the future for new drug development in an age of globalization

Japan's manufacturing sector has lost its former prosperity and now faces a crisis, prompting heated debate over the path that electronics makers and other manufacturers should take in the future. In the past, Japanese companies focused their business activities in markets of the developed world, relying on the twin weapons of advanced technology and high quality, and reaping considerable rewards. Not so long ago the world could be neatly divided into the United States, Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world, with globalization being thought of as business expansion within the developed world. But recently, and particularly in the wake of the Lehman Brothers crisis, stagnation in developed economies has led to a rise in the importance of emerging markets. Japan also faces difficult times. Whereas the business model utilized by Japanese companies leveraged advanced technology and high quality to conquer developed-world markets, the business model in emerging markets is qualitatively different, and presents a major challenge for companies that are unable to adopt new values and new perspectives. An argument can be made that Japanese companies have won on science and technology, but are losing out because of their business model. Perhaps there are lessons from the consumer electronics industry that can be applied to new drug development.