who take a commission, they buy stock for resale.
Second, they are usually but not always appointed by the manufacturer to cover a
specific geographical area or sector of the market.
The ideal environment for a distributor is a market with many small customers and
where the level of sales service required is high. The spread of customers is
difficult and expensive to reach with a directly employed sales force that is more
suited to dealing with a limited number of large buyers. Distributors generally aim
to win business on sales rather than technical service. Their stock of products
means customers can have instant delivery.
A difficult technical problem may require referring to the manufacturer. Simple
repair work may be handled by the distributor.
12
It usually falls upon the manufacturer to provide marketing support. This can range
from the provision of display material for the showroom through to media
advertising or mail shots aimed at drawing a response and directing it to the
distributor.
If a manufacturer decides to use distributors rather than another marketing channel,
he should not begrudge the distributor's margin. This margin saves the
manufacturer from having to invest in cars, salesmen, depots and expensively high
stock levels. The margin he provides should be sufficient to cover the distributor's
costs and provide a profit incentive.
REASONS TO USE DISTRIBUTORS
Administrative Savings
The core business practice of a manufacturer is to make and package products. A
distributor becomes the sales arm of your company for which you do not have to
pay. By using distribution, you are able to reach a mass audience of retail outlets
without having to invest any of your own company money into developing and
maintaining that business network.
Customer Exposure
One of the key functions of a distributor is to grow and administer a network of
viable retail outlets. Many distributors also offer specialized retailers that can reach
a specific target audience. When you use a distributor, you are able to get your
product out to a mass market to expand your customer exposure, or you can reach
a specialty target audience without having to do any of the necessary market
research.
13
Market Research
Distributors deal with retail clients on a regular basis, and those retail clients sell to
your end users. If you want to do market research on a current product or get input
on new ideas on which you are working, a distributor can collect that information
for you directly from your end users. This allows you to utilize a distributor's large
network of retail clients to keep updated on customer preferences.
Expansion
Distributors present a ready-made audience of retail clients in any market for a
manufacturer that is looking to expand its product reach. For example, if your
company has decided to try and compete in a European market, you can find an
international distributor that will find a network of European retail outlets and give
you the information you will need on what kind of product features a European
audience would prefer.
BENEFITS OF STRONG IN- MARKET REPRESENTATION:
Strong in-market representation is often critical to export success. In addition to
dealing
directly with your clients and helping you to grow your export sales, a good
representative is
your partner and can provide you with a number of benefits. The benefits of strong
in-market representation include:
● dealing directly with your clients in helping grow your export sales
● access to local knowledge
● on-going market intelligence about competitors and trends
● a watch-dog who can identify people infringing on your trade mark/patents
14
● someone to assist with local rules and regulations e.g. special labelling
requirements
● in-market customer support for queries, support and warranty
● usually have an established network of retailers and/or wholesalers, saving
you market development costs and time
PRICING
Marketing theory states clearly that price is one of the 5 P‘s (Product, Positioning,
Place, Promotion and Price) that contributes to the marketing mix in order to get
potential customers‘ attention, motivate them, and get them to buy products or
services.
Pricing, as part of the marketing mix, is essential and has been always one of the
most difficult decisions in marketing because of heightened competition (Myers
1997), gray market activities (Assmus and Wiese, 1995), counter-trade
requirements (Cavusgil and Sikora ,1988), regional trading blocks (Weekly, 1992),
emergency of intra-market segments (Dana 1998), and volatile exchange rates
(Knetter, 1994).
Consumers have different perception of the products depending on the price.
Therefore, pricing products for consumers is a difficult task, mainly because a high
price may cause negative feelings about products, and also a low price can be
misleading on other products features such as quality.
There are many pricing objectives that lead to different strategies and businesses
have to develop and apply the best strategy in various situations. Some of the ways
of pricing a product are: premium and penetration pricing,
15
● price skimming,
● economy and psychological pricing,
● product and optional product pricing,
● captive and product bundle pricing,
● promotional,
● geographical and
● value pricing
REASONS FOR SELLING ABROAD OR EXPORTING
Firms go and sell international for ―pull‖ factors, based on the attractiveness of a
potential foreign market, as well as for ―push‖ factors, which make firm‘s domestic
market appear less attractive. The following are some of the factors that push firms
to sell abroad:
● Sometimes companies develop product for international and export markets
only;
● Domestic market may be too small and exporting maybe a viable option to
exploit economies of scale;
● The nature of the business or product requires firms to operate
internationally or in foreign markets (airlines);
● companies seek foreign expansion in order to minimize and spread the risk,
and reduce its dependence on one geographical market;
● Because of saturation of domestic market, companies seek foreign markets
and usually product life cycle reaches its maturity stages in the domestic
market, while being at earlier stages of the life cycle in less developed
markets (sub-Saharan Africa).
16
It is important to emphasize that all companies face international competition, not
only in export markets, but in domestic markets as well. Becoming internationally
competitive is therefore not only an essential requirement for successful exporters,
but also the best means of defence that local companies can use to counter foreign
imports. Successful exporting contributes positively to a country's economy not
only on the macro level, but on the micro level as well. Exporting offers companies
many additional opportunities that they cannot obtain from domestic markets.
These include the following:
● increased sales and opportunities;
● added sales volume may lower the production cost;
● lower production cost may improve overall profitability;
● competing in foreign markets should contribute to increasing the company's
overall competitiveness;
● improving the status of the company by competing in foreign markets;
● reducing risks by selling to diverse markets;
● taking advantage of economies of scale by enlarging the sales base in order
to spread fixed costs;
● compensating for seasonal fluctuations in domestic sales;
● finding new markets for products with declining domestic sales potential,
thereby extending the product's life cycle;
● exploiting opportunities in untapped markets;
● taking advantage of high-volume purchases in large markets overseas such
as the US, Europe and Asia; learning about advanced technical methods
used abroad; following domestic competitors who are already selling
overseas
17
EXPORTING VS DOMESTIC SELLING
There are numerous factors that impact on the external environment in which
exporting takes place. Compared with the domestic environment, which is fairly
uniform in nature, the external environment is far more complex and exporter faces
numerous additional problems when selling across international borders. These can
be summarized as follows:
1. new parameters that include import duties and restrictions,
2. different modes of transport,
3. international, trade documentation,
4. foreign currencies,
5. different and additional marketing channels;
6. New environments such as foreign markets that represent unfamiliar
environments. These include the cultural, legal, political, social and
economic environments that the exporter has to contend with.
Operating in foreign markets exposes the exporter to far wider and more intense
competition than would be the case in the domestic market.
18
UNDERSTANDING FOREIGN MARKETS
Firms have to think beyond their domestic markets in order to survive and prosper.
They have to think globally and act locally. The task of international marketing
management is the same as the task in domestic markets. In all markets, customers
are the driving force of marketing and companies need to produce products
efficiently. Products have to be distributed through the most appropriate channels
and priced according to local market environment conditions. Local market
conditions may be different and companies have to adapt to the needs of local
customers. The PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) factors have
been used to analyze foreign market opportunities, and what makes them different.
Policy Environment
For marketers considering an entry strategy into a foreign country or region, a
number of environmental factors should be used to assess market opportunities and
constraints. Cultural and structural issues are commonly evaluated as a first step in
the market expansion process. Environmental monitoring should continue
throughout the business cycle. In light of multilateral trade agreements and other
economic and policy integrations, marketers must also become adept at evaluating
country standards, multilateral standards, and their interaction effects. Since
marketers must comply with the law, an understanding of governmental policy and
the process by which it is created is central to effective marketing decision-making.
To operate, international firms must understand the policy-making process and
different categories of laws, and marketers must also investigate the general policy
climate and local laws that affect the operation of their business. In developing
marketing and business objectives, decision-makers can unintentionally create
incentives and pressures that run counter to legal and ethical standards. Although
19
not always conceptualized in this way, the objective-setting component of
marketing strategy is pivotal to customer satisfaction, financial performance, and
compliance. As Ferrell et al. (1998, p. 361) suggest, "...an overwhelming number
of crimes in business (i.e. price fixing, product misrepresentation, copyright
violation, etc.) stem from employee misconduct designed to benefit the company.
Employees often believe that corporate objectives have greater importance than
legal and ethical requirements..." Common marketing objectives, especially
quantitative targets, should be developed with an understanding of rules for
competitive behavior. Regardless of product, industry, or geographical focus,
marketers are concerned with standards on advertising, product safety and liability,
product labeling, selling, electronic commerce, data privacy, and general
competitive behavior. This suggests that marketers have to ensure that legal and
regulatory concerns are monitored and integrated into marketing decision-making.
Political Factors Researches have stated that pricing is influenced by laws and
regulations which necessitate product modifications, in compliance with health and
safety standards, environmental regulations, measures systems, that may prevail in
foreign markets (Theodosiou 2000). Government policies influence the legislative
and economic frameworks. Perhaps the most ominous cloud from the political
arena is the threat of wars. World War III has been avoided thus far, but "smaller"
wars and threats of war can have serious regional and even wider implications,
especially with the nature of weapons that may be used - from nuclear to biological
to chemical (Iraq). Economic Factors The level of GDP is the main measure of
economic attractiveness of foreign markets. As GDP increases, the demand for
goods and services increases too. Furthermore marketers consider the distribution
of income within a country, in order to identify niche and segment markets.
Marketers always watch not only the present economic prosperity of a country, but
also its future development in terms of population and density, inflation and
20
economic growth, age and distribution of income, level of urbanization as well as
other economic activities that will affect markets and pricing.
Economical environment:
The economic environment of the foreign or host country influences pricing
decisions. It has a significant impact on firm‘s costs, determines demand potential
for a particular product/service, in addition to the prices that local customers can
afford and are willing to pay (Whitelock and Pimblett 1997). For example, some
products that are considered essential in western countries, are viewed as luxury
items in my country (Rwanda), and most of the sub Saharan African countries.
This confirms the hypothesis that the demand for a product/service at different
price levels is a function of the purchasing power of targeted customers,
determined by the level of economic development of the country (Jain 1989).
Social Factors:
Social Factors People from different cultures have different tastes, buy different
products and respond in different ways to the same service or product. Therefore,
the demographic structure of a foreign market should be considered. The aging of
population in major western markets, and the increase in population in several
countries such as India and China, is another continuing development that will
affect international marketing. As teens around the world are becoming a global
market segment today, and sub-Saharan Africa is becoming part of global market,
the marketing strategies mix, including international and export pricing will have
to adapt to social factors. That is when pricing for international markets, one has to
take into consideration of local material culture, language, aesthetics, education
and religion, as well as attitudes and values. Firms need to examine carefully target
21
market country‘s characteristics and purchasing behaviors, to select appropriate
pricing strategy. Price level is an important criteria used by consumers in
evaluating competing products. Other criteria such as product quality and
performance are important to customers (Douglass and Wind 1987). Thus, in
developing pricing strategy, firms must be aware of foreign consumers‘
preferences, perceptions, and purchasing behaviors with respect to various price
levels (Theodosiou, 2000).
Technological Factors:
Technological Factors Firms need to analyze the technological environment of
foreign markets. Well-developed communication infrastructure is an important
factor to respond rapidly to customer‘s needs. International firms often rely on
existing local distribution infrastructure in order to transport and distribute their
products to consumers. This may have significant effect on costs, and in turn may
influence price, as well as profits. Technology change is another dynamic but
ongoing phenomenon. A perfect example is the internet. Internet allows online
contact with the firm's customers, suppliers, and partners and subsidiaries around
the world, but it may also increases the opportunities for existing competitors and
openings for new competitors. Therefore, technology provides both opportunities
and challenges. Pricing is a strategic choice, and it will be partially influenced by
environmental factors. Taking into account elements of cost, the behavioral
assumptions of self-interest lead firms to take advantage when environmental
forces fluctuate (Williamson, 1975). However, some environmental factors, such
as: economic and regulatory volatility, and competitive intensity, have been
identified as moderating effects between strategy and performance (Cavusgil and
Zou, 1994; Myers 1997).
22
PRICING STRATEGIES
PRICE: Price is the amount of money charged for a product or service.
Price = product + service + profit + image.
Price will include the cost of producing your product, the cost of providing any
needed services that may accompany the product, the amount of profit that you
need to make in order to stay in business. Often the firm is trying to portray the
best quality or the lowest price. Therefore, price can be a direct reflection of
quality or even perceived quality. There are several basic pricing strategies
considered when making decisions for export:
Economy and Premium
Premium pricing is adopted when there is a substantial competitive advantage, and
the product or service is unique (Concord flights), and economy pricing strategy
when the cost of marketing and manufacture is kept at a minimum.
23
Penetration or Low Price
This first model uses a low profit margin to penetrate the market. It is designed to
grab market share quickly. Penetrating the market with an exceptionally low-priced
item creates a broad customer base. It also provides high value-for-the-dollar to the
customer. Penetration is used when prices are set first low in order to attract new
customers and to gain market share, and then the price is increased after the market
share has been achieved. To penetrate the market and gain market share,
businesses set a low price in comparison to other competitors. Note that also low
price is sometimes perceived as indication of low quality product. It may also be
difficult to increase price in the future without incurring loss.
Skimming
This is appropriate for some product to be priced as high as the market will bear.
However, few buyers are attracted, and lower sales volumes can be achieved when
price is such high. This strategy is often used when a new product is introduced
into the market, and is in great demand. For this strategy, the product or service is
charged high because of a substantial competitive advantage. This high price tend
to attract new customers into the market, and then falls due to lower unit cost as
economies of scale are achieved. Skimming is the opposite of penetration and is a
high priced model, sometimes called "top pricing." The idea behind this pricing
