UCLA Anderson MBA students conduct Applied Management Research (AMR) projects in lieu of a thesis. The nation’s first business school field study program, AMR partners students with top organizations to solve a key strategic problem. The Center for Global Management sponsored UCLA Anderson Class of 2018 teams to collaborate with established NGOs seeking sustainable solutions for global economies, health delivery systems and environmentally sensitive parts of the world. UCLA Anderson Class of 2018 AMR students made their final presentations on March 9.
By Angela Tseng, Bahman Mirzaee, Colin Meade, Erin Kelm, Qingqing Wu (Class of 2018)
Our team collaborated with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa to identify sustainable business models for noncommunicable disease (NCD) screening in the peri-urban community of Sweetwaters. HSRC works to improve health outcomes and employment in the community. Our goal was to assess strategic partners across various industries who could aid in sustaining the NCD screening program in the long term.
We carried on the work of previous UCLA Anderson Global Access Program and AMR teams who developed the structure of the screening program. We selected this project in order to broaden our understanding of challenges faced in the global health and social impact realms, as well as capitalize on the opportunity to learn about a community and culture that is very different from our own. Our five members are deeply involved in the health care community on campus through the Healthcare Business Association and are passionate about making an impact on the global community beyond Anderson.
To make the most of our time in-country, we split the research into two complementary trips. Erin and Angela spent a week doing research in the Sweetwaters community to understand the patient journey and pathway to care, test value propositions of business models in the community, and identify gaps in community business opportunities. They convened community member focus groups, shadowed community care givers (CCGs), visited government-run clinics and interviewed numerous internal stakeholders at HSRC in order to gain insights about community needs.
Bahman, Colin and Qingqing later followed up community research in Sweetwaters and then spent another week engaged in business meetings across South Africa. The objectives of this visit were to speak with NGOs and government and industry organizations to understand priorities that align with HSRC’s NCD screening program. The team connected with local business people to convey the value proposition of partnership in the Sweetwaters community and assess the goals of potential partners. We also followed a recommendation from the first trip to gauge community care giver opinions toward hypothesized business models.
Our primary research contacts included Diabetes South Africa, Project Last Mile, Ethembeni, Cipla Foundation, HealthRise, Ottobock and Project Hope across the KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape and Gauteng provinces. Our contacts span industries and segments and offered us a broad perspective among successful organizations and potential partners in South Africa. The opportunity to visit the Project Hope and Department of Health clinics in the midst of the shack community of Zandspruit ― a contrast to the heterogeneous Zulu community of Sweetwaters ― stirred additional ideas.
Based on the invaluable research conducted in-country, the team was able to confirm or refute hypotheses for business model success in the community. For example, a model of collaboration with the telecommunications industry was pushed to the forefront based on the widespread use of and interest in mobile technology in the Sweetwaters community. However, a model that would leverage existing HIV infrastructure for NCD screening was deemed unfeasible because of the lack of HIV-focused resources available in the community.
We recommended that HSRC pursue the pharmaceutical market access model, which involves forming a symbiotic relationship with one or more key players in the pharmaceutical industry. In return for providing access to life-saving medicines and building much-needed infrastructure, a pharmaceutical partner would gain valuable market access in addition to community- and patient-level data. Given that any successful community health initiative requires an ecosystem of contributors, the team also recommended partnering with an expert, on-the-ground implementation organization called Unjani Clinic, which has experienced great success in South Africa. Our team was able to cultivate relationships with multiple major pharmaceutical companies in South Africa along with Unjani Clinic, and we connected them with HSRC to pursue further.
This trip was a highlight of our graduate school experience, and we would like to thank the Center for Global Management and the UCLA Anderson administration for their support.
Interesante el sistema de reemplazo de las tesis.
Posted by: César | 04/23/2018 at 11:13 AM