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Subject category: Entrepreneurship
Published by: WDI Publishing, William Davidson Institute (EDI), University of Michigan
Originally published in: 2009
Version: 18 August 2009
Length: 16 pages
Data source: Published sources

Abstract

This case is about a major unmet social need: vision correction. Even though technologically this is a simple problem to solve - eyeglasses - it is not being solved. Over 500 million people with refractive error continue to do without vision correction and lead less productive lives than they could if they had eyeglasses.It would seem that private companies could profitably supply eyeglasses to the poor. Essilor, a French multinational company that is one of the world's leading manufacturers of plastic eyeglass lenses, has developed an innovative approach to selling eyeglasses to the poor in rural India. The case describes Essilor's strategy and provides enough data to do a simple economic analysis of the project. The case next describes VisionSpring, a NGO that supplies reading glasses to the poor in developing countries. The case question centers on whether the two approaches are working and challenges students to consider creative solutions.

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Abstract

This case is about a major unmet social need: vision correction. Even though technologically this is a simple problem to solve - eyeglasses - it is not being solved. Over 500 million people with refractive error continue to do without vision correction and lead less productive lives than they could if they had eyeglasses.It would seem that private companies could profitably supply eyeglasses to the poor. Essilor, a French multinational company that is one of the world's leading manufacturers of plastic eyeglass lenses, has developed an innovative approach to selling eyeglasses to the poor in rural India. The case describes Essilor's strategy and provides enough data to do a simple economic analysis of the project. The case next describes VisionSpring, a NGO that supplies reading glasses to the poor in developing countries. The case question centers on whether the two approaches are working and challenges students to consider creative solutions.

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