strategy is to return high profits, even at the cost of losing a large number of
customers. Typically, when a company launches a new product, they charge higher
prices in the beginning to help recoup R&D expenditures as fast as possible. To be
successful, firms must have a unique product that's in demand. For example, ―chip
manufacturers‖ often use this methodology during the introductory phase of a new
proprietary product. Another model that closely resembles "skimming the cream,"
is the high cost option called ―prestige pricing.‖ Companies like Mercedes-Benz or
BMW are good examples of this model. Customers purchase products from them
24
knowing they probably paid too much. But, these companies have the prestigious
reputation of high quality products and customer service.
Competitor’s Pricing
To attract the largest number of customers and generate consistent turnover, it may
be necessary to set price not too high, not too low, just in the middle in line with
other competitors. Prices are tagged to the competition and profits are acceptable.
―In the long run, no single pricing strategy will always work best, and producers
should be prepared to adjust to any opportunities or dangers which arise in the
ever-changing market.‖ For export pricing, exporters should consider other factors
such as freight and transport, duties, and risks.
Even though premium pricing, penetration pricing, economy pricing, and price
skimming are the main pricing strategies for marketing mix, there are other
strategies to pricing such as: psychological pricing, product line and optional
product pricing, captive and product bundle pricing, promotional, geographical,
value pricing, rigid and flexible cost-plus strategy, dynamic increment, marginal
cost, and loss leader pricing strategies.
Rigid Cost-Plus Strategy
In order to make profits, managers adopt rigid cost-plus pricing strategy. This is
accomplished by adding international customer costs and a gross margin to
domestic manufacturing costs. Hence, the cost to the customer includes
administrative and R&D costs, transportation, packaging, insurance, and other
marketing expenses. Cost-plus pricing strategy appears to be the most dominant
strategy among Americans firms (Cavusgil 1988).
25
Flexible Cost-plus Strategy
Flexible strategy allows price variations depending on circumstances. For example
there may be some discounts depending on the customer, the order, or competitive
factors. This strategy is often used to encounter competitive pressures or exchange
rate fluctuations.
Dynamic Incremental Strategy
The strategy assumes that fixed and variable domestic costs are incurred regardless
of export sales. In this strategy, some domestic costs such as: R&D, domestic
promotion and marketing costs, are disregarded. The dynamic incremental strategy
also assumes that there will be always unused capacity or excess supply, and
therefore exported products cannot be sold at full cost. This helps companies to
enter, penetrate and compete in international markets.
Market Holding
The market holding strategy is frequently adoptee by companies that want to
maintain their share of the market. In single- country marketing, this strategy often
involves reacting to price adjustments by competitors. One of the changes factors
in the price in global marketing is the currency fluctuations which often trigger
price adjustments. Adjusting prices to fit the competitive situation may mean lower
profit margins. A strong home currency and rising costs in the home country may
also force a company to shift its sourcing to in-country or third- country
manufacturing or licensing agreements, rather than exporting from home country,
to maintain market share. Market holding means that a company must carefully
examine all its costs to ensure that it will be able to remain competitive in target
markets.
26
Cost plus
Another strategy, frequently used by companies new to exporting is cost-plus to
gain hold in global marketplace. There are two cost-plus pricing methods:
historical accounting cost method which defines cost as the sum of all direct and
indirect manufacturing and overhead costs, and estimated future cost method
which is used mostly in recent years. Cost –plus pricing requires adding up all
costs required to get the product to destination, plus shipping and ancillary charges,
and a profit percentage. It is relatively easy to arrive at a quote, assuming that
accounting costs are available. This approach, however, ignores demand and
competitive conditions in target market. Therefore this approach is either too high
or too low in the light of market and competitive conditions. Novice exporters do
not care because they react to the market opportunities rather than having proactive
seeking for them.
Price Escalation
Price escalation is the increase in a product‘s price as transportation, duty, and
distributor margins are added to the factory price. Beginning exporters might use
this approach to determine the CIF price plus any inland charges as duty, inland
transportation, distributor margins etc.
The knowledge of customer about the technology of new product and the amount
of his or her awareness can play a major role in pricing. As much as the knowledge
of a customer about the product is low, the producer can use this margin to skim
the market or get a better premium from this market. [Khalil, 2006]
27
Transfer pricing
Transfer pricing refers the pricing of goods and services bought and sold by
operating units or divisions of a single company. In other word, transfer pricing
concerns intra corporate exchanges- transactions between buyers and sellers that
have the same corporate parent.
There are three alternative approaches to transfer pricing: (1) cost based pricing,
(2) market based transfer pricing, and (3) negotiated prices.
Some companies using cost- based approach may arrive at transfer prices that
reflect variable and fixed manufacturing costs only. Alternatively, transfer prices
may be based on full costs, including overhead costs from marketing, R&D, and
other functional areas. The way costs are defined may have an impact on tariffs
and duties sales to affiliates and subsidiaries by global companies. Cost plus
pricing is also based by costs but different approach. In this approach, profit must
be shown for any product or service at every stage of movement through the
corporate system. It may be set at certain percentage of fixed costs such as 15
percent of cost. It is unrelated to competitive and demand conditions but many
exporters use it. Another approach to transfer pricing is market- based approach. A
market –based transfer price is derived from the price required to be competitive in
the international market. The volume level also plays a major role in pricing. To
use market- based transfer prices to inter in a small market, third country sourcing
may be required. This enables a company to establish its name or franchise in the
market without committing to a major capital investment. A third alternative is to
allow the organization affiliates to negotiate transfer prices among themselves. In
some instances, the final transfer price may reflect costs and market prices, but this
is not a requirement. (Horngren, Foster, 1991) In a research conducted by
Horngren and foster (1991), was found that 46 percent of U.S. based companies,
28
33percent of Canadian, 41 percent of Japanese and 38 percent of U.K.-based
companies use some form of cost based transfer pricing. Corporate costs and
profits are also affected by import duties. The higher the duty rate, the more
desirable is a low transfer price. The high duty creates an increase to reduce
transfer prices to minimize the customs duty. The companies also may use three
policies on world- wide pricing: extension ethnocentric, adaptation/poly centric
and invention/ geocentric.
In the first policy, the price of an item is the same around the world and the
importer absorb freight an import duties. Empirically in this policy, no information
on competitive or market condition is required and does not respond to the every
market neither it maximize the company profits in each national market nor
globally. Its only advantage is to simply entering a market if it suit to their price
which the exporter has no information about it.
In the second policy the exporter tries to match the price with any individual local
market. This policy, in practice, permits subsidiary or affiliate manager to establish
any price they feel is most desirable in their circumstances. This policy may cause
product arbitrage, because of different prices in different location and enterprising
business managers may use it and foster a grey market for the company‘s product.
It may also weaken the corporate strategies of the central company because all
local market managers have the freedom to set the price for their markets.
Different prices for different places may have another disadvantage, because it
may send a signal to the rest of the world that is contrary to company interests. A
price move anywhere in the world is known instantly all over the world specially
by using the world wide webs in the internet by companies which makes the
customers aware of the competitive price information. The third and the best policy
to international pricing is termed invention/ geocentric. Using this approach a
29
company neither fixes a single price nor remains apart from subsidiary price
decisions, but instead strikes intermediate positions. There are unique market
factors, like local costs, income levels, competition, and local marketing strategies
that should be recognized in arriving at pricing decisions. The reason we perceive
it as the best policy is that local costs plus a return on invested capital and
personnel fix the price floor for the long term. This approach lends itself to global
competitive strategy. A global competitor will take in to account global markets
and global competitors in establishing prices. Prices will support global strategy
objectives rather than the objectives of maximizing performance in a single
country. This policy forces the exporter to consider the said aspects of any market
globally and focusing the company‘s strategy as well. In the study of Samli and
Jacobs (1994), for the pricing practices of U.S. multinational firms, they concluded
that 70 percent of the firms standardized their prices, where as 30 percent used
variable pricing in world market. They said, it would appear that the companies
should consider renewing the pricing policies.
30
EXPORT PRICING
Marginal Costing
In highly competitive markets, some companies may want to consider turning to
marginal costing to ensure that their products are competitively priced. Marginal
costing ignores the fixed cost incurred by companies, on the assumption that these
costs will be incurred by domestic sales anyway, whether or not the company
exports and therefore, only variable costs need to be considered in export pricing.
Ignoring fixed costs will naturally reduce total costs, enabling lower prices to be
set. Where possible, however, companies should not resort to this method of
pricing.
The Right Optimum Price
The optimum pricing strategy for a product or service meets the needs of both the
buyer and the seller. Because when you find the right price, profits will skyrocket
and your business will prosper. The buyer determines if a price is right by looking
at the benefits to them and how a company's profit structure compares to the
competition. The seller sets their price to maximize profits, while considering the
bigger picture of a business model (i.e., high price/low volume or low price/high
volume). The company must pay for the cost of production, marketing and
overhead, and still produce a profit.
The Loss Leader:
The loss leader is the business pricing model to get the job done. No matter the
cost, even at a loss in profits, this strategy has one objective to eliminate the
competition. The consequences of even a slight misjudgement in using this retail
pricing strategy could be devastating to your business. History gives us a great
31
example. The "Gasoline Price Wars" of the late 50s and early 60s started as a result
of companies using this strategy. It marked the beginning of the end to many small,
individually owned gasoline stations in the U.S. Today, we see a more modern
version of this pricing strategy being used by supermarkets and clothing store
chains. The objective in these cases is to lure the customer into the store with a
loss-leader. The hope is that when customers show up to buy the "sale" item, the
company will make up the loss in profits through additional customer purchases.
When used in this form, the "loss leader" is actually a variation of "pricing to
penetrate."
PSYCHOLOGY OF PRICING:
Value Bundling and Discounting Psychology plays an important role in the
marketing world. It helps build the perception of price and value. The psychology
of retail pricing is probably more important than the price itself. For example, the
psychology of not using values ending in "0" or "1" in the price gives the customer
the perception of saving. For example...$19.99 is viewed as a greater value over a
product priced at an even $20. Logically, the customer knows the difference is not
great. But there is still that sense of saving. Value Bundling gives the customer the
feeling of getting "something for nothing.‖ For example, buy one, and get second
free. Discounting also builds loyalty and encourages bulk purchases. Percentage
off the normal retail price attracts customers and the greater the discount, the
happier the customer would be.
32
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRICE-
1. Among the four marketing mix, product, distributing channels, promotion
and price, only price creates income and the other three generate costs.
2. Price, besides creating income, plays a major role as a strategic factor in
developing competitive advantage in the market.
3. The amount of income and promotion of a company regarding the
positioning and finding a suitable position in the mind of customers are
related to suitable pricing.
33
SIGNIFICANCE OF PRICE IN GLOBAL MARKET-
1. Global pricing can also be based on other external criteria such as the
escalations in costs when good are shipped long distance across national
boundaries.
2. Pricing in global markets must be evaluated at regular intervals and adjusted
if necessary
3. Similarly pricing objectives may vary, depending on product‘s life cycle
stage and the country-specific competitive situation
4. Any pricing system should address price floor, price ceiling and optimum
prices in each of national market in which the company operates.
5. The pricing consideration for marketing outside the home countries are the
reflection of quality in price, competitiveness, the kind of pricing objective
i.e. penetration, skimming holding, the type of discount, market
segmentation, the pricing option in case of costs increase or decrease, the
logicalness of price by the host- country, and its laws and the probable
dumping.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING PRICING-
Marketers must deal with a number of environmental factors when making pricing
decisions. Currency fluctuation, inflation, government controls and subsidies,
competitive behavior, and market demand are among these factors. Some of these
factors work in conjunction with others; for example, inflation may be
accompanied by government controls.
34
When currency fluctuation occurs, there are two options for pricing: one is to fix
the price of products in country target market. In this case, any appreciation or
depreciation of the value of the currency in the country of production will lead to
gain or losses for the seller. The other option is to fix the price of products in home
country currency. If it is done, any appreciation or depreciation of the home
country currency will result in price increases or decreases for customers and no
immediate consequences for the seller. In actual practice, a manufacturer and its
distributor may work together to maintain Market share in international market.
Either party, or both, may choose to take a lower profit percentage. In the long
term contracts, both parties agree an exchange rate clause, which allows them to
agree to supply and purchase at fixed prices in each company‘s national currency.
Inflation, or a persistent upward change in price levels, is a worldwide
phenomenon. Inflation requires periodic adjustments. These adjustments are
caused by rising costs that must be covered by increased selling prices. An
essential requirement when pricing in an inflationary environment is the
maintenance of operating profit margins. LIFO costing method is prescribed by
some practitioners under conditions of rising prices
Government control can also limit the freedom to adjust prices, and the
maintenance of margins should be compromised. In a country that is undergoing
severe financial difficulties and is in the midst of a financial crisis (e.g., a foreign
exchange shortage caused in part runaway inflation), government officials are
under pressure to take some type of action. Governmental actions in the case of
hard financial problems include use of broad or selective price controls, prior cash
35
deposit requirements for imports, customs duties for imports, value added tariffs,
proliferation of rules and regulations, and subsidization.
Pricing decisions are also bounded by competitive action. If competitors are
manufacturing or sourcing in a lower costs country, it may be necessary to cut
prices to stay competitive.
PARTICULAR FACTORS OF AN EXPORT PRICE
The factors for developing price are costs, the market and customer behavior
conditions, competition and the company policies. The main factor for pricing is
costs. The price base on costs, especially when there is no information about the
market and customer willingness, is a virtually easy approach and shows the
fairness for value added payment of production. The costs are useful for
determining the floor price of a product. In short term, when we have extra
capacity, the floor costs may be the out of pocket costs, i.e. direct costs like labor,
material and transport costs. However, in the long term, the full costs must be
considered for the products, but may not be considered for all products. Direct
costs, when using in export, means the required costs for developing income. In
addition to extra capacity, direct cost pricing (margin cost pricing) for entering a
market in the competitive condition or preserving a market in the competitive
condition can be applied. In a survey of 20 export managers, they believed there
