Over-the-Counter (OTC) Pharmaceuticals and Drugs in Japan: A Strategic Reference, 2007

The primary audience for this report is managers involved with the highest levels of the strategic planning process and consultants who help their clients with this task. The user will not only benefit from the hundreds of hours that went into the methodology and its application, but also from its alternative perspective on strategic planning relating to over-the-counter (otc) pharmaceuticals and drugs in Japan. As the editor of this report, I am drawing on a methodology developed at INSEAD, an international business school (www.insead.edu). For any given industry or sector, including over-the-counter (otc) pharmaceuticals and drugs, the methodology decomposes a country’s strategic potential along four key dimensions: (1) latent demand, (2) micro-accessibility, (3) proxy operating pro-forma financials, and (4) macro-accessibility. A country may have very high latent demand, yet have low accessibility, making it a less attractive market than many smaller potential countries having higher levels of accessibility. With this perspective, this report provides both a micro and a macro strategic profile of over-the-counter (otc) pharmaceuticals and drugs in Japan. It does so by compiling published information that directly relates to latent demand and accessibility, either at the micro or macro level. The reader new to Japan can quickly understand where Japan fits into a firm’s strategic perspective. In Chapter 2, the report investigates latent demand and micro-accessibility for over-the-counter (otc) pharmaceuticals and drugs in Japan. In Chapters 3 and 4, the report covers proxy operating pro-forma financials and macro-accessibility in Japan. Macro-accessibility is a general evaluation of investment and business conditions in Japan.