Thematic Analysis of New Product Development Practices by the Medical Devices Industry in India

Background: The Indian medical device sector is one of the fastest-growing healthcare segments in India. The sector, however, faces a problem of heavy dependence on imports. The root cause of this problem is less focus on R&D and new product development. Objectives: The objectives were to deep-dive into the views of senior management of medical device companies on academic collaborations, management and infra support, training, motivation and incentivisation for the R&D teams, and impact of companies’ culture on new product development. Method: This study is based on the interviews of senior management of 64 medical device companies on the critical themes for new product development.  The themes and Subthemes under each theme were generated through the analysis of statements. Reflective stories for each theme were then constructed through an iterative process. Results: It was evident that the medical device companies involved in new product development had fair clarity about their models and tactics for collaborations with academia. Committed infra and management support also existed in such companies. For R&D team members, money motivation had mixed responses. Almost all the respondents had clear views on the culture of their companies and its influence.  Conclusion: This deductive thematic analysis based on interviews of senior people and the analysis of themes like collaboration with academia, management and infra support, training for the R&D teams, motivation and incentivisation for the R&D teams, and influence of the culture of the companies reveals that the companies have clear plans for collaborations with the academia, and are also serious on infra and management support. Facilitation of industry-academia collaboration is a major area of attention for the authorities.