Session 6

–Bio business

–Bio business landscape

-Bio innovation

Bio business. The business of healthcare.

Already worth around $10 trillion, the bio business scene is rapidly growing. Consisting of commercial activity based on the life science field, taking care of the human race has become increasingly profitable. With a huge target audience, i.e, the human race, this business feild has huge potentials to grow.

Bio business landscape. A return to the landscape model.

Many of the opportunities in biobusiness still lie in the valley stage. Being money- making enterprises, bio businesses need to make money. What this leads to is the abandoning of many ideas that have the potential of alleviating the conditions of millions. Despite being the most AIDS-stricken continent, Africa doesn’t have access to many medicines available elsewhere. The reason? People there just can’t afford it. Many brilliant ideas never make it out of the valley stage. Money is ultimately the deciding factor in the fortunes of these innovations.

Bio innovation. The driver behind bio business.

As is the case with many other business environments, the only reason bio business is able to grow at such tremendous rates is the amount of innovation powering it. With many more malignant forms of diseases arising, not to mention the ever present cancer and AIDS, bio firms are pumping more money into discovering newer ways of tackling these dangers. With tedious patenting procedures and high manufacturing costs, however, it only remains to be seen how far the advantages of this level of innovation go.

Class rating- 9/10

A very interesting class with a lot to discuss about. Its interesting to see the way bio business gets influenced by different factors.

 

Research Paper Outline

Cinema’s path- from silent films to 3D

Disruptive technology- 3D & S3D technology in the film industry

 

1. 1.       Executive summary

 

1. 2.       Background/Introduction

 

1. 3.       Historical Perspective

 

-The Zoopraxiscope

-Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope/ Vitascope

-The birth of commercial 3D films

 

1. 4.       Current Stance

 

–Mainstream resurgence

–Criticism

 

1. 5.       Future Outlook

 

–The future of 3D

–4D technology

 

1. 6.       Conclusion

 

–Summary of major points

 

1. 7.       Bibliography

Session 4

-Evolution vs. Revolution

-Managing change

–Adapting to change

This class focused on the concept of change, and how its necessary to make it an integral part of society.

Evolution vs. revolution. Disruptive change.

Prof got the ball rolling with a new point of view on ground-breaking technology. He started by highlighting the concept of disruptive technology. It’s disruptive technology that fuels change, and, as a result becomes the starting point of a chain of innovations.

With the pace of disruptive technologies picking up, change is happening more often. The number of times companies and other entities have had to adapt over the past few decades has increased drastically when compared to preceding periods. It remains to be seen how many upcoming technologies will mark the start of such a chain?

Managing change. The necessity of change management.

Although change may come across as an uncontrollable phenomenon, it is necessary to manage it. The class then went on to define the different behaviors that many entities display when facing change. Some manage to turn it around to succeed, while others just perish.

Entities- companies in particular- need to keep a forward prospect, and move on when the times call for it. Companies such as 3M used to drive change with their products, but are now just keeping pace. This change in speed should come as a warning for the company. Laggards don’t survive for long.

Adapting to change. Adapt or die.

The most important thing to do when facing change is to adapt. Change calls for more change in response.

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”

This quote by W. Edwards Deming sums up the case in point. You don’t change, you die. Many companies have failed when they find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings. Wal- Mart’s entry in the ’60s was a time when the supermarket scene was dominated by a few names. Thirty years down the road, with Wal- Mart ruling the roost, not a single one of these companies existed. Wal- Mart brought about new and innovative techniques which marked it out as the champion. The other companies failed to adapt. They ended up taking the only other option, that of perishing.

Class rating- 9/10

A lot to think about this class. Left with one concrete thought- ‘Change is necessary.’

Session 3

–From linear to cyclical.

–Masdar City

-Clouds and summits.

This being a make-up class, there were a number of presentations to get through. More presentations meant more discussion and the raising of a few interesting points.

From linear to cyclical. Wrong perceptions.

We watched a video that went about attacking the prevalent linear manufacturing model. The presenter highlighted the fact that the model totally ignored the presence of the government and large corporations, and how out of the top 100 economies of the world, more than half  were companies. She also went on to state how governments end up watching out for the interests of the companies, often ignoring other important stakeholders, and above all, the environment.

Although we only watched only 5 minutes of the 21 minute clip, a few points were made clear-

• We live in a world that operates on cyclical principles, basically, what goes around comes around. The linear manufacturing model doesn’t suit the purposes of a chain.
• The environment ends up paying a hefty price for our drive to achieve more.
• Sustainability is of utmost importance, specially at this point of time.

The presenter may have come across as too polarized, but a lot of what she said made sense. If we don’t watch the rate at which we extract, future generations may have to bear the brunt of our actions.

Masdar City. The way of the future?

One presentation that really stuck out was the one on Masdar City, a green city project currently under development in the deserts of Abu Dhabi. The whole approach towards Masdar really got me thinking about the trade-offs we were making for living more sustainable lives. How were the environmental restrictions in place going to be enforced? What effect would living in a gated, controlled environment have on its inhabitants?

Although the city could mark the beginning of a greener era, what price will we have to pay?

Clouds and summits. Innovating smartly.