are other reasons for the export pricing less than full costs. These reasons are: to
help intermediate organizations or agents, maintaining the coworkers working
together, selling a product especially out of the normal line of export and for
offering a manufactured sample to a dependent or under license organization, mass
customized production, in many companies, when the conditions of market are not
36
normal, the pricing less than full costs is applied. The floor price is mostly affected
by floor price. This kind of pricing is highly recommended when the company is
sure that the internal market will guarantees the sale volume at least up to
breakeven point. From that point the profit margin will be a combination of
internal and global sales.
The market condition pricing is based on the market demand and the product
attractiveness in each market. The nature of market can determine the ceiling of the
price. When the demand, in a market for the product, is high we use higher prices
for that market. Utility, or the assumed value of buyers of a product, determine the
ceiling price of a product. In demand forecasting of a market, exporter can classify
the market based on the price attractiveness for customer in different price levels.
Then the export manager can define a classified utilities related to prices. The main
problem of this kind of pricing is the lack of information for demand forecasting
and the customer willingness particularly in developing countries. Therefore the
market condition is a difficult factor for pricing, but at least any company has
enough information about the internal market condition of its homeland, which we
will use it in construction of our export model later. The third and may be the most
important factor of pricing is the condition of competition. Condition of
competition helps for pricing between the boundaries of mentioned first and
second factors. The competitor reaction forces producer to determine new export
pricing. The price of competitors affects the sale volume of exporter and the
resulted decision may be less or more than price of them. When an exporter does
not have enough authority for pricing a competitive market, the main problem of
pricing then will be to sell the product with the assigned price or not. If the floor
price of a manufacturer is less than the current price of market, the product will be
produced and sold. The market condition pricing is most suitable when the new
37
technology used for the product or service is complex or unique for that market
and the knowledge of customer or market about know- how of the product is little.
Pricing can different in each market, depending on different stages of a product.
When we want to enter a competitive market we may use direct costs because of
the product and cherry picking character of the intermediates and possible future
agents. When the product is well known, and well positioned, we may use
competitive or other market pricing suitable for that market. When the market is
saturated by different competitors we may use niche pricing and stay in that market
and let other competitors leave this market or we leave the market, during the last
stage of product life cycle, if we feel this market will not be profitable any more.
This article is based on the theories stated in the above sections and an extraction
of a PhD research thesis titled: ―Application of Global Marketing Theories in
Export Growth of Tire Industries in Iran by the author.
38
PITFALLS OF EXPORTING
It is important for prospective exporters must know that there are some potential
pitfalls in exporting. They include the following: management might need to
devote a considerable amount of time to the start-up procedures and decisions, key
personnel might have to be diverted from domestic responsibilities to help with the
company's export activities; additional plant facilities might be needed; catalogues,
brochures and other sales promotion material might need to be translated into a
foreign language; the product might need to be modified to meet foreign market
specifications; credit terms might need to be extended because of competition,
local custom and transit time. Exporting is generally an expensive activity and will
require additional financial resources.
Setting prices for international markets is not an easy task. Decisions with regards
to product, price, and distribution for international markets are unique to each
country (Jain, 1989) and differ from those in the domestic market (Diller and
Bukhari, 1994)
Furthermore, other factors such as:
● the rate of return,
● market stabilization,
● demand and competition-led pricing,
● market penetration,
● early cash recovery,
● prevention of competitive entry,
● company and product factors,
● market and environmental factors,
● as well as economic, political, social and cultural factors,
have to be considered in the decision making process.
39
WHY DO NATIONS IMPORT?
An import is a good brought into a jurisdiction, especially across a national border,
from an external source. The party bringing in the good is called an importer.
An import in the receiving country is an export from the sending country.
Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international
trade.
In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited
by import quotas and mandates from the customs authority. The importing and
exporting jurisdictions may impose a tariff (tax) on the goods. In addition, the
importation and exportation of goods are subject to trade agreements between the
importing and exporting jurisdictions.
The motivation for a country to import goods and services from other countries is
perhaps less obvious than its motivation for selling exports (making a profit on
goods not consumed by the domestic market). As with exports, the purposes served
by imports vary from country to country. Let‘s explore these various purposes by
starting with asking why a country like the United States, with its massive and
extraordinarily diverse economy, would need to import anything from other
countries.
Yet no country today, including the United States, can be totally self-sufficient
without suffering a high cost. All countries need to—or choose to—import at least
some goods and services for the following reasons:
Goods or services that are either a. essential to economic well-being or b. highly
attractive to consumers but are not available in the domestic market
40
Goods or services that satisfy domestic needs or wants can be produced more
inexpensively or efficiently by other countries, and therefore sold at lower prices.
It is helpful to illustrate these points by looking at the case of the United States,
precisely because it comes closer to being self-sufficient than any other country for
the reasons mentioned above (several climactic zones, resources, able workforce).
Coal, copper, iron, silver, and nickel are just a few of the natural resources the
United States possesses in large quantities that other countries do not possess.
41
WHAT IS GLOBAL SOURCING?
Global sourcing is the practice of sourcing from the global market for goods and
services across geopolitical boundaries. Global sourcing often aims to exploit
global efficiencies in the delivery of a product or service. These efficiencies
include low cost skilled labor, low cost raw material and other economic factors
like tax breaks and low trade tariffs.
Common examples of globally sourced products or services include: labor-
intensive manufactured products produced using low-cost Chinese labor, call
centers staffed with low-cost English speaking workers in
the Philippines and India, and IT work performed by low-cost programmers in
India and Eastern Europe. While these examples are examples of Low-cost country
sourcing, global sourcing is not limited to low-cost countries.
Majority of companies today strive to harness the potential of global sourcing in
reducing cost. Hence it is commonly found that global sourcing initiatives and
programs form an integral part of the strategic sourcing plan
and procurement strategy of many multinational companies.
Global sourcing is often associated with a centralized procurement strategy for a
multinational, wherein a central buying organization seeks economies of
scale through corporate-wide standardization and benchmarking. A definition
focused on this aspect of global sourcing is: "proactively integrating and
coordinating common items and materials, processes, designs, technologies, and
suppliers across worldwide purchasing, engineering, and operating locations.
The global sourcing of goods and services has advantages and disadvantages that
can go beyond low cost. Some advantages of global sourcing, beyond low cost,
include: learning how to do business in a potential market, tapping into skills or
resources unavailable domestically, developing alternate supplier/vendor sources
42
to stimulate competition, and increasing total supply capacity. Some key
disadvantages of global sourcing can include: hidden costs associated with
different cultures and time zones, exposure to financial and political risks in
countries with (often) emerging economies, increased risk of the loss of intellectual
property, and increased monitoring costs relative to domestic supply. For
manufactured goods, some key disadvantages include long lead times, the risk of
port shutdowns interrupting supply, and the difficulty of monitoring product
quality. (With regard to quality in the food industry, see Roth et al. (2008).
International procurement organizations (or IPOs) may be an element of the global
sourcing strategy for a firm. These procurement organizations take primary
responsibility for identifying and developing key suppliers across sourcing
categories and help satisfy periodic sourcing requirements of the parent
organization. Such setups help provide focus in country-based sourcing efforts.
Particularly in the case of large and complex countries, such as China, where a
range of sub-markets exist and suppliers span the entire value chain of a
product/commodity, such IPOs provide essential on-the-ground information.
Over time, these IPOs may grow up to be complete procurement organizations in
their own right, with fully engaged category experts and quality assurance teams. It
is therefore important for firms to clearly define an integration and scale-up plan
for the IPO.
43
METHODOLOGY USED:
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SURVEY
Introduction to ―Google Forms‖-
 Google recently released a revolutionary gem into its increasingly robust
Google Docs platform.
 Google Forms is a flexible form and survey development interface with
built-in reporting.
 While still in its infancy, Google Forms is the start of an incredibly versatile
data collection framework.
 It is a free service from Google, quick and reliant. Moreover the responses
can be accessed over an android phone by means of the Google drive
application.
 Survey data is far from being difficult, nor costly, to store.
Steps to create the Google form:
1. Navigate the browser to docs.google.com and log-in
2. Go to the menu labelled ―New‖ at the left and select ―Form‖. A new Google
Form has been created. Click to edit the title and description, then click
―Add question‖
3. Edit the question text and list the possible responses.
4. Click ―Save,‖ then click the link at the bottom of the page to view the
published form.
5. After people have filled out the form, you can view analytics for the form
data by clicking ―Show Analysis‖ in the edit form view.
6. All of the form responses are stored in a Google Spreadsheet, which can be
easily exported to .XLS/.CSV for making custom graphics in MS- Excel.
44
URL of the form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LU1mt9wmPXwB0XuDknaeV9j4rMOglmIUW
4nPMFQdg2Y/viewform
ACTUAL FORM
Identifying and Bridging the gap between Patients and Medical Device
Manufacturers Globally
* Required
Disclaimer: This survey isn‘t a data generation activity, and none of the
details/ information will be retained for any other research work or
commercial activity; nor will it be published in any publicly available
literature. It is only being obtained to form a sample size of less than 500
senior and established medical professionals‘ opinions.
Dear Participant, 1) We really appreciate your time and support in this
research towards science and medicine. 2) This survey is a part of research
project on ‗Identifying and bridging the gap between Patients and Medical
Device Manufacturers Globally‘. 3) The major objective of this project is to
study the prevailing gap between end users like patients & doctors and
medical device & drug manufacturers. 4) Your inputs will add value to the
project study, and should lead to effective resolution in reducing the gap
between medical treatment and patients. This survey shouldn‘t take more
than 10 minutes, and we request you please be as descriptive in presenting
your opinion.
45
Personal Information
All contact details would be kept confidential.
Name *
Age and Gender
(eg: 32, F)
email ID *
46
Profession *
Highest Educational Qualification *
Location *
1) As a medical professional do you believe that quality medical
treatment isn’t affordable even today?
o Yes
o No
2) Do you think there's scope to reduce prices/charges/buying cost of
medical treatments, device or drugs for the end users’ consumption?
(Please answer with "Yes" or "No" and elaborate your opinion)
3) Primary research has identified scope to reduce prevailing pricing
gap. According to you what should be done to reduce this gap in terms
of price of treatment, life support systems or medication between
manufacturers and the end users (i.e. doctors or patients)?
47
4) Please help us understand your preference on buying from a
manufacturer or local distributor, and why do you prefer one or both of
them?
5) On what parameters do you judge the credibility of a medical
product?
o Manufacturer or Brand
o Stock position of the company
o Advertisements
o Price
o Quality
6) Do you believe that bridging the gap between manufacturer and end
users like patients or doctors will be beneficial to both parties?
o Yes
o No
7) In case of a product complaint do you prefer contacting the local
distributor or the manufacturer, and how do you ensure that your
complaint is resolved to your expectations? Please elaborate
48
8) Are you aware of the difference between brand names and generic
names?
o Yes
o No
9) We would like to know if you have any other questions you would like
us to work on in order to continue this study?
Your question would be included in to this questionnaire for survey.
Submit
Never submit passwords through Google Forms.
100%: You made it.
Powered by
Google Forms
This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google.
Report Abuse - Terms of Service - Additional Terms
Screen reader support enabled.
Edit this form
49
DATA ANALYSIS
RESPONSES COLLATED
The survey had been floated across to experienced medical and healthcare
professionals nationally and internationally.
We have also contacted a few people outside the industry to obtain their views
from a non- judgmental perspective.
Their responses have been collected by means of ―Google Sheets‖.
The following data has been collated from project responses:
1. 90% of respondents agree that quality medical treatment is not affordable
even today.
2. Whereas 10% of respondents think that quality medical treatment is
affordable in today‘s time.
3. 100% of respondents agree that there is scope to reduce prices of medical
treatment, devices and drugs.
4. When asked what should be done to reduce the price gap between
manufacturers and end users 30% of respondents suggest that the
government should fix a ceiling limit for the costs or should implement
proper regulations for pricing policies.
5. 70% of respondents suggest that it is better to purchase goods from a
manufacturer.
6. Purchasing from a local distributor gives an edge to the consumer in terms of
any costs concerning repairs, replacement, and warranty issues.
7. When asked how they judge the credibility of any medical product- 80%
make the judgement on product quality and 20% believe more in the
manufacturer or brand.
50
8. 100% respondents believe that bridging the gap between manufacturer and
end users like patients or doctors will be beneficial to both parties.
9. When asked who they prefer to contact in case of a product complaint, the
response received was mixed. Manufacturers are preferred when it comes to
technical complaint handling and resolving the issue at the base level itself.
On the other hand distributors are preferred when there are issues related to
warranty and replacements.
10. 90% of the respondents are aware of generic medicines. The 10% who are
not aware are not from the healthcare field.
Respondents suggest the following questions for further study:
1. Why Isn't The Government Making Any Efforts To Help The Economically
Backward Sections In Our Country Regarding Medicinal And Hygiene
Development And Execution?
2. How will the end user know about the quality of the product or treatment?
3. How to reduce gap between manufacturers and patient or doctor to reduce
the cost?
4. How will you enrol dental treatment in health insurance?
5. Also study the methods to fill the loopholes in government policies so as to
make medicine branch better.
51
CONCLUSION:
1. It has been confirmed, that there is a distance between the manufacturer and
end user patient and that there is scope to reduce prices.
2. There should be more awareness to among doctors, patients and even
dealers, distributors regarding generic names and brand names.
3. The government should regulate the pricing policies in Medical and
Healthcare product and service providing companies.
4. Global sourcing organisations should be formed for extensive import-
export of medical products.
5. Indigenous manufacturing should be encouraged and promoted.
52
REFERENCES
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/product-line.html
https://www.b2binternational.com/publications/distributor-research/
Reasons to Use Distributors
by George N. Root III, Demand Media
http://www.iccnz.com/assets/Reports/Agent-Distribution-selection.pdf
http://cdn2.businesssetfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Pricing-Strategy-
Matrix-e1373624580442.png?3d1de4
http://www.globalization101.org/why-do-nations-import/
Medical device tax repeal- http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington-
Watch/Washington-Watch/52274
Affordable Care Act- http://www.iccnz.com/assets/Reports/Agent-Distribution-
selection.pdf

More Related Content

What's hot

Summer training project report 1
Summer training project report 1Summer training project report 1
Summer training project report 1Jaypriya
 
summer training project report on bajaj finserv
 summer training project report on bajaj finserv summer training project report on bajaj finserv
summer training project report on bajaj finservSiddharth Kumar Jha
 
NJ India Invest Pvt.Ltd
NJ India Invest Pvt.LtdNJ India Invest Pvt.Ltd
NJ India Invest Pvt.LtdManoj Muliya
 
TIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORT
TIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORTTIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORT
TIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORTPRINCEKUMAR667
 
A study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaar
A study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaarA study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaar
A study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaarPrakash Royal
 
Mba marketing mngt projects
Mba marketing mngt projectsMba marketing mngt projects
Mba marketing mngt projectsMd Asif uddin
 
mba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updated
mba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updatedmba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updated
mba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updatedFiroz Khan
 
investement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltd
investement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltdinvestement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltd
investement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltdAmanpreet Singh
 
Industrial report on fmcg industry
Industrial report on fmcg industryIndustrial report on fmcg industry
Industrial report on fmcg industryEkta Agrawal
 
Customer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS Bank
Customer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS BankCustomer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS Bank
Customer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS BankVijendra Kumar (VJ)
 
A study of consumer perception on big bazaar
A study of consumer perception on big bazaarA study of consumer perception on big bazaar
A study of consumer perception on big bazaarProjects Kart
 
MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...
MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...
MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...Vasudev Gedela
 
The Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand Perception
The Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand PerceptionThe Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand Perception
The Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand Perception>soumojit neogy
 
vishnu internship Project
vishnu internship Projectvishnu internship Project
vishnu internship Projectvishnu singh
 
“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks
“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks
“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banksMudasir Muzafar
 
BBA final year internship project report
BBA final year internship project reportBBA final year internship project report
BBA final year internship project reportJaimin Patel
 
“ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG”
 “ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG” “ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG”
“ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG”anonymous
 

What's hot (20)

Summer training project report 1
Summer training project report 1Summer training project report 1
Summer training project report 1
 
summer training project report on bajaj finserv
 summer training project report on bajaj finserv summer training project report on bajaj finserv
summer training project report on bajaj finserv
 
“SATISFACTION OF CUSTOMERS TOWARDS D-MART”
“SATISFACTION OF CUSTOMERS TOWARDS D-MART”“SATISFACTION OF CUSTOMERS TOWARDS D-MART”
“SATISFACTION OF CUSTOMERS TOWARDS D-MART”
 
NJ India Invest Pvt.Ltd
NJ India Invest Pvt.LtdNJ India Invest Pvt.Ltd
NJ India Invest Pvt.Ltd
 
TIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORT
TIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORTTIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORT
TIMES OF INDIA SUMMER INTERNSHIP DETAILED REPORT
 
Project work
Project workProject work
Project work
 
A study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaar
A study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaarA study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaar
A study on buying behavior of customers in big bazaar
 
Mba marketing mngt projects
Mba marketing mngt projectsMba marketing mngt projects
Mba marketing mngt projects
 
mba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updated
mba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updatedmba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updated
mba project-report-synopsis-micromax-updated
 
investement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltd
investement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltdinvestement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltd
investement planning through NJ INDIA invest pvt ltd
 
Industrial report on fmcg industry
Industrial report on fmcg industryIndustrial report on fmcg industry
Industrial report on fmcg industry
 
Customer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS Bank
Customer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS BankCustomer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS Bank
Customer satisfaction towards the product and services of AXIS Bank
 
A study of consumer perception on big bazaar
A study of consumer perception on big bazaarA study of consumer perception on big bazaar
A study of consumer perception on big bazaar
 
MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...
MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...
MBA Marketing - Final project report on sales promotion in home automation , ...
 
The Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand Perception
The Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand PerceptionThe Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand Perception
The Measurement of Brand Awareness and Brand Perception
 
vishnu internship Project
vishnu internship Projectvishnu internship Project
vishnu internship Project
 
“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks
“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks
“Marketing Approach of Banks” A comparative study of J&K bank and other banks
 
Sip akshay hdbfs
Sip akshay hdbfsSip akshay hdbfs
Sip akshay hdbfs
 
BBA final year internship project report
BBA final year internship project reportBBA final year internship project report
BBA final year internship project report
 
“ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG”
 “ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG” “ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG”
“ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION ON FMCG”
 

Viewers also liked

ITC stocks and financials
ITC stocks and financialsITC stocks and financials
ITC stocks and financialsSantosh Lal
 
Distributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketing
Distributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketingDistributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketing
Distributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketingBabasab Patil
 
Marketing plan-surf-excel
Marketing plan-surf-excelMarketing plan-surf-excel
Marketing plan-surf-excelabhijeet shetty
 
Sales & Distribution Hindustan unilever
Sales & Distribution Hindustan unileverSales & Distribution Hindustan unilever
Sales & Distribution Hindustan unileverR S Raghav
 
HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)
HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)
HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)MOHD ARISH
 

Viewers also liked (6)

ITC stocks and financials
ITC stocks and financialsITC stocks and financials
ITC stocks and financials
 
Rural Retail (Research Paper)
Rural Retail (Research Paper)Rural Retail (Research Paper)
Rural Retail (Research Paper)
 
Distributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketing
Distributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketingDistributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketing
Distributor push and customer pull @ hul project report mba marketing
 
Marketing plan-surf-excel
Marketing plan-surf-excelMarketing plan-surf-excel
Marketing plan-surf-excel
 
Sales & Distribution Hindustan unilever
Sales & Distribution Hindustan unileverSales & Distribution Hindustan unilever
Sales & Distribution Hindustan unilever
 
HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)
HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)
HIndustan Unilever Project(Final)
 

Similar to Bridging the Gap Between Patients and Medical Device Manufacturers

Responsible Business Practices in the Health Sector
Responsible Business Practices in the Health SectorResponsible Business Practices in the Health Sector
Responsible Business Practices in the Health SectorUN SPHS
 
ABPI joint working workshop
ABPI joint working workshopABPI joint working workshop
ABPI joint working workshopPM Society
 
Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...
Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...
Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...iicecollege
 
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launchSupa Buoy
 
Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013
Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013
Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013Brian Attig
 
The Patient Journey
The Patient JourneyThe Patient Journey
The Patient JourneyCovance
 
Product Launch Failure & Success Study
Product Launch Failure & Success StudyProduct Launch Failure & Success Study
Product Launch Failure & Success StudyBest Practices, LLC
 
Beyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutions
Beyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutionsBeyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutions
Beyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutionsexecutiveinsight
 
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launchSupa Buoy
 
Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...
Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...
Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...Kapil Khandelwal (KK)
 
Commercial considerations in early drug development
Commercial considerations in early drug developmentCommercial considerations in early drug development
Commercial considerations in early drug developmentSunil Ramkali
 
Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...
Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...
Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...Alexander Decker
 
Pharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 Issue
Pharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 IssuePharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 Issue
Pharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 IssueAnup Soans
 
Chapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptx
Chapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptxChapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptx
Chapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptxankita974745
 

Similar to Bridging the Gap Between Patients and Medical Device Manufacturers (20)

Pharmacy report
Pharmacy reportPharmacy report
Pharmacy report
 
Responsible Business Practices in the Health Sector
Responsible Business Practices in the Health SectorResponsible Business Practices in the Health Sector
Responsible Business Practices in the Health Sector
 
ABPI joint working workshop
ABPI joint working workshopABPI joint working workshop
ABPI joint working workshop
 
Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...
Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...
Innovative Marketing Practices for Optimization in Selected Pharmaceutical In...
 
S du Preez Jan 2016
S du Preez Jan 2016S du Preez Jan 2016
S du Preez Jan 2016
 
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
 
Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013
Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013
Pharma Market Research Report Dec 2013
 
The Patient Journey
The Patient JourneyThe Patient Journey
The Patient Journey
 
Product Launch Failure & Success Study
Product Launch Failure & Success StudyProduct Launch Failure & Success Study
Product Launch Failure & Success Study
 
Beyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutions
Beyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutionsBeyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutions
Beyond-the-pill: how to move from selling pills to value-added solutions
 
A shock to the system
A shock to the systemA shock to the system
A shock to the system
 
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
0601017 explore market opportunities for new product launch
 
NavmeenKhot
NavmeenKhotNavmeenKhot
NavmeenKhot
 
Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...
Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...
Jugaad in healthtech innovation in India, Kapil Khandelwal, www.kapilkhandelw...
 
durgesh final
durgesh finaldurgesh final
durgesh final
 
Commercial considerations in early drug development
Commercial considerations in early drug developmentCommercial considerations in early drug development
Commercial considerations in early drug development
 
Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...
Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...
Analysis of distribution channels in the pharmaceutical industry in ghana the...
 
Pharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 Issue
Pharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 IssuePharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 Issue
Pharma Policy 2017 - Read it in MedicinMan September 2017 Issue
 
Patient centric strategy
Patient centric strategyPatient centric strategy
Patient centric strategy
 
Chapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptx
Chapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptxChapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptx
Chapter 2_Pharmaceutical Marketing.pptx
 

Bridging the Gap Between Patients and Medical Device Manufacturers

  • 1. 0 A PROJECT REPORT ON IDENTIFYING AND BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PATIENTS AND MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURERS GLOBALLY FOR PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF MBA IN HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA- DE) SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY SUBMITTED TO SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY MANIPAL, KARNATAKA UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF Mr. Sanket Nandavadekar SUBMITTED BY Ms. Disha Gupta Roll No.- 1311000445 HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
  • 2. 1 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Disha Gupta has successfully completed the project work as a part of academic fulfilment of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) Semester IV examination. _______________________ SANKET NANDAVADEKAR Project Guide Date : 14.10.2015
  • 3. 2 DECLARATION I, Disha Gupta student of Master of Business Administration, Semester- IV of Sikkim Manipal University, hereby declare that I have successfully completed this Project on- Identifying and bridging the gap between Patients and Medical Device Manufacturers globally in the academic year 2015. The information incorporated in this project is true and original to the best of my knowledge. DISHA GUPTA Roll No. 1311000445 Date- 14.10.2015
  • 4. 3 ―Judge not the value of something by its price, but by how much value it adds to your life‖ - Disha Gupta
  • 5. 4 LIST OF CONTENTS INDEX # Description Pg No 1 Acknowledgement 4 2 Foreword by Guide 5 3 Preface 6 4 Executive summary 7 5 Review of Literature 9 6 Methodology used 41 7 Data Analysis 47 8 Conclusion 49 9 References 50
  • 6. 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ● I would like to thank Sikkim Manipal University for giving me the opportunity to choose and explore my topic of interest for the purpose of completion of my MBA. ● I would like to thank my guide Sanket for being a friend and partner in completion of this project; and also for being strict with me so that I give my best to this project. ● It is a pleasure to study pricing and price determining factors for Medical Devices and related products in the Domestic and International Markets. ● The work carried out and data collected is applicable not only to Medical Devices but also to Pharmaceutical and FMCG products in their respective international markets. ● This project would be a compilation and guide for all professionals in international marketing and sales profiles. ● Study of this project is a view of the prevailing gap between end users in medical industry and the manufacturer & distributors in terms of pricing and its impact on the industry. ● Project report is an effort to understand the impact due to this gap, and mainly to define the measures to reduce this gap for the benefit of all the stakeholders of medical industry.
  • 7. 6 FORWARD BY GUIDE Value offering of this study is well achieved from the given resources. I as a mentor of the project feel amazed by the outcome of this study. Mainly about the fact that 1.26+ Billion population of India has direct or indirect impact from the area that project mentee has studied with sincerity and passion. Project was carried with minimum resources at hand, given this case mentee has done best of the possible effort to achieve most relevant conclusion on this study. Project study has brought to light very important eye opening facts that healthcare and medical industry. People of India and different participant in the healthcare value chain have to realise that they can all together make this industry sustainable only if they work in more productive way, in sync, safe guarding interests, bring in some element of social responsibility, improve awareness levels and most prime is to work in conjunction instead of just business goals. Mere awareness, make in India, reactive involvement of government of India, fair practices governing bodies, industry watch dogs and social bodies can bring the change most expected in terms of pricing of medical devices, drugs, services and overall offerings. About the project mentee, I believe that she has showcased her brilliance not only by selecting this most valuable area of study but more by achieving impactful outcome on the fundamental aspects of healthcare and medical industry like price to end consumers, services by doctors and hospitals, awareness levels among all
  • 8. 7 the members of industry including government of India, stakeholders their interests and the positive negative business benefits. About the project research and study methodology, the plan was to make this study set a direction on which areas the healthcare industry needs to focus on for making it more sustainable as well as more affordable to all types of consumers in the ecosystem. Therefore, many hours of primary research through online references, books, magazines, white papers, speeches & lectures by industry experts, videos & conferences, medical journals to name a few were thoroughly referred for forming the very foundation of this project. And secondary study was primarily done through survey method, using today‘s most up to date technology (Google docs, polling, experts view, etc) were mindfully put to use and a healthy data deck was built to reach study conclusion. I‘d encourage you as a reader to have a good read on the conclusion drawn out of this study. Conclusion achieved and next steps, though the conclusion may look like macro level industry corrections, each of the recommendation made is a detailed study in itself. A reform to be taken up and carried over years in a consortium form by the private players, government bodies, doctors, medical professionals, hospitals, manufacturers, distributors, dealers and engagement of end patients/ consumers. In order to achieve balance of price and benefits also to make this whole industry a sustainable environment for current and potential players everyone in the industry need to join hands and work towards achieving set out milestones, these I believe to be the very next steps from the industry owners and members towards a brighter, fair and win-win future!
  • 9. 8 PREFACE ● There is a huge physical distance between manufacturers of medical devices and the actual end users (patients and doctors). ● The most impacting factors are the physical distance, time to treatment/ consumption and the price of the products. ● This work has been done in order to determine how the distance between end- users and manufacturers can be reduced, and how we can get the manufacturer closer to the end user of medical devices as well as equipment which are life- saving and critical to a patient. ● This topic is of interest to me after experiencing various aspects of this industry while I was working for past two years in the field of International Marketing of Medical Devices. ● The actual cost of manufacturing a product (MP) is less than its selling price (SP).Which has also been defined in mathematical representation as SP>MP. ● In this project the factors which determine the cost have been studied carefully, to bring forth various measures to reduce those negative factors, unnecessary costs and achieve better value for all the stakeholders from manufacturers to patients. ● Everybody should be entitled and should have equal rights to avail of high quality medical supplies. Cost should not be a factor while availing of health care facilities. ● Today‘s Pharmaceutical industry has set an example to be looked up to by many other industries, and it‘s only now that people are moving to generic medicines only because of more awareness. They‘re able to decipher the difference between brand names v/s generic names. Those generic medicines are much less priced than the same products with a brand name or marketing support.
  • 10. 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Problem Statement- ● Manufacturers produce medical devices by using raw materials and their engineering capabilities up to their maximum capacity. ● However, those life supporting products have to cross a series of middlemen/ facilitators before reaching the final end user or patient. ● As the product passes through a chain of middlemen/ facilitators, its value (base cost and then final sell price) also escalates step by step. ● The final value of the product is always on the higher side, and at times more than 100% of its incurred manufacturing cost, shocking isn‘t it! ● Even if a manufacturer wants to he can‘t sell directly to the hospital as their production capacity is higher than the consumption/ order levels of hospitals. Significance of the study- ● This study is being done so as to find ways of bringing the end- user closer to the patient in terms of access, awareness, affordability in terms of cost to purchase and the overall value. ● Various pricing strategies like export, import regulations, registrations required for medical devices have been studied and presented in this study. ● I‘ve also tried to include business aspect of why some products can‘t be manufactured locally and only have to be imported from other foreign markets.
  • 11. 10 Purpose- ● This study was carried to make patients, doctors and healthcare professionals aware of the difference between brand names and generic names. ● To improve awareness between manufacturers, distributors and retailers. ● To identify, analyse and scope possibilities of suggesting resolutions to the on-going pricing issues globally. Hypothesis- ● All medical device manufacturers and hospitals must have only one selling point and one buying point respectively. ● This can be done by large sourcing organisations, which procure material from many manufacturers globally and sell directly to hospitals. ● Also, manufacturing companies should have service handling, complaint handling and training capabilities. Methodology- ● Compilation of data from previously done research ● Discussions with industry experts ● Survey by means of questionnaire Period of study- March 2015 to Sep 2015
  • 12. 11 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Why do we need distributors and how did the need arise? DISTRIBUTOR- An entity that buys noncompeting products or product lines, warehouses them, and resells them to retailers or direct to the end users or customers. Most distributors provide strong manpower and cash support to the supplier or manufacturer's promotional efforts. They usually also provide a range of services (such as product information, estimates, technical support, after-sales services, credit) to their customers. Distributors, merchants, dealers or factors are characterised by two features. First, unlike agents who take a commission, they buy stock for resale. Second, they are usually but not always appointed by the manufacturer to cover a specific geographical area or sector of the market. The ideal environment for a distributor is a market with many small customers and where the level of sales service required is high. The spread of customers is difficult and expensive to reach with a directly employed sales force that is more suited to dealing with a limited number of large buyers. Distributors generally aim to win business on sales rather than technical service. Their stock of products means customers can have instant delivery. A difficult technical problem may require referring to the manufacturer. Simple repair work may be handled by the distributor.
  • 13. 12 It usually falls upon the manufacturer to provide marketing support. This can range from the provision of display material for the showroom through to media advertising or mail shots aimed at drawing a response and directing it to the distributor. If a manufacturer decides to use distributors rather than another marketing channel, he should not begrudge the distributor's margin. This margin saves the manufacturer from having to invest in cars, salesmen, depots and expensively high stock levels. The margin he provides should be sufficient to cover the distributor's costs and provide a profit incentive. REASONS TO USE DISTRIBUTORS Administrative Savings The core business practice of a manufacturer is to make and package products. A distributor becomes the sales arm of your company for which you do not have to pay. By using distribution, you are able to reach a mass audience of retail outlets without having to invest any of your own company money into developing and maintaining that business network. Customer Exposure One of the key functions of a distributor is to grow and administer a network of viable retail outlets. Many distributors also offer specialized retailers that can reach a specific target audience. When you use a distributor, you are able to get your product out to a mass market to expand your customer exposure, or you can reach a specialty target audience without having to do any of the necessary market research.
  • 14. 13 Market Research Distributors deal with retail clients on a regular basis, and those retail clients sell to your end users. If you want to do market research on a current product or get input on new ideas on which you are working, a distributor can collect that information for you directly from your end users. This allows you to utilize a distributor's large network of retail clients to keep updated on customer preferences. Expansion Distributors present a ready-made audience of retail clients in any market for a manufacturer that is looking to expand its product reach. For example, if your company has decided to try and compete in a European market, you can find an international distributor that will find a network of European retail outlets and give you the information you will need on what kind of product features a European audience would prefer. BENEFITS OF STRONG IN- MARKET REPRESENTATION: Strong in-market representation is often critical to export success. In addition to dealing directly with your clients and helping you to grow your export sales, a good representative is your partner and can provide you with a number of benefits. The benefits of strong in-market representation include: ● dealing directly with your clients in helping grow your export sales ● access to local knowledge ● on-going market intelligence about competitors and trends ● a watch-dog who can identify people infringing on your trade mark/patents
  • 15. 14 ● someone to assist with local rules and regulations e.g. special labelling requirements ● in-market customer support for queries, support and warranty ● usually have an established network of retailers and/or wholesalers, saving you market development costs and time PRICING Marketing theory states clearly that price is one of the 5 P‘s (Product, Positioning, Place, Promotion and Price) that contributes to the marketing mix in order to get potential customers‘ attention, motivate them, and get them to buy products or services. Pricing, as part of the marketing mix, is essential and has been always one of the most difficult decisions in marketing because of heightened competition (Myers 1997), gray market activities (Assmus and Wiese, 1995), counter-trade requirements (Cavusgil and Sikora ,1988), regional trading blocks (Weekly, 1992), emergency of intra-market segments (Dana 1998), and volatile exchange rates (Knetter, 1994). Consumers have different perception of the products depending on the price. Therefore, pricing products for consumers is a difficult task, mainly because a high price may cause negative feelings about products, and also a low price can be misleading on other products features such as quality. There are many pricing objectives that lead to different strategies and businesses have to develop and apply the best strategy in various situations. Some of the ways of pricing a product are: premium and penetration pricing,
  • 16. 15 ● price skimming, ● economy and psychological pricing, ● product and optional product pricing, ● captive and product bundle pricing, ● promotional, ● geographical and ● value pricing REASONS FOR SELLING ABROAD OR EXPORTING Firms go and sell international for ―pull‖ factors, based on the attractiveness of a potential foreign market, as well as for ―push‖ factors, which make firm‘s domestic market appear less attractive. The following are some of the factors that push firms to sell abroad: ● Sometimes companies develop product for international and export markets only; ● Domestic market may be too small and exporting maybe a viable option to exploit economies of scale; ● The nature of the business or product requires firms to operate internationally or in foreign markets (airlines); ● companies seek foreign expansion in order to minimize and spread the risk, and reduce its dependence on one geographical market; ● Because of saturation of domestic market, companies seek foreign markets and usually product life cycle reaches its maturity stages in the domestic market, while being at earlier stages of the life cycle in less developed markets (sub-Saharan Africa).
  • 17. 16 It is important to emphasize that all companies face international competition, not only in export markets, but in domestic markets as well. Becoming internationally competitive is therefore not only an essential requirement for successful exporters, but also the best means of defence that local companies can use to counter foreign imports. Successful exporting contributes positively to a country's economy not only on the macro level, but on the micro level as well. Exporting offers companies many additional opportunities that they cannot obtain from domestic markets. These include the following: ● increased sales and opportunities; ● added sales volume may lower the production cost; ● lower production cost may improve overall profitability; ● competing in foreign markets should contribute to increasing the company's overall competitiveness; ● improving the status of the company by competing in foreign markets; ● reducing risks by selling to diverse markets; ● taking advantage of economies of scale by enlarging the sales base in order to spread fixed costs; ● compensating for seasonal fluctuations in domestic sales; ● finding new markets for products with declining domestic sales potential, thereby extending the product's life cycle; ● exploiting opportunities in untapped markets; ● taking advantage of high-volume purchases in large markets overseas such as the US, Europe and Asia; learning about advanced technical methods used abroad; following domestic competitors who are already selling overseas
  • 18. 17 EXPORTING VS DOMESTIC SELLING There are numerous factors that impact on the external environment in which exporting takes place. Compared with the domestic environment, which is fairly uniform in nature, the external environment is far more complex and exporter faces numerous additional problems when selling across international borders. These can be summarized as follows: 1. new parameters that include import duties and restrictions, 2. different modes of transport, 3. international, trade documentation, 4. foreign currencies, 5. different and additional marketing channels; 6. New environments such as foreign markets that represent unfamiliar environments. These include the cultural, legal, political, social and economic environments that the exporter has to contend with. Operating in foreign markets exposes the exporter to far wider and more intense competition than would be the case in the domestic market.
  • 19. 18 UNDERSTANDING FOREIGN MARKETS Firms have to think beyond their domestic markets in order to survive and prosper. They have to think globally and act locally. The task of international marketing management is the same as the task in domestic markets. In all markets, customers are the driving force of marketing and companies need to produce products efficiently. Products have to be distributed through the most appropriate channels and priced according to local market environment conditions. Local market conditions may be different and companies have to adapt to the needs of local customers. The PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) factors have been used to analyze foreign market opportunities, and what makes them different. Policy Environment For marketers considering an entry strategy into a foreign country or region, a number of environmental factors should be used to assess market opportunities and constraints. Cultural and structural issues are commonly evaluated as a first step in the market expansion process. Environmental monitoring should continue throughout the business cycle. In light of multilateral trade agreements and other economic and policy integrations, marketers must also become adept at evaluating country standards, multilateral standards, and their interaction effects. Since marketers must comply with the law, an understanding of governmental policy and the process by which it is created is central to effective marketing decision-making. To operate, international firms must understand the policy-making process and different categories of laws, and marketers must also investigate the general policy climate and local laws that affect the operation of their business. In developing marketing and business objectives, decision-makers can unintentionally create incentives and pressures that run counter to legal and ethical standards. Although
