South Asian Journal of Management

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Marketability of Universal Design (UD) Products in India: The Case of Panasonic and a UD Proposal for Washing Machines


Affiliations
1 Graduate School of Information Science and Control Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan
2 Dr. Eng., Management and Information Systems Science, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan
     

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Universal Design (UD) products make people’s life easier, but UD does not seem to be in practice widely in developing countries like India. The purposes of this study are: (1) To explore opportunities for UD products in the Indian market and (2) To ascertain whether UD products are necessarily more expensive or not. This paper first presents a case study of Panasonic and its incorporation of UD. Based on Panasonic’s case, a new ‘step-by-step’ approach is proposed to expand the market of UD products to the aged and the disabled. Similarly, another approach named “Start with small changes” is proposed based on the results of a quick survey conducted in India and the study of UD. It has been found that both of these approaches help to expand the market for UD products and that there are huge business opportunities for UD products in India.
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  • Marketability of Universal Design (UD) Products in India: The Case of Panasonic and a UD Proposal for Washing Machines

Abstract Views: 158  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Nisha Prajapati
Graduate School of Information Science and Control Engineering, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan
Tatsuo Asai
Dr. Eng., Management and Information Systems Science, Nagaoka University of Technology, 1603-1 Kamitomioka-machi, Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

Abstract


Universal Design (UD) products make people’s life easier, but UD does not seem to be in practice widely in developing countries like India. The purposes of this study are: (1) To explore opportunities for UD products in the Indian market and (2) To ascertain whether UD products are necessarily more expensive or not. This paper first presents a case study of Panasonic and its incorporation of UD. Based on Panasonic’s case, a new ‘step-by-step’ approach is proposed to expand the market of UD products to the aged and the disabled. Similarly, another approach named “Start with small changes” is proposed based on the results of a quick survey conducted in India and the study of UD. It has been found that both of these approaches help to expand the market for UD products and that there are huge business opportunities for UD products in India.