We review two books that provide perspective on leadership challenges and best practices for building successful companies. Lessons and frameworks are extracted from our reviews of recent books focused on two high-profile life science companies, Amgen and Theranos. Amgen, a pioneer in commercializing biotechnology was very successful, and along with Genentech set the standard for how to build and scale successful companies in the industry based on transformative life science technologies. Theranos, a more recent undertaking, illustrates a very high-profile company that pursued commercialization of a revolutionary diagnostic technology for blood testing with the promise of multi-purpose diagnostics obtained “from a single prick of blood”. Theranos has turned out to be anything but a success and as reported by Molly Brown at Geekwire (loc. cit.) is actually a “what not to do guide for startups”. We reprise and summarize materials previously published by one of us as a book review on Amgen (“Science Lessons: What I Learned about Management from Biotechnology”, by Gordon Binder and Phillip Bashe). Amgen serves as a role model for “the good” in building successful life science companies. Then, we provide a short review of the recent best seller on the Theranos story, titled “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by John Carreyrou. In Theranos, the “bad and the ugly” are self-evident. Carreyrou’s excellent investigative reporting is highlighted in our review of that book, but as of this writing the story continues to unfold in the press and in the court system as a result of the alleged fraud from misrepresentation to investors, partners, and regulators by Theranos leadership. We use these two book reviews to highlight the 3Ps that comprise the ingredients for a successful company – the Problem (or opportunity), the People (leadership, ethics, culture) and the Processes (which are employed to validate the product/market fit incrementally prior to being able to exploit the full potential of the technology that underlies the platform and business model). The People dimension (team, leadership and culture, e. g. execution) is indeed critical to success, and we focus on that here.
All of the sectors analyzed in this volume face the same dual challenge: the invention of new technology and assuring its long-term clinical adoption by customers. These challenges are neither easy nor inexpensive.
A substantial shortage of qualified healthcare professionals in Africa continues, but it is now apparent that professionally trained healthcare managers are an equally important need. Health facilities in Africa typically promote physicians into the role of general manager, but physicians and their lay counterparts routinely admit to being ill-prepared for roles as leaders of health systems, healthcare facilities and other services. Few, if any, degree programmes for healthcare management-be they master's in hospital administration or specialized MBA programmes- are available in these regions. And while many master's in public health programmes exist, inclusion of healthcare management content is often an afterthought. This article presents a prototype programme that was designed to address this gap. This comprehensive healthcare management MBA programme that was established at the Business School of Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013 was built around the "Leadership Competencies for Health Care Managers" as promulgated by the International Hospital Federation. The article further presents the development, structure and innovations of the programme, thus providing a blueprint for the development of similar programmes throughout the continent, aimed at addressing the substantial shortage of professionally trained healthcare managers.
The Business of Healthcare Innovation is a wide-ranging analysis of business trends in the manufacturing segment of the healthcare industry. It provides a thorough overview and introduction to the innovative sectors fueling improvements in healthcare: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, platform technology, medical devices and information technology. For each sector, the book examines the basis and trends in scientific innovation, the business and revenue models pursued to commercialize that innovation, the regulatory constraints within which each sector must operate and the growing issues posed by more activist payers and consumers. Specific topics include market structure and competition, the economics and rationale of product development, pricing, sales and marketing, contract negotiations with buyers, alliances versus mergers, business strategies and prospects for growth. Written by professors of the Wharton School and industry executives, the book shows why healthcare sectors are such an important source of growth in any nation's economy.
Is India's healthcare system keeping pace with India's rate of economic growth? Opinions vary, but the general consensus is that India's health system, while not falling behind, has to accelerate its reach, depth, and quality to avoid becoming an anchor on continued economic growth. There is, of course, a parallel question: To what extent can access to quality care be available to citizens of all socioeconomic levels? These universal and perennial questions are not unique to India but have a special urgency in the rapidly developing nation because progress in healthcare availability and health equity – or the lack thereof – will accelerate or deter growth as well as determine the future of political leaders.
The biotechnology sector has held great promise for the alleviation of human suffering through the creation of novel protein-based drugs or drugs that mimic natural proteins. In like manner, biotechnology promises to expand the food supply with the modification of plants and animals. Biotechnology is also involved in environmental remediation and other industrial processes. During its march from origination to the present day the industry has encountered changes in social expectations and business conditions that have been far more volatile than anticipated, and this has required an agility in reconfiguring scientific, business, and financing strategy. Biotechnology companies have had to respond in kind to challenges such as:
