ALS 359: Introduction to Market Assessment and Market Strategy
Course Number: ALS 359
Course Name: Introduction to Market Assessment and Market Strategy
Year: First-year
Semester: Fall
No. Units: 1
Faculty/Instructor(s): Steven Casper
Description
The course will equip students with an understanding of conceptual frameworks in market strategy and market assessment with reference to bioscience industries. These topics will be explored with reference to the commercialization of academic science into commercial ventures. We will examine industry dynamics within different segments of the life science industries, such as therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices. This includes evaluating common business models employed by entrepreneurial firms, and an introduction to analytical tools used to assess the attractiveness of a variety of life science marketplaces. Common tools used for market research, such as survey methods and qualitative interview based techniques, will be introduced. Finally, the course will provide an overview to analytical tools firms use to design market strategies.
There is a case reader that should be purchased from the Huntley Bookstore. Due to the vigorous enforcement of copyrights by Harvard Business School, it is mandatory that students purchase the case reader. Any unauthorized copying of Harvard Business School cases will be treated as a KGI honor code violation.
All of the other readings will be available on the on-line Sakai system within the ALS 359 course folder.
Prerequisites
Mandatory for first year MBS students.
Learning Objectives
1. Understand basic industry dynamics within bioscience industries, and business models commonly employed by biotechnology firms.
2. Become familiar with commercialization processes, especially the translation of university science into entrepreneurial life science companies.
3. Learn how to use market information in order to better understand the customer and the competitive environment.
4. Develop expertise in performing market research and competitive intelligence analysis.
5. Understand how to design and implement market surveys.
6. Become familiar with key concepts in strategic marketing, particularly as they apply to companies in life science and related technology-intensive industries.
7. Development of professional skills - teamwork, project management, and both written and spoken forms of communication.
Grading
Class Participation 30%
Short Memo Assignments (5 x 6% each) 30%
Team Market Research Project: 40%
Required Texts