SST301 Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects three in every 1,000 Singaporeans aged 50 and above: Strategic Management of Technology Group-based Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION 
Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects three in every 1,000 Singaporeans aged 50 and above. PD is a neurodegenerative ailment that causes changes in the neuronal, behavioral, and physiological structures. During the early stages of PD, these changes are very subtle, and hence accurate diagnosis is challenging.

Pathological and neurological experts assess PD patients by examining their drawing, writing, walking, tremors, facial expressions, and speech. The manual analysis performed by specialists is time-consuming and prone to errors. Traditional machine learning methods require several manual steps, such as decomposition, extraction of features, and classification. Hence, an automated detection system using artificial intelligence (AI) can be developed for accurate diagnosis of PD.

A venture capitalist, recognising that Singapore is an aging society, would like to invest S$50 million in a start-up company that manufactures a portable diagnostic tool to automatically detect PD as early as possible. This innovative technology has an in-built algorithm that could automatically make a diagnosis of PD in real-time. The diagnosis outcome is the accurate early detection of PD in mature patients with movement disorders and aid the neurologists to confirm their manual screening. The proposed system should be simple to use, non-invasive, reliable and fully automated. It should have automated identification accuracy of more than 95% and is therefore suitable for use in clinical settings such as intensive care units. An early detection of PD could enable the patients to receive proper treatment and improve their quality of life.

Set up a detailed plan to show how you can introduce this technology to the market with a fund of S$50 million. The plan has to include all the unique functions of the diagnostic system and the reasons for the development of  these functions. You should plan for this diagnostic tool to be profitable within two years. Your plan should be cohesive and written as a report with proper referencing. Evaluate your research of strategic management and relevant case studies to craft your detailed plan, which should address following:

 Give reasons why this diagnostic tool is an innovative product.
 Compare the advantages and improvements of this technology to existing devices in the market.
 Assess the challenges that your company might face when introducing this diagnostic tool to the market.
 Formulate the strategies to be implemented for the product to be profitable within two years.
A well-formulated plan should have the following:
 A background study of a diagnostic tool, the impact of this diagnostic tool to the society.
 Initial market study and nature of competition for this product including the advantages and disadvantages of the diagnostic tool.
 Strategies to promote and sell this diagnostic tool.
 Usage of the S-curve to decide and place the current position of such a technology.
 Allocation of the S$50 million fund.