One of the models that I really learned from was the Shahi landscape model. Although it may not be the most visually intricate design I ever seen, it really gave off a few essential tips should I ever wish to open my own business.

All entrepreneur’s have one common purpose, to create value for their stakeholders. The difference is how they go about it. The landscape model aims to show which area one should try innovating in. Summits identified areas that were highly valued, and were at their prime. Clouds identified topics that may not have value right now, but could at some future date. Valleys were areas that required high capital, and more effort. As the name suggests, summits were the ones that should be targeted by entrepreneurs.

The model gave me a new way of classifying any ideas that may pop up in my head. It’s an invaluable tool to help build up an idea with.

Class rating- 7/10

The quality of the presentations weren’t as good, but the topics being presented were very interesting. Ended up doing further research on many of  the topics.

 

Session 2

-Shifts of Dominance

-Google and stupidity

–Part-human, part- machine.

-Customizing your kids

The class started off with a quick glance over the previous weeks’ readings and a quick discussion over how humans advanced due to agriculture.

Shifts of dominance. Recurring trends.

With a quick glance at the standings of various countries of the world over different points of time in history, all of us established one fact. Things seem to go full circle. India and China were the world’s richest countries at a point of time, before bowing down to the Western world.

With both countries now rising, and even Africa gaining a foothold, it’ll be interesting to see how things will look in a few decades. The US and UK are going through troubled times, while India and China, albeit with their fair share of baggage, are trudging along.

Google and stupidity. Is Google making us stupid?

The first individual presentation of TWC G11 focused on an article whose author was arguing whether the rise of Google meant the advent of a stupider human race. With most of the class disagreeing that that was the case, we did establish one fact- Google is a tool. It depends on us how we use it.

The invention of the wheel meant that the human race could travel further with more load. The invention of the hoe meant we could till soil faster. All these tools marked a sudden spurt in the advancement of humans. Google may be the next revolutionary tool. With the company coming up with more inventive ways to make life easier, the next chapter in tomorrow’s history books may well be dedicated to them.

Part-human, part-machine. How far are we willing to go to become faster, stronger…better?

The second presentation was about how far we’re willing to integrate technology into the human body. With artificial limbs are becoming more and more sophisticated, using greater levels of technology than ever before.

One can only wonder when it will become more advantageous to get your natural arm replaced by an artificial ones, and exactly how many people will end up making the trade-off.

Customizing your kids. Creating your child not too different from buying a car.

The last presentation focused on new technology actually allowing parents to choose the traits of their children before birth. The class got into a discussion about ethics, and whether this is a violation of moral standards.

Once again, the basic question is whether we’re governing technology, or being governed by technology. By actually engineering humans, we may be taking things too far. If everyone was perfect, wouldn’t the world lose a lot of the flavor that makes it so colorful?
Technology may be a very useful tool, but it needs a certain level of caution while being used. I guess the main question may be where we draw the line.

Class rating- 8/10

Had the first individual presentations this class. Wish there was more time to discuss the last presentation. Otherwise a very interesting class.

Session 1

– Shift happens.

– A timeline.

– Why does the white man have so much cargo?

The class started off with a quick ice-breaker- a round-robin introduction for each member of the class- before delving into the standard procedure of  reviewing the course outline.

Shift happens. It’s interesting how many facts you can pack into a 6 minute video.

Professor Shahi got the class thinking with two fact- packed videos about globalization that were eye-openers for many. Although the first video was slightly dated, the second one was one that almost all of us could relate to. Focusing on ‘socialnomics’, it spurned out numbers highlighting the relevance of social media in today’s society, and how we live in exponential times. Facebook runs a lot deeper than the occasional change of profile pictures and status updates. Where yesterday’s revolutionaries used AK-47’s and machetes as their tools of the trade, Mark Zuckerberg just needed a computer and an inspiration to start Facemash. The rest is history.

A timeline. Charting 6-billion years.

Moving on from the videos, we took a short walk through the course of earth’s history. Despite being billions of years old, many of man’s major achievements were only in the last few centuries. This tied in well with the exponential times message of the two videos. The closer we get to now…the more the achievements keep piling up. Although the thought didn’t cross my mind then, I wondered how much more this one year itself would add. With Google taking over Motorola Mobility, and Apple shrouded in a mist of rumors concerning its lineup, the timeline looks set to become more interesting.

Why does the white man have so much cargo? Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs & Steel.

Guns, germs, and steel has been one book that has kept cropping up here and there since I first ran across it in 9th grade. To see it again brought back a rush of thoughts. The supremacy of the Western world had baffled much of the East for a long time. Although the gap is fast narrowing now, it has taken a long time. Westerners have been trading and communicating with each other since the times of the Romans. Their level of communication with each other is something the East could not maintain. This was indeed a point brought up many times in class. Concerning Papua New Guinea, the fact that it’s an island probably had much to do with their perceived backwardness. Concepts such as backwardness, however, are very subjective. New Guineans can set up shelters in the forest in an amazingly short amount of time. The same task for the ‘white man’ would be considerably more difficult. It seems clear, however, that the West managed to adapt to the right things at the right time. With much of the East following suit very fast, however, it remains to be seen if this question will remain relevant.

Class rating- 9/10

A very thought- provoking first class. The shift happens video made me truly see the massive shift globalization is powering.