Subject area:            International Business strategy

Region:                      United-States, Ghana, Bangalore

Industry:                   Healthcare industry, focus on neonatal medical devices

Company:                  Therapeutic Innovations

Timeframe:              2019

Decision Maker:      Solomon

Challenge:                  In 2014, Solomon, a biomedical engineer PhD student at Northeastern University Boston MA, traveled to his home country, Ghana, to learn more about its healthcare system. He was disconcerted by the lack of bCPAP equipment available for preterm babies in neonatal intensive care units of all major hospitals of the country. A bCPAP device provides an adequate mix of oxygen and air at the right concentrations, humidity, and temperature, to assist the development of preterm baby’s lungs. When Solomon went back from his travel, he decided to invest in the creation of a new bCPAP device to equip Ghana’s hospitals. With this device, he hoped to decrease the mortality rate of preterm baby in Ghana. From 2014 to 2019, Solomon focused all its effort on the creation of a new competitive product. He needed then to develop a strong business strategy to commercialize his innovation.

Investing in Boutique Employability

Investing in the Personal Capital: A First Step into The Entrepreneurial World

In 2019, Alix Crichton, international business management graduate student at Northeastern University D’Amore Mc-Kim School of Business, crossed the road of Solomon at Ms Banalieva’s class: Doing Business in Emerging Markets, over a school assignment. In this class, Solomon gave students the opportunity to understand and work on few problematics a global entrepreneur could face.

Solomon’s involvement genuinely resonated with Alix. She was inspired by his effort and tenacity in the development of a global entrepreneurial project. It drove her to work on a case study about Solomon’s company, as part of her master thesis. Along this project, Alix ascertained entrepreneurship was a professional inspiration, and decided to set it as career goal. The case study was the first steppingstone toward this professional journey.

Investing in Professional Trust of Social Capital: A Practical Application of Theoretical Knowledge.

To help Solomon in the development of an internationalization strategy, Alix developed a method of data collection. She read many articles, books, and professional reviews to imbue Ghana’s political, economic, and cultural situation. It also gave her enough knowledge to depict with precision and professionalism the neonatal healthcare industry’s complexity. As a complement of her research, she spent several hours interviewing Solomon about the company’s history and long-term business goals. Her methodologic approach provided Alix substantial evidence to analyze the market, industry, and company. Thanks to a pragmatic appropriation of conventional frameworks, she brought out the main market opportunities and threats, the industry preeminent forces, and the company strengths and weaknesses. She used her analysis to spot the most promising business point of entry, to then formulate an efficient strategy.

Investing in Professional Capital: The Strategy into Actions

Alix determined that Therapeutic Innovations was following a product development strategy. This strategy is known to give a first mover advantage and favors companies’ visibility in an existing market. To enter the neonatal industry in Ghana with a product development strategy, Alix advised Therapeutic Innovations to work with local stakeholders. In a more pragmatic way, and regarding the market specificities, she recommended to connect via professional social medias, professional networks, and face-to-face meetings. She strengthened the importance of clarifying long-term business objectives to lead the communication along the company’s vision. In effect, it will build up the company notoriety, favor a positive word-of-mouth and, above all, assert Therapeutic Innovations’ first mover advantage.

Capital Utilization: A Constant Seek for Improvement

The case study opened Alix a door to the entrepreneurial world. Solomon transmitted a passion that inspired her to keep meeting more entrepreneurs. She put time and effort to build a professional network that vibrates along with her entrepreneurial spirit. After few months, she met hundreds of inspirational entrepreneurs who gratefully shared their experiences and offered career guidance. By the end of 2019, one of them recruited her to enhance his company’s business processes.

Along her journey, she never lost contact with her former career advisor, Julia Ivy, who supported her in the submission of the case study to SAGE Publishing. In 2020, after several revisions, the case study was accepted for publication. This success drove her to work on other case studies that will endorse her career inspiration.