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The business management elements of the programme provide a foundation in the management of technology and innovation, illustrated with examples from the extremes of working in a large corporate environment to setting up a new enterprise. Also addressed are intellectual property rights, patenting, professional codes of practice and the establishment of appropriate economic, legal and social frameworks, which are key issues to consider during the development of new bioscience products. |
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Healthcare Economics
The economic pressures within the healthcare sector are intense and ensuring a balance between the drivers of cost effectiveness, profit and patient satisfaction seems at times unachievable. Providers are increasingly focusing on ways to curb drug budgets, whilst striving to maintain the delivery of effective healthcare. Pharmaceutical companies require a return on investment from current and future drugs, to compensate for the high cost of product development and relatively short patent life. Patients are better informed than at any time in the past and with their role as purchasers increasing and the use of cost-sharing and consumer-driven health plans gaining momentum, traditional marketing tools are no longer enough. Students learn that the life sciences sector must prepare for a future with a new customer focus, where consumer funds are split between a host of other priorities including competing brands, generics, OTC products and non-healthcare goods and services.
Law and Intellectual Property
Providing an overview of IP rights and patenting processes at a global level, the module illustrates the options that are available to protect new ideas, concepts, written material, images or designs, how the processes work and how to value and exploit the outcome. Corporate governance, the rights of directors and shareholders, contract law, competition policy and other aspects of business law will be discussed. The module also includes work on technology transfer, from academia to industry and from industry to industry and builds on the concept of partnering, joint ventures and mergers acquisitions, introduced in earlier modules, as strategies to overcome commercial development hurdles.
Management of Technology & Innovation (MoTI)
The MoTI course delivers a range of management ideas and concepts for innovative and technology-intensive businesses, with regard to products, processes and strategy. The emphasis is on equipping students with the organisational and managerial competence to convert ideas and opportunities into commercially viable products and services. Teaching is delivered by faculty at the Judge Business School, supplemented by guest speakers. The course is shared by other professional practise MPhil programmes and therefore presents a unique opportunity for students to mix with graduates from other disciplines.
MoTI Consultancy Project
In addition to the taught MoTI components, students work in teams under the supervision by a faculty member on a real company consultancy problem. Students gain first-hand experience of the reality of innovation, project management and entrepreneurship and develop analytical skills in a real-world context. In addition to providing an opportunity to apply tools and concepts learned from the taught component of MoTI, this practical dimension affords students the opportunity to work in multidisciplinary teams and to build a network of contacts within the Cambridge technology community.
MOTI Courses
A selection from the following topics are offered.
Commercialising Science - Designed to provide an in-depth analysis of the factors affecting the extent and mode of commercialisation of innovations from the science base. The course will include coverage of the factors affecting the choice of mode and the factors affecting the likelihood of success within each mode. It will analyse the different cultures involved in conducting research in a university and business setting, their implications for the commercialisation process and the extent to which convergence in systems of research is developing. It provides an overview of patterns of commercialisation and through the development of the concepts of sectoral systems of innovation, the nature of small business and spin-off aspects of commercialisation; the characteristics of large company involvement in commercialisation from the science base; and finally the importance of applying a sectoral systems of innovation approach to commercialisation opportunities arising from different scientific fields.
Decision Theory - An introduction to cost-benefit analysis, decision analysis, probabilistic risk analysis and multi-attribute value theory as well as revisiting discounted cash flows. The foundation, strengths and limitations of each of the techniques will be illustrated with examples from real policy decisions in health, energy, transport and the environment.
Finance and Accounting - Interpretation of financial statements, including income statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets. The course will include key financial metrics, such as return on equity and free cash flow, discounted cash flow analysis, including business valuation, financial reporting and business valuation issues specific to technology companies.
High Tech Marketing - The role of marketing versus technology in firm-level innovation. Concepts covered include developing and implementing marketing plan for new products, concepts, tools and techniques for managing innovation over the product life cycle, and design and implementation of marketing mix strategies related to price, product, distribution and promotion over the product life cycle.
Microeconomics - An introduction to the subject of microeconomics and the basic concepts, tools and models relevant to management and business in general, and the management of technology and innovation in particular. Topics covered include some basic price theory, the firm, industry structure, game theory, transactions costs, externalities and market power.
Organising for Innovation - How to organise in changeable and innovative environments. It will include the determinants of team effectiveness - project and product development teams, application of these ideas in practice, decision-making processes and the costs and benefits of different approaches, capturing and applying learning in fast moving environments, and project management.
Technology Strategy - Strategy in high-technology markets, the dynamics of the network economy and the strategies needed to succeed in it. Topics include: why some technologies become widely accepted yet others do not; how some firms are able to develop competitive advantage around their technologies, and how firms can 'lock-in' markets, and the consequent public policy implications.
Technology Management –