4 J. Global Business Advancement, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2020
Copyright © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Assessing the implementation of serialisation in
pharmaceutical industry in Greece: a qualitative
approach
Theodoros Pagonidis
MBA Graduate,
School of Business,
University of Nicosia,
Nicosia, 2417, Cyprus
Email: theopagonidis@gmail.com
Svetlana Sapuric*
School of Business,
Department of Economics and Finance,
University of Nicosia,
Nicosia, 2417, Cyprus
Email: Sapuric.s@unic.ac.cy
*Corresponding author
Petros Lois
School of Business,
Department of Accounting,
University of Nicosia,
Nicosia, 2417, Cyprus
Email: lois.p@unic.ac.cy
Abstract: In a competitive environment such as the pharmaceutical sector the
necessity for visibility of the supply chain is currently not only an idea in
regulators’ minds but also a challenge for the key stakeholders. The aim of the
study is to reflect the current status of serialisation implementation in the
pharmaceutical industry, discover interests and expectations and explore
the post implementation environment. A stakeholder analysis was conducted to
assess the importance of each stakeholder. Furthermore, to discover interests
and expectations, analyse the status and explore what is coming next when
serialisation will be effective, personal in-depth interviews with subject
material experts took place. Our results indicate that manufacturers, CMOs and
re-packagers are most impacted, and serialisation is a necessity for regulation
compliance. Its implementation aims to bring important changes, the impacts
are gradually visible and the journey until it is fully implemented will last for
some years to come.
Keywords: serialisation; regulations; counterfeit; stakeholder analysis;
pharmaceutical industry; supply chain; qualitative analysis; stakeholder
identification; stakeholder prioritisation; stakeholder mapping; Greece.