  • 20. 19 not always conceptualized in this way, the objective-setting component of marketing strategy is pivotal to customer satisfaction, financial performance, and compliance. As Ferrell et al. (1998, p. 361) suggest, "...an overwhelming number of crimes in business (i.e. price fixing, product misrepresentation, copyright violation, etc.) stem from employee misconduct designed to benefit the company. Employees often believe that corporate objectives have greater importance than legal and ethical requirements..." Common marketing objectives, especially quantitative targets, should be developed with an understanding of rules for competitive behavior. Regardless of product, industry, or geographical focus, marketers are concerned with standards on advertising, product safety and liability, product labeling, selling, electronic commerce, data privacy, and general competitive behavior. This suggests that marketers have to ensure that legal and regulatory concerns are monitored and integrated into marketing decision-making. Political Factors Researches have stated that pricing is influenced by laws and regulations which necessitate product modifications, in compliance with health and safety standards, environmental regulations, measures systems, that may prevail in foreign markets (Theodosiou 2000). Government policies influence the legislative and economic frameworks. Perhaps the most ominous cloud from the political arena is the threat of wars. World War III has been avoided thus far, but "smaller" wars and threats of war can have serious regional and even wider implications, especially with the nature of weapons that may be used - from nuclear to biological to chemical (Iraq). Economic Factors The level of GDP is the main measure of economic attractiveness of foreign markets. As GDP increases, the demand for goods and services increases too. Furthermore marketers consider the distribution of income within a country, in order to identify niche and segment markets. Marketers always watch not only the present economic prosperity of a country, but also its future development in terms of population and density, inflation and
  • 21. 20 economic growth, age and distribution of income, level of urbanization as well as other economic activities that will affect markets and pricing. Economical environment: The economic environment of the foreign or host country influences pricing decisions. It has a significant impact on firm‘s costs, determines demand potential for a particular product/service, in addition to the prices that local customers can afford and are willing to pay (Whitelock and Pimblett 1997). For example, some products that are considered essential in western countries, are viewed as luxury items in my country (Rwanda), and most of the sub Saharan African countries. This confirms the hypothesis that the demand for a product/service at different price levels is a function of the purchasing power of targeted customers, determined by the level of economic development of the country (Jain 1989). Social Factors: Social Factors People from different cultures have different tastes, buy different products and respond in different ways to the same service or product. Therefore, the demographic structure of a foreign market should be considered. The aging of population in major western markets, and the increase in population in several countries such as India and China, is another continuing development that will affect international marketing. As teens around the world are becoming a global market segment today, and sub-Saharan Africa is becoming part of global market, the marketing strategies mix, including international and export pricing will have to adapt to social factors. That is when pricing for international markets, one has to take into consideration of local material culture, language, aesthetics, education and religion, as well as attitudes and values. Firms need to examine carefully target
  • 22. 21 market country‘s characteristics and purchasing behaviors, to select appropriate pricing strategy. Price level is an important criteria used by consumers in evaluating competing products. Other criteria such as product quality and performance are important to customers (Douglass and Wind 1987). Thus, in developing pricing strategy, firms must be aware of foreign consumers‘ preferences, perceptions, and purchasing behaviors with respect to various price levels (Theodosiou, 2000). Technological Factors: Technological Factors Firms need to analyze the technological environment of foreign markets. Well-developed communication infrastructure is an important factor to respond rapidly to customer‘s needs. International firms often rely on existing local distribution infrastructure in order to transport and distribute their products to consumers. This may have significant effect on costs, and in turn may influence price, as well as profits. Technology change is another dynamic but ongoing phenomenon. A perfect example is the internet. Internet allows online contact with the firm's customers, suppliers, and partners and subsidiaries around the world, but it may also increases the opportunities for existing competitors and openings for new competitors. Therefore, technology provides both opportunities and challenges. Pricing is a strategic choice, and it will be partially influenced by environmental factors. Taking into account elements of cost, the behavioral assumptions of self-interest lead firms to take advantage when environmental forces fluctuate (Williamson, 1975). However, some environmental factors, such as: economic and regulatory volatility, and competitive intensity, have been identified as moderating effects between strategy and performance (Cavusgil and Zou, 1994; Myers 1997).
  • 23. 22 PRICING STRATEGIES PRICE: Price is the amount of money charged for a product or service. Price = product + service + profit + image. Price will include the cost of producing your product, the cost of providing any needed services that may accompany the product, the amount of profit that you need to make in order to stay in business. Often the firm is trying to portray the best quality or the lowest price. Therefore, price can be a direct reflection of quality or even perceived quality. There are several basic pricing strategies considered when making decisions for export: Economy and Premium Premium pricing is adopted when there is a substantial competitive advantage, and the product or service is unique (Concord flights), and economy pricing strategy when the cost of marketing and manufacture is kept at a minimum.
  • 24. 23 Penetration or Low Price This first model uses a low profit margin to penetrate the market. It is designed to grab market share quickly. Penetrating the market with an exceptionally low-priced item creates a broad customer base. It also provides high value-for-the-dollar to the customer. Penetration is used when prices are set first low in order to attract new customers and to gain market share, and then the price is increased after the market share has been achieved. To penetrate the market and gain market share, businesses set a low price in comparison to other competitors. Note that also low price is sometimes perceived as indication of low quality product. It may also be difficult to increase price in the future without incurring loss. Skimming This is appropriate for some product to be priced as high as the market will bear. However, few buyers are attracted, and lower sales volumes can be achieved when price is such high. This strategy is often used when a new product is introduced into the market, and is in great demand. For this strategy, the product or service is charged high because of a substantial competitive advantage. This high price tend to attract new customers into the market, and then falls due to lower unit cost as economies of scale are achieved. Skimming is the opposite of penetration and is a high priced model, sometimes called "top pricing." The idea behind this pricing strategy is to return high profits, even at the cost of losing a large number of customers. Typically, when a company launches a new product, they charge higher prices in the beginning to help recoup R&D expenditures as fast as possible. To be successful, firms must have a unique product that's in demand. For example, ―chip manufacturers‖ often use this methodology during the introductory phase of a new proprietary product. Another model that closely resembles "skimming the cream," is the high cost option called ―prestige pricing.‖ Companies like Mercedes-Benz or BMW are good examples of this model. Customers purchase products from them
  • 25. 24 knowing they probably paid too much. But, these companies have the prestigious reputation of high quality products and customer service. Competitor’s Pricing To attract the largest number of customers and generate consistent turnover, it may be necessary to set price not too high, not too low, just in the middle in line with other competitors. Prices are tagged to the competition and profits are acceptable. ―In the long run, no single pricing strategy will always work best, and producers should be prepared to adjust to any opportunities or dangers which arise in the ever-changing market.‖ For export pricing, exporters should consider other factors such as freight and transport, duties, and risks. Even though premium pricing, penetration pricing, economy pricing, and price skimming are the main pricing strategies for marketing mix, there are other strategies to pricing such as: psychological pricing, product line and optional product pricing, captive and product bundle pricing, promotional, geographical, value pricing, rigid and flexible cost-plus strategy, dynamic increment, marginal cost, and loss leader pricing strategies. Rigid Cost-Plus Strategy In order to make profits, managers adopt rigid cost-plus pricing strategy. This is accomplished by adding international customer costs and a gross margin to domestic manufacturing costs. Hence, the cost to the customer includes administrative and R&D costs, transportation, packaging, insurance, and other marketing expenses. Cost-plus pricing strategy appears to be the most dominant strategy among Americans firms (Cavusgil 1988).
  • 26. 25 Flexible Cost-plus Strategy Flexible strategy allows price variations depending on circumstances. For example there may be some discounts depending on the customer, the order, or competitive factors. This strategy is often used to encounter competitive pressures or exchange rate fluctuations. Dynamic Incremental Strategy The strategy assumes that fixed and variable domestic costs are incurred regardless of export sales. In this strategy, some domestic costs such as: R&D, domestic promotion and marketing costs, are disregarded. The dynamic incremental strategy also assumes that there will be always unused capacity or excess supply, and therefore exported products cannot be sold at full cost. This helps companies to enter, penetrate and compete in international markets. Market Holding The market holding strategy is frequently adoptee by companies that want to maintain their share of the market. In single- country marketing, this strategy often involves reacting to price adjustments by competitors. One of the changes factors in the price in global marketing is the currency fluctuations which often trigger price adjustments. Adjusting prices to fit the competitive situation may mean lower profit margins. A strong home currency and rising costs in the home country may also force a company to shift its sourcing to in-country or third- country manufacturing or licensing agreements, rather than exporting from home country, to maintain market share. Market holding means that a company must carefully examine all its costs to ensure that it will be able to remain competitive in target markets.
  • 27. 26 Cost plus Another strategy, frequently used by companies new to exporting is cost-plus to gain hold in global marketplace. There are two cost-plus pricing methods: historical accounting cost method which defines cost as the sum of all direct and indirect manufacturing and overhead costs, and estimated future cost method which is used mostly in recent years. Cost –plus pricing requires adding up all costs required to get the product to destination, plus shipping and ancillary charges, and a profit percentage. It is relatively easy to arrive at a quote, assuming that accounting costs are available. This approach, however, ignores demand and competitive conditions in target market. Therefore this approach is either too high or too low in the light of market and competitive conditions. Novice exporters do not care because they react to the market opportunities rather than having proactive seeking for them. Price Escalation Price escalation is the increase in a product‘s price as transportation, duty, and distributor margins are added to the factory price. Beginning exporters might use this approach to determine the CIF price plus any inland charges as duty, inland transportation, distributor margins etc. The knowledge of customer about the technology of new product and the amount of his or her awareness can play a major role in pricing. As much as the knowledge of a customer about the product is low, the producer can use this margin to skim the market or get a better premium from this market. [Khalil, 2006]
  • 28. 27 Transfer pricing Transfer pricing refers the pricing of goods and services bought and sold by operating units or divisions of a single company. In other word, transfer pricing concerns intra corporate exchanges- transactions between buyers and sellers that have the same corporate parent. There are three alternative approaches to transfer pricing: (1) cost based pricing, (2) market based transfer pricing, and (3) negotiated prices. Some companies using cost- based approach may arrive at transfer prices that reflect variable and fixed manufacturing costs only. Alternatively, transfer prices may be based on full costs, including overhead costs from marketing, R&D, and other functional areas. The way costs are defined may have an impact on tariffs and duties sales to affiliates and subsidiaries by global companies. Cost plus pricing is also based by costs but different approach. In this approach, profit must be shown for any product or service at every stage of movement through the corporate system. It may be set at certain percentage of fixed costs such as 15 percent of cost. It is unrelated to competitive and demand conditions but many exporters use it. Another approach to transfer pricing is market- based approach. A market –based transfer price is derived from the price required to be competitive in the international market. The volume level also plays a major role in pricing. To use market- based transfer prices to inter in a small market, third country sourcing may be required. This enables a company to establish its name or franchise in the market without committing to a major capital investment. A third alternative is to allow the organization affiliates to negotiate transfer prices among themselves. In some instances, the final transfer price may reflect costs and market prices, but this is not a requirement. (Horngren, Foster, 1991) In a research conducted by Horngren and foster (1991), was found that 46 percent of U.S. based companies,
  • 29. 28 33percent of Canadian, 41 percent of Japanese and 38 percent of U.K.-based companies use some form of cost based transfer pricing. Corporate costs and profits are also affected by import duties. The higher the duty rate, the more desirable is a low transfer price. The high duty creates an increase to reduce transfer prices to minimize the customs duty. The companies also may use three policies on world- wide pricing: extension ethnocentric, adaptation/poly centric and invention/ geocentric. In the first policy, the price of an item is the same around the world and the importer absorb freight an import duties. Empirically in this policy, no information on competitive or market condition is required and does not respond to the every market neither it maximize the company profits in each national market nor globally. Its only advantage is to simply entering a market if it suit to their price which the exporter has no information about it. In the second policy the exporter tries to match the price with any individual local market. This policy, in practice, permits subsidiary or affiliate manager to establish any price they feel is most desirable in their circumstances. This policy may cause product arbitrage, because of different prices in different location and enterprising business managers may use it and foster a grey market for the company‘s product. It may also weaken the corporate strategies of the central company because all local market managers have the freedom to set the price for their markets. Different prices for different places may have another disadvantage, because it may send a signal to the rest of the world that is contrary to company interests. A price move anywhere in the world is known instantly all over the world specially by using the world wide webs in the internet by companies which makes the customers aware of the competitive price information. The third and the best policy to international pricing is termed invention/ geocentric. Using this approach a
  • 30. 29 company neither fixes a single price nor remains apart from subsidiary price decisions, but instead strikes intermediate positions. There are unique market factors, like local costs, income levels, competition, and local marketing strategies that should be recognized in arriving at pricing decisions. The reason we perceive it as the best policy is that local costs plus a return on invested capital and personnel fix the price floor for the long term. This approach lends itself to global competitive strategy. A global competitor will take in to account global markets and global competitors in establishing prices. Prices will support global strategy objectives rather than the objectives of maximizing performance in a single country. This policy forces the exporter to consider the said aspects of any market globally and focusing the company‘s strategy as well. In the study of Samli and Jacobs (1994), for the pricing practices of U.S. multinational firms, they concluded that 70 percent of the firms standardized their prices, where as 30 percent used variable pricing in world market. They said, it would appear that the companies should consider renewing the pricing policies.
  • 31. 30 EXPORT PRICING Marginal Costing In highly competitive markets, some companies may want to consider turning to marginal costing to ensure that their products are competitively priced. Marginal costing ignores the fixed cost incurred by companies, on the assumption that these costs will be incurred by domestic sales anyway, whether or not the company exports and therefore, only variable costs need to be considered in export pricing. Ignoring fixed costs will naturally reduce total costs, enabling lower prices to be set. Where possible, however, companies should not resort to this method of pricing. The Right Optimum Price The optimum pricing strategy for a product or service meets the needs of both the buyer and the seller. Because when you find the right price, profits will skyrocket and your business will prosper. The buyer determines if a price is right by looking at the benefits to them and how a company's profit structure compares to the competition. The seller sets their price to maximize profits, while considering the bigger picture of a business model (i.e., high price/low volume or low price/high volume). The company must pay for the cost of production, marketing and overhead, and still produce a profit. The Loss Leader: The loss leader is the business pricing model to get the job done. No matter the cost, even at a loss in profits, this strategy has one objective to eliminate the competition. The consequences of even a slight misjudgement in using this retail pricing strategy could be devastating to your business. History gives us a great
  • 32. 31 example. The "Gasoline Price Wars" of the late 50s and early 60s started as a result of companies using this strategy. It marked the beginning of the end to many small, individually owned gasoline stations in the U.S. Today, we see a more modern version of this pricing strategy being used by supermarkets and clothing store chains. The objective in these cases is to lure the customer into the store with a loss-leader. The hope is that when customers show up to buy the "sale" item, the company will make up the loss in profits through additional customer purchases. When used in this form, the "loss leader" is actually a variation of "pricing to penetrate." PSYCHOLOGY OF PRICING: Value Bundling and Discounting Psychology plays an important role in the marketing world. It helps build the perception of price and value. The psychology of retail pricing is probably more important than the price itself. For example, the psychology of not using values ending in "0" or "1" in the price gives the customer the perception of saving. For example...$19.99 is viewed as a greater value over a product priced at an even $20. Logically, the customer knows the difference is not great. But there is still that sense of saving. Value Bundling gives the customer the feeling of getting "something for nothing.‖ For example, buy one, and get second free. Discounting also builds loyalty and encourages bulk purchases. Percentage off the normal retail price attracts customers and the greater the discount, the happier the customer would be.
  • 33. 32 SIGNIFICANCE OF PRICE- 1. Among the four marketing mix, product, distributing channels, promotion and price, only price creates income and the other three generate costs. 2. Price, besides creating income, plays a major role as a strategic factor in developing competitive advantage in the market. 3. The amount of income and promotion of a company regarding the positioning and finding a suitable position in the mind of customers are related to suitable pricing.
  • 34. 33 SIGNIFICANCE OF PRICE IN GLOBAL MARKET- 1. Global pricing can also be based on other external criteria such as the escalations in costs when good are shipped long distance across national boundaries. 2. Pricing in global markets must be evaluated at regular intervals and adjusted if necessary 3. Similarly pricing objectives may vary, depending on product‘s life cycle stage and the country-specific competitive situation 4. Any pricing system should address price floor, price ceiling and optimum prices in each of national market in which the company operates. 5. The pricing consideration for marketing outside the home countries are the reflection of quality in price, competitiveness, the kind of pricing objective i.e. penetration, skimming holding, the type of discount, market segmentation, the pricing option in case of costs increase or decrease, the logicalness of price by the host- country, and its laws and the probable dumping. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING PRICING- Marketers must deal with a number of environmental factors when making pricing decisions. Currency fluctuation, inflation, government controls and subsidies, competitive behavior, and market demand are among these factors. Some of these factors work in conjunction with others; for example, inflation may be accompanied by government controls.
  • 35. 34 When currency fluctuation occurs, there are two options for pricing: one is to fix the price of products in country target market. In this case, any appreciation or depreciation of the value of the currency in the country of production will lead to gain or losses for the seller. The other option is to fix the price of products in home country currency. If it is done, any appreciation or depreciation of the home country currency will result in price increases or decreases for customers and no immediate consequences for the seller. In actual practice, a manufacturer and its distributor may work together to maintain Market share in international market. Either party, or both, may choose to take a lower profit percentage. In the long term contracts, both parties agree an exchange rate clause, which allows them to agree to supply and purchase at fixed prices in each company‘s national currency. Inflation, or a persistent upward change in price levels, is a worldwide phenomenon. Inflation requires periodic adjustments. These adjustments are caused by rising costs that must be covered by increased selling prices. An essential requirement when pricing in an inflationary environment is the maintenance of operating profit margins. LIFO costing method is prescribed by some practitioners under conditions of rising prices Government control can also limit the freedom to adjust prices, and the maintenance of margins should be compromised. In a country that is undergoing severe financial difficulties and is in the midst of a financial crisis (e.g., a foreign exchange shortage caused in part runaway inflation), government officials are under pressure to take some type of action. Governmental actions in the case of hard financial problems include use of broad or selective price controls, prior cash
  • 36. 35 deposit requirements for imports, customs duties for imports, value added tariffs, proliferation of rules and regulations, and subsidization. Pricing decisions are also bounded by competitive action. If competitors are manufacturing or sourcing in a lower costs country, it may be necessary to cut prices to stay competitive. PARTICULAR FACTORS OF AN EXPORT PRICE The factors for developing price are costs, the market and customer behavior conditions, competition and the company policies. The main factor for pricing is costs. The price base on costs, especially when there is no information about the market and customer willingness, is a virtually easy approach and shows the fairness for value added payment of production. The costs are useful for determining the floor price of a product. In short term, when we have extra capacity, the floor costs may be the out of pocket costs, i.e. direct costs like labor, material and transport costs. However, in the long term, the full costs must be considered for the products, but may not be considered for all products. Direct costs, when using in export, means the required costs for developing income. In addition to extra capacity, direct cost pricing (margin cost pricing) for entering a market in the competitive condition or preserving a market in the competitive condition can be applied. In a survey of 20 export managers, they believed there are other reasons for the export pricing less than full costs. These reasons are: to help intermediate organizations or agents, maintaining the coworkers working together, selling a product especially out of the normal line of export and for offering a manufactured sample to a dependent or under license organization, mass customized production, in many companies, when the conditions of market are not
  • 37. 36 normal, the pricing less than full costs is applied. The floor price is mostly affected by floor price. This kind of pricing is highly recommended when the company is sure that the internal market will guarantees the sale volume at least up to breakeven point. From that point the profit margin will be a combination of internal and global sales. The market condition pricing is based on the market demand and the product attractiveness in each market. The nature of market can determine the ceiling of the price. When the demand, in a market for the product, is high we use higher prices for that market. Utility, or the assumed value of buyers of a product, determine the ceiling price of a product. In demand forecasting of a market, exporter can classify the market based on the price attractiveness for customer in different price levels. Then the export manager can define a classified utilities related to prices. The main problem of this kind of pricing is the lack of information for demand forecasting and the customer willingness particularly in developing countries. Therefore the market condition is a difficult factor for pricing, but at least any company has enough information about the internal market condition of its homeland, which we will use it in construction of our export model later. The third and may be the most important factor of pricing is the condition of competition. Condition of competition helps for pricing between the boundaries of mentioned first and second factors. The competitor reaction forces producer to determine new export pricing. The price of competitors affects the sale volume of exporter and the resulted decision may be less or more than price of them. When an exporter does not have enough authority for pricing a competitive market, the main problem of pricing then will be to sell the product with the assigned price or not. If the floor price of a manufacturer is less than the current price of market, the product will be produced and sold. The market condition pricing is most suitable when the new
  • 38. 37 technology used for the product or service is complex or unique for that market and the knowledge of customer or market about know- how of the product is little. Pricing can different in each market, depending on different stages of a product. When we want to enter a competitive market we may use direct costs because of the product and cherry picking character of the intermediates and possible future agents. When the product is well known, and well positioned, we may use competitive or other market pricing suitable for that market. When the market is saturated by different competitors we may use niche pricing and stay in that market and let other competitors leave this market or we leave the market, during the last stage of product life cycle, if we feel this market will not be profitable any more. This article is based on the theories stated in the above sections and an extraction of a PhD research thesis titled: ―Application of Global Marketing Theories in Export Growth of Tire Industries in Iran by the author.
  • 39. 38 PITFALLS OF EXPORTING It is important for prospective exporters must know that there are some potential pitfalls in exporting. They include the following: management might need to devote a considerable amount of time to the start-up procedures and decisions, key personnel might have to be diverted from domestic responsibilities to help with the company's export activities; additional plant facilities might be needed; catalogues, brochures and other sales promotion material might need to be translated into a foreign language; the product might need to be modified to meet foreign market specifications; credit terms might need to be extended because of competition, local custom and transit time. Exporting is generally an expensive activity and will require additional financial resources. Setting prices for international markets is not an easy task. Decisions with regards to product, price, and distribution for international markets are unique to each country (Jain, 1989) and differ from those in the domestic market (Diller and Bukhari, 1994) Furthermore, other factors such as: ● the rate of return, ● market stabilization, ● demand and competition-led pricing, ● market penetration, ● early cash recovery, ● prevention of competitive entry, ● company and product factors, ● market and environmental factors, ● as well as economic, political, social and cultural factors, have to be considered in the decision making process.
  • 40. 39 WHY DO NATIONS IMPORT? An import is a good brought into a jurisdiction, especially across a national border, from an external source. The party bringing in the good is called an importer. An import in the receiving country is an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited by import quotas and mandates from the customs authority. The importing and exporting jurisdictions may impose a tariff (tax) on the goods. In addition, the importation and exportation of goods are subject to trade agreements between the importing and exporting jurisdictions. The motivation for a country to import goods and services from other countries is perhaps less obvious than its motivation for selling exports (making a profit on goods not consumed by the domestic market). As with exports, the purposes served by imports vary from country to country. Let‘s explore these various purposes by starting with asking why a country like the United States, with its massive and extraordinarily diverse economy, would need to import anything from other countries. Yet no country today, including the United States, can be totally self-sufficient without suffering a high cost. All countries need to—or choose to—import at least some goods and services for the following reasons: Goods or services that are either a. essential to economic well-being or b. highly attractive to consumers but are not available in the domestic market
  • 41. 40 Goods or services that satisfy domestic needs or wants can be produced more inexpensively or efficiently by other countries, and therefore sold at lower prices. It is helpful to illustrate these points by looking at the case of the United States, precisely because it comes closer to being self-sufficient than any other country for the reasons mentioned above (several climactic zones, resources, able workforce). Coal, copper, iron, silver, and nickel are just a few of the natural resources the United States possesses in large quantities that other countries do not possess.
  • 42. 41 WHAT IS GLOBAL SOURCING? Global sourcing is the practice of sourcing from the global market for goods and services across geopolitical boundaries. Global sourcing often aims to exploit global efficiencies in the delivery of a product or service. These efficiencies include low cost skilled labor, low cost raw material and other economic factors like tax breaks and low trade tariffs. Common examples of globally sourced products or services include: labor- intensive manufactured products produced using low-cost Chinese labor, call centers staffed with low-cost English speaking workers in the Philippines and India, and IT work performed by low-cost programmers in India and Eastern Europe. While these examples are examples of Low-cost country sourcing, global sourcing is not limited to low-cost countries. Majority of companies today strive to harness the potential of global sourcing in reducing cost. Hence it is commonly found that global sourcing initiatives and programs form an integral part of the strategic sourcing plan and procurement strategy of many multinational companies. Global sourcing is often associated with a centralized procurement strategy for a multinational, wherein a central buying organization seeks economies of scale through corporate-wide standardization and benchmarking. A definition focused on this aspect of global sourcing is: "proactively integrating and coordinating common items and materials, processes, designs, technologies, and suppliers across worldwide purchasing, engineering, and operating locations. The global sourcing of goods and services has advantages and disadvantages that can go beyond low cost. Some advantages of global sourcing, beyond low cost, include: learning how to do business in a potential market, tapping into skills or resources unavailable domestically, developing alternate supplier/vendor sources
  • 43. 42 to stimulate competition, and increasing total supply capacity. Some key disadvantages of global sourcing can include: hidden costs associated with different cultures and time zones, exposure to financial and political risks in countries with (often) emerging economies, increased risk of the loss of intellectual property, and increased monitoring costs relative to domestic supply. For manufactured goods, some key disadvantages include long lead times, the risk of port shutdowns interrupting supply, and the difficulty of monitoring product quality. (With regard to quality in the food industry, see Roth et al. (2008). International procurement organizations (or IPOs) may be an element of the global sourcing strategy for a firm. These procurement organizations take primary responsibility for identifying and developing key suppliers across sourcing categories and help satisfy periodic sourcing requirements of the parent organization. Such setups help provide focus in country-based sourcing efforts. Particularly in the case of large and complex countries, such as China, where a range of sub-markets exist and suppliers span the entire value chain of a product/commodity, such IPOs provide essential on-the-ground information. Over time, these IPOs may grow up to be complete procurement organizations in their own right, with fully engaged category experts and quality assurance teams. It is therefore important for firms to clearly define an integration and scale-up plan for the IPO.
  • 44. 43 METHODOLOGY USED: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SURVEY Introduction to ―Google Forms‖-  Google recently released a revolutionary gem into its increasingly robust Google Docs platform.  Google Forms is a flexible form and survey development interface with built-in reporting.  While still in its infancy, Google Forms is the start of an incredibly versatile data collection framework.  It is a free service from Google, quick and reliant. Moreover the responses can be accessed over an android phone by means of the Google drive application.  Survey data is far from being difficult, nor costly, to store. Steps to create the Google form: 1. Navigate the browser to docs.google.com and log-in 2. Go to the menu labelled ―New‖ at the left and select ―Form‖. A new Google Form has been created. Click to edit the title and description, then click ―Add question‖ 3. Edit the question text and list the possible responses. 4. Click ―Save,‖ then click the link at the bottom of the page to view the published form. 5. After people have filled out the form, you can view analytics for the form data by clicking ―Show Analysis‖ in the edit form view. 6. All of the form responses are stored in a Google Spreadsheet, which can be easily exported to .XLS/.CSV for making custom graphics in MS- Excel.
  • 45. 44 URL of the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LU1mt9wmPXwB0XuDknaeV9j4rMOglmIUW 4nPMFQdg2Y/viewform ACTUAL FORM Identifying and Bridging the gap between Patients and Medical Device Manufacturers Globally * Required Disclaimer: This survey isn‘t a data generation activity, and none of the details/ information will be retained for any other research work or commercial activity; nor will it be published in any publicly available literature. It is only being obtained to form a sample size of less than 500 senior and established medical professionals‘ opinions. Dear Participant, 1) We really appreciate your time and support in this research towards science and medicine. 2) This survey is a part of research project on ‗Identifying and bridging the gap between Patients and Medical Device Manufacturers Globally‘. 3) The major objective of this project is to study the prevailing gap between end users like patients & doctors and medical device & drug manufacturers. 4) Your inputs will add value to the project study, and should lead to effective resolution in reducing the gap between medical treatment and patients. This survey shouldn‘t take more than 10 minutes, and we request you please be as descriptive in presenting your opinion.
  • 46. 45 Personal Information All contact details would be kept confidential. Name * Age and Gender (eg: 32, F) email ID *
  • 47. 46 Profession * Highest Educational Qualification * Location * 1) As a medical professional do you believe that quality medical treatment isn’t affordable even today? o Yes o No 2) Do you think there's scope to reduce prices/charges/buying cost of medical treatments, device or drugs for the end users’ consumption? (Please answer with "Yes" or "No" and elaborate your opinion) 3) Primary research has identified scope to reduce prevailing pricing gap. According to you what should be done to reduce this gap in terms of price of treatment, life support systems or medication between manufacturers and the end users (i.e. doctors or patients)?
  • 48. 47 4) Please help us understand your preference on buying from a manufacturer or local distributor, and why do you prefer one or both of them? 5) On what parameters do you judge the credibility of a medical product? o Manufacturer or Brand o Stock position of the company o Advertisements o Price o Quality 6) Do you believe that bridging the gap between manufacturer and end users like patients or doctors will be beneficial to both parties? o Yes o No 7) In case of a product complaint do you prefer contacting the local distributor or the manufacturer, and how do you ensure that your complaint is resolved to your expectations? Please elaborate
  • 49. 48 8) Are you aware of the difference between brand names and generic names? o Yes o No 9) We would like to know if you have any other questions you would like us to work on in order to continue this study? Your question would be included in to this questionnaire for survey. Submit Never submit passwords through Google Forms. 100%: You made it. Powered by Google Forms This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google. Report Abuse - Terms of Service - Additional Terms Screen reader support enabled. Edit this form
  • 50. 49 DATA ANALYSIS RESPONSES COLLATED The survey had been floated across to experienced medical and healthcare professionals nationally and internationally. We have also contacted a few people outside the industry to obtain their views from a non- judgmental perspective. Their responses have been collected by means of ―Google Sheets‖. The following data has been collated from project responses: 1. 90% of respondents agree that quality medical treatment is not affordable even today. 2. Whereas 10% of respondents think that quality medical treatment is affordable in today‘s time. 3. 100% of respondents agree that there is scope to reduce prices of medical treatment, devices and drugs. 4. When asked what should be done to reduce the price gap between manufacturers and end users 30% of respondents suggest that the government should fix a ceiling limit for the costs or should implement proper regulations for pricing policies. 5. 70% of respondents suggest that it is better to purchase goods from a manufacturer. 6. Purchasing from a local distributor gives an edge to the consumer in terms of any costs concerning repairs, replacement, and warranty issues. 7. When asked how they judge the credibility of any medical product- 80% make the judgement on product quality and 20% believe more in the manufacturer or brand.
  • 51. 50 8. 100% respondents believe that bridging the gap between manufacturer and end users like patients or doctors will be beneficial to both parties. 9. When asked who they prefer to contact in case of a product complaint, the response received was mixed. Manufacturers are preferred when it comes to technical complaint handling and resolving the issue at the base level itself. On the other hand distributors are preferred when there are issues related to warranty and replacements. 10. 90% of the respondents are aware of generic medicines. The 10% who are not aware are not from the healthcare field. Respondents suggest the following questions for further study: 1. Why Isn't The Government Making Any Efforts To Help The Economically Backward Sections In Our Country Regarding Medicinal And Hygiene Development And Execution? 2. How will the end user know about the quality of the product or treatment? 3. How to reduce gap between manufacturers and patient or doctor to reduce the cost? 4. How will you enrol dental treatment in health insurance? 5. Also study the methods to fill the loopholes in government policies so as to make medicine branch better.
  • 52. 51 CONCLUSION: 1. It has been confirmed, that there is a distance between the manufacturer and end user patient and that there is scope to reduce prices. 2. There should be more awareness to among doctors, patients and even dealers, distributors regarding generic names and brand names. 3. The government should regulate the pricing policies in Medical and Healthcare product and service providing companies. 4. Global sourcing organisations should be formed for extensive import- export of medical products. 5. Indigenous manufacturing should be encouraged and promoted.
  • 53. 52 REFERENCES http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/product-line.html https://www.b2binternational.com/publications/distributor-research/ Reasons to Use Distributors by George N. Root III, Demand Media http://www.iccnz.com/assets/Reports/Agent-Distribution-selection.pdf http://cdn2.businesssetfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Pricing-Strategy- Matrix-e1373624580442.png?3d1de4 http://www.globalization101.org/why-do-nations-import/ Medical device tax repeal- http://www.medpagetoday.com/Washington- Watch/Washington-Watch/52274 Affordable Care Act- http://www.iccnz.com/assets/Reports/Agent-Distribution- selection.pdf