Global Business School for Health
Assessment brief (Business Project Group Report 70%)
2024-25
Module code and name
GBSH0008 Business Project
Title of Assessment
Business Project Group Report
What learning outcomes will be assessed
Subject-Specific Knowledge:
– Demonstrate knowledge across the subject area
– Be able to use different aspects of business and management for evaluating an idea and putting forward a business case
Intellectual, Academic and Research Skills:
– The importance of planning and preparation required to develop a business case for an idea
– Learn how companies and financial institutions evaluate business cases
– Finance in terms of business planning – estimating costs and benefits, calculating return on investment, and managing risks
Practical and Transferable Skills:
– Project management skills
– Marketing research
– The comprehension and use of relevant communication for application for team-based work and management
– Business innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial behavior
– The importance of stakeholder engagement
– Business case design and presentation
Keywords
Strategy, Project Management, Business Case, Budget Forecasts
Description of the assessment
The Business Case Project module is a vital part of the GBSH master’s level degree experience, carrying 30 credits for the entire project module. This module provides significant experience in business case development, enabling you to apply and refine the skills and knowledge gained throughout your programme.
You will work as a group to identify a commercial/service/process opportunity in a product, process, service or company (“a health innovation or business idea”), outline an implementation model for this idea; and then appraise and present your findings in the context of opportunities for impact, business viability and market-based drivers. In this context, opportunities for impact refer to improvements in health outcomes, healthcare provision, efficiency (including financial and resource optimisation), or increased access.
Business Project Group Report
You and your group colleagues will generate a health innovation or business idea to investigate in the Business Case Project. You will work as a team to demonstrate your ability to develop a business proposal for your idea and pitch it in a persuasive manner.
You will outline the business case for the development of this health innovation or business idea. The idea can stem from any part of the health ecosystem, such as hospitals, health systems, healthcare services, science, pharma, technology, data analytics, or related processes and methodologies. Then, you and your group will appraise and present your findings in the context of potential opportunities, commercial and financial viability, and market-based drivers. This can be in any area of health that you and your team might be interested in.
Project proposals have the capacity to encompass a wide range of translational applications, and the project work encourages you to investigate your own enterprise capacity independently and may in some cases identify projects which have immediate developmental potential.
Teams need to frame their idea, ideally as a question and/or problem, that limits the scope to something you can meaningfully investigate in the time available. A topic that starts as a broad research investigation should rapidly be narrowed down to a suitable framing. Different topics may require unique tools, frameworks, and scenarios. The chosen area should enable meaningful analysis of the relevant health innovation or business idea.
Concluding that an opportunity is not feasible is an acceptable outcome and the entire journey should be recorded as part of the project.
Students should speak with their supervisors and mentors after having conducted an initial investigation into whether the data, information, and customer base are sufficiently accessible to build a Business Case around.
Length: 8,000 words (exc. Executive Summary and references).
Structure: The format of your submission will depend on your writing style and how you’d like to develop the analysis of the business it is expected that most submissions cover the following/similar subheadings. Sections from the Business Model Canvas (BMC) by Alexander Osterwalder have also been highlighted below, where relevant for a section, to support you align your ideation process of your health innovation and business idea and analytical writing of your business case.
1. Executive summary (250 words – not counted)
A concise summary of the business idea, including its purpose, target audience, and expected impact. This section should frame the context/problem of focus and provide a snapshot of the key aspects of the health innovation or business idea and its business model.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: What is the health innovation or business idea? What problem does it solve, and why is it important? Who are the target stakeholders (eg, patients, healthcare providers, regulators)? What are the key conclusions from the report?
2. Introduction and Background (1,000 words)
Summary of overall project mission. This section should cover the background to the technology, health innovation, change, and marketinformation needed to understand the rest of the business case. Provides context for the health innovation or business idea, outlining the problem being addressed, its significance, and the broader healthcare ecosystem. This section presents material about your background knowledge needed to develop the health innovation or business idea(s). This section should also describe the students’ rationale for selecting this idea.
In the chosen area of interest, an investigation of an independent project emerging from a current market opportunity directly within an enterprise context should be conducted.
At the end of this section, make sure that you critically evaluate the existing research, evidence base and current thinking, which informs a particular innovative idea and opportunities for entrepreneurial development.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: In your selected health area, what is the health ecosystem-level problem and why is it significant? Who are the stakeholders and what do they need? What are the specific benefits, what stakeholder problem could be solved by this idea, and what are the major barriers? Why is the problem not resolved yet? Why is a health innovation or business idea needed to be developed?
BMC: Value proposition, Customer segments.
3. Technical feasibility and industry considerations (2,000 words)
3.1. Technical feasibility (from a technology, scientific or change management perspective)
An early-stage idea may originate from a piece of research, a new application for an existing innovation or product, a problem in healthcare delivery, or a market opportunity that requires researching possible solutions. The potential processes, platforms and methodologies required for the development and deployment of the health innovation or business idea should be considered. Page 4 of 12
At the end of this section, make sure that you demonstrate the technological/scientific or operational (eg change management) soundness of the health and business idea. This should be presented as the Technical Feasibility. For change management, this could be presented as the feasibility of adoption of a health innovation or solution in healthcare contexts.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: What are the technological, scientific or change management foundations of the solution and are there existing studies that validate your concept? What resources and activities are critical for the development of the health innovation or business idea? What are the stages for the development of this health innovation or business idea (eg piloting, evaluation, clinical trials, etc.)? Are there any operational challenges that exits for implementing or scaling this idea?
BMC: Key resources, Key activities, Key partners.
3.2. Market analysis and competitiveness
A market can be internal or external. Internal markets refer to innovations and change that impact employees. External markets comprise a set of actual or potential customers/patients of a product, process or service.
At the end of this section, make sure that you evaluate whether the idea represents a
market or organizational improvement opportunity, what drives current behaviour, how this idea fit with the needs of end-user needs or organizations and their strategic fit, and any important perceptions that exist around the idea. This section should also cover the existing competitor or substitute landscape including the identification of who/what these are, and how their presence constitutes a threat for your health innovation or business idea (or an opportunity, eg partnering). You may want to use Michael Porter’s five force model to complete this section.
Existing data, such as Market Reports (available from UCL Library) or information available online (eg, academic journals or UCL and the British Library) may be drawn upon.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: How big or important is the market/benefit/utility of the innovation? Is this market attractive? What is the size of the market? What is the need? How many potential users? What needs exist in a community or gap in existing product/care pathways? What are the market trends, who are the competitors? Did you analyze stakeholders? are the opportunities for partnering in the innovation process? What is this innovation’s benefit to customers and end users, and does the cost-benefit estimate make this viable?
BMC: Customer segments, Channels, Customer relationships, Value propositions, Key partners
4. Business viability (2,500 words)
4.1. Regulatory considerations, Legislation, IP
Implementation of an idea may require regulatory approval and, in many cases, intellectual property protection. You should clearly identify the relevant regulatory, legal, IP and ethical frameworks relevant for your health innovation or business idea. Depending on your idea, you may want to employ a PESTEL analysis for this section. All these factors will ultimately impact the implementation of the idea, time to market and route to market. These should also be relevant to the market you have chosen. For instance, for regulations, this would mean considering FDA in the US, EMA in Europe, MHRA in the UK.
At the end of this section make sure that you evaluate what the regulatory, legal, ethical and IP landscape is around the proposed idea, and the impact of these on the development and deployment of your health innovation or business idea in the chose health area.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: Are there similar innovations in the regulatory pipeline that inform your pathway to market? What are the regulatory, legal, ethical and IP considerations for your innovation, and how will you address them?
Financial Model
This section should clearly outline the financial viability of your innovation. It provides a detailed breakdown of costs, revenue streams, and financial risks, demonstrating whether the business model is sustainable and scalable. Identify the cost of risk and cost of investment as part of your decision-making process. Identify all costs associated with delivering the value propositions including development of the idea (eg prototyping, R&D, piloting), operations (eg manufacturing, distribution, customer support) and talent acquisition/organizational growth. Consider the time and costs associated with regulatory, legal or ethical approvals. Clearly articulate how you will generate revenue. Highlight factors enabling or hindering financial success.
Tables or graphs and financial rations can be used to present projects, cash flows, etc.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: What are the main costs incurred in delivering the value proposition, and how are they categorized (fixed vs. variable)? How do you plan to price your innovation, and what is your pricing justification? What are your revenue projections, and how do they align with market size and customer segments? What are the key financial risks, and how will you mitigate them?
BMC: Cost structure, Revenue streams, Channels.
5. Strategy to market/implementation (2,000 words)
This section synthesizes insights from earlier sections to craft a cohesive plan for entering and positioning in the market. It evaluates the feasibility of implementation and identifies steps to achieve commercial success The overall feasibility analysis combines insights from previous sections, including, technical feasibility, market desirability and the business viability to develop a strategy. Considering using frameworks like SWOT analysis, Blue Ocean Strategy or Strategy road mapping to inform this section.
At the end of this section, make sure you develop scenarios, next steps, investment needs, and timelines are some of the considerations. You and your group members should use this section to discuss additional information that would be needed, and what point in the development of the idea, to make decisions on whether to enter the market or not. This should take into account all the sections above. you should critically evaluate what data is needed, how you will gather it and by when, in order to make an informed analysis on whether you’ll be able to enter the market or not.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: What is the unique mission and market positioning of your idea and how does it align to the customer/stakeholder needs and market dynamics? How do you want to position your idea in the market or within an organization? What are the short-term and long-term objectives and milestones in your implementation roadmap and how will you measure success (KPIs)? What are the tactics or change processes you want to use? Are there any partnerships or collaborations that you need to build in order to achieve your milestones? Based on this, what is the expected return and benefit realization over the coming three years? Consider financial and non-financial benefits (eg improved patient outcomes, market share).
You can use tables and graphs, Gantt charts, etc.
BMC: All sections
6. Future work (500 words)
This section explores future opportunities for growth, improvement, or iteration of the innovation. It demonstrates forward-thinking and adaptability. Briefly suggest ideas for future development of the work and/or future applications. For example, the second wave of the innovation implementation or the future expansion in your portfolio, as well are research and data needs and risk mitigation for future strategies.
Questions to consider when drafting this section include: How can the solution evolve to meet future customer needs? What opportunities exist for scaling the solution to new markets or demographics? What additional research, pilots, or partnerships are needed for future development? What are the potential risks in future stages, and how will you address them?