The Thyroid Gland is a Small, Butterfly-Shaped Gland Located in the Base of the Neck, Strategic Management Assignment, Singapore

Assignment Details:

The thyroid gland is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located in the base of the neck just below Adam’s apple. Although relatively small, the thyroid gland plays a huge role in our body, influencing the function of many of the body’s most important organs, including the heart, brain, liver, kidneys and skin. Ensuring that the thyroid gland is healthy and functioning properly is vitally important to the body’s overall well-being.

A venture capitalist would like to invest S$50 million in a start-up company that manufactures a portable diagnostic tool to automatically diagnose thyroid cancer. This innovative technology has an in-built algorithm that could automatically make a diagnosis in the real-time health of the thyroid. The diagnosis outcome is either benign (even at an early stage) or malignant using ultrasound images. Ultrasound has great potential to aid in the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign thyroid lesions, but interpretative pitfalls exist and the accuracy is still poor. To overcome these difficulties, your group needs to propose an automatic classification of benign and malignant thyroid
lesions.

This diagnostic tool will be especially useful to conduct mass thyroid screening for patients who are more vulnerable to this disease. The proposed system should be simple to use, non-invasive, reliable and fully automated. It should have an automated identification accuracy of more than 95% and is, therefore, suitable for use in clinical settings such as intensive care units. Early detection could enable the patients to receive proper treatment and thus impede the progression of the disease.

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 (2) years. Your plan should be cohesive and written as a report with proper referencing.

Strategic Management Assignment Questions Related to This Diagnostic Tool

Question1: Give reasons why this diagnostic tool is an innovative product?
Question2: Compare the advantages and improvements of this technology to existing devices in the market?
Question3: Assess the challenges that your company might face when introducing this diagnostic tool to the market?
Question4: Formulate the strategies to be implemented for the product to be profitable within TWO (2) years?

A well-formulated plan should have the following:

• A background study of a diagnostic tool, the impact of this diagnostic tool to 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 